“Antimicrobial resistance is not just a human health issue. The same evolutionary principles drive resistance across plants, animals, the environment and our food systems – which is why understanding AMR as a shared challenge is so important.”

Dr Joel Haywood is a SAAFE CRC Foundation Research Fellow at the Centre for Crop and Disease Management (CCDM), Curtin University. He leads research into the improved management of apple scab to reduce pesticide use and fungicide resistance in Australian orchards, and also manages a SAAFE Kickstart project on in-field diagnostics of fungicide resistance in botrytis affecting Western Australian strawberries.

Joel completed his PhD in Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing in 2016, studying the structural basis of immune recognition of new and emerging viruses. He then joined the School of Molecular Sciences at The University of Western Australia, where he held an ARC DECRA Fellowship from 2018 to 2021, before moving to Curtin in 2022 as an ARC Linkage-funded Research Fellow. He became a SAAFE CRC Foundation Research Fellow in 2025.

Joel’s apple scab project is designed to help Australian apple producers maintain best practice by minimising pesticide use. Using state-of-the-art molecular techniques alongside traditional testing methods, the project is identifying fungicide resistance in Venturia inaequalis across Australia’s major apple-growing regions and investigating the pathogen’s population structure. His broader research interests include protein structure-led discovery of novel agrochemicals with new modes of action.

Joel’s interest in antimicrobial resistance grew from his work in structural biology, drug discovery and crop protection, where he became fascinated by the shared molecular mechanisms that allow organisms to adapt and survive chemical control – whether antibiotics, fungicides or herbicides. He was drawn to SAAFE’s One Health approach and its focus on translating research into tangible benefits for Australian agriculture. A typical day starts with coffee, then moves between growing isolates, testing for resistance and extracting DNA in the lab, supervising PhD students and guiding projects across his research group.

Outside of research, Joel swims a couple of times a week – mainly, he admits, to keep up with his seven-year-old. If he could have dinner with anyone it would be Stephen Hawking, whose perspective on humanity’s place in a vast universe Joel finds a reminder to stay curious, humble and appreciative. His motto, inherited from his postdoctoral supervisor, is the German word Gründlichkeit – thoroughness and meticulous care.

Joel’s long-term goal is to help growers become more strategic with their fungicide applications, developing new tools, diagnostics and management strategies that support sustainable disease control and protect the effectiveness of existing treatments for future generations.