Irina G. Shirokikh, D.Sc. in Biology, leading researcher, head of the Laboratory of Biotechnology of Plants and Microorganisms, Federal Agricultural Research Center of the North-East named N.V. Rudnitsky, professor at the Department of Microbiology, Vyatka State University, Kirov, Russia  (ORCID) (РИНЦ) (Scopus) (ResearcherID).

Her research area is focused on biotechnologies of microbial-plant systems, cell technologies, ecology, diagnostics of ecological state of soil, bioindication.

She studies the development of biotechnological techniques for generation of new initial material for plant selection. She has identified laws of microbial regulation of productivity and resistance of plants (grain crops, meadow clover, and potato) to phytopathogenes and stress for controlling functioning of microbial-plant systems. She has established regularities of spatio-temporal organization of microbial communities of acid soils of the region, microbial regulation of productivity and resistance of plants (grain crops, meadow clover, and potato)  to phytopathogenes and stress for controlling functioning of microbial-plant systems. She has research papers on biotechnology of medicinal mushrooms. She is the author of more than 400 publications  including 7 monographs (co-authored).