Avery Hickcox joined the 2Blades, St. Paul team as a Research Technician in December 2025. He earned his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology from Drake University. During his undergraduate studies, he worked on plant transcription factor characterization in flavonoid biosynthesis pathways and protein engineering of novel genome editing tools for proprietary use in maize. At 2Blades, Avery is working to identify novel resistance to toxigenic fungi using the PRRseekTM platform. He is passionate about characterization of fungal secretions and implementing new strategies for elicitor discovery.