Dr. Sorina Popescu

1969 - 2022

Sorina Popescu was born on March 4th, 1969, in Brasov, Romania to Elisabeta and Lazar Cristea. She was a student athlete and excelled in school from an early age, working as a pharmacist before moving to the capital city of Bucharest for university studies. She earned her MS degree in Biology at the University of Bucharest, where she later joined the Faculty in the Plant Biology Department. She started her Ph.D. work there, studying oomycetes unique to the Danube Delta, and continued in the US. While in college, she met her husband, George Popescu, a physics, and engineering student. Together, they weathered the Romanian Revolution of 1989 and the chaos of post-Communist Romania, participating in meetings and marches for liberty and a free society. Their daughter Medeea was born in 1995, and shortly afterward the family emigrated to the United States. Sorina attended graduate school at Rutgers University supported by several fellowships and grants and earned her Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology in 2003. She excelled in graduate school despite the demands of raising a child, learning a new language, and adjusting to life in a very different country. The family next moved to Connecticut when Sorina started a postdoctoral position at Yale University, where she led a flagship NSF program on plant protein microarrays. At Yale, Sorina and George began a scientific collaboration that would last until her death, combining their respective skills into a program of rigorous, innovative, and creative research. She published widely cited studies on calcium signaling and MAPK signaling networks in plants using her protein microarray chips. Their son, Nicholas, was born during this time in 2005.

In the Fall of 2008 Sorina was appointed to a faculty position at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Science, and the family moved to Ithaca, NY for several years. While in Ithaca, Sorina and her family enjoyed hiking and cross-country skiing together. She advised four postdocs and two graduate students, all of whom went on to successful research careers. While at BTI, she co-led two NSF projects on plant signaling networks and plant disease resistance, while expanding her plant proteomics research focus. She discovered that thimet oligopetidases are salicylic acid-binding modulators of plant immune responses, identified new pathways associated with tomato resistance to Pseudomonas syringae, and investigated the role of integrin-like kinases in plant stress.

After seven years at Cornell, Sorina moved to Mississippi State University, where she further developed her research and teaching. She mentored eight graduate students and advised many undergraduate and graduate students. One of her passions was to provide opportunities for women to advance in science. She was a great teacher. She taught General Biochemistry and created a graduate Cellular Signaling course and an online Plant Biochemistry and Molecular Biology course. At MSU, she led two nationally competitive NSF projects in plant proteomics and redox signaling and started new research directions in plant-pathogen interaction and microbial communities. This work eventually led to applied research sponsored by the MS Soybean Promotion Board. She was a frequent NSF and USDA panelist, grant reviewer for national and international agencies, editor for Molecular and Cellular Proteomics, MPMI, and Current Plant Biology, while serving as a reviewer for numerous other journals. Finally, she was an invited speaker and organizer of dozens of plant research conferences and workshops.

Despite a three-year struggle with breast cancer and many rounds of radiation, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy, Sorina never gave up on herself, her ability to heal, or her ability to meaningfully contribute to the field of plant biology. She continued to run her lab, teach classes and mentor her students until her last days. She was passionate about her work and touched the lives of so many people.

Outside of the lab, Sorina loved walking and biking at the Noxubee Wildlife Refuge, watching Nick's soccer games and tennis matches, spending holidays on the Gulf Coast at the beach, and spending time in the kitchen of the family's peaceful rural home. She loved her family dearly and traveled back to Romania frequently to be with her parents, sister, and extended family. She was lucky enough to visit Romania one last time, attend her daughter's wedding, and learn of her son's acceptance to Duke while battling the disease. Sorina died on December 19th, 2022, of metastatic breast cancer. She was 53. Her final resting place is the Holy Trinity Church in Schei, Brasov, Romania. She is survived by her sister, Luminita Cristea; her mother, Elizabeta Cristea; her son and daughter, Nicholas and Medeea Popescu; and her husband, George.

Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. Sorina Popescu Memorial Annual Scholarship in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, MSU Foundation, P.O. Box 6149, Mississippi State, MS 39762. To make an online gift please visit www.msufoundation.com and designate the Dr. Sorina Popescu Memorial Annual Scholarship (#403663)