Niklaus J. Grünwald is a biologist and plant pathologist born and raised in Caracas, Venezuela of German and Swiss ancestry.

He is currently a research scientist with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, a Professor (Courtesy) in the Department of Botany and Plant Pathology at Oregon State University, and a Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology at Cornell University.

His academic research[3] focuses on the evolution, genomics, and ecology of plant pathogens in the genus Phytophthora and management of the diseases they cause.

This pathogen group includes some of the most costly diseases affecting crops and ecosystems.

[4][5] These pathogens have well characterized Effectors to circumvent plant host recognition that in the genus Phytophthora include RxLR, Crinkler and other small secreted proteins.