Dr. Patricia Lopez-Calcagno was a Senior Research Officer at the University of Essex for the RIPE project. Her expertise covered molecular biology, biochemistry, and leaf physiology. Her research interests spanned the use of synthetic biology and transgenics to develop strategies to optimize crop performance with the aim of ensuring food security in a changing world. Patricia earned her bachelor's degree in biology from the Universidad de los Andes, Venezuela, where she worked on protein biochemistry. She went on to earn her doctorate in biology from the University of Essex, UK, where she explore the in vivo importance of CP12, a chloroplastic intrinsically unstructured protein involved in the regulation of photosynthetic enzymes. In 2013, Patricia joined the RIPE consortium, where her work was focused on manipulating RuBP regeneration to increase plant photosynthetic performance and yield. Her work has been published in Nature Plants, Plant Biotechnology, Journal of Experimental Botany, and others. Patricia now has a lecturer position, equivalent to assistant professorship in the US system, at Newcastle University in the UK.