BioCassava Plus

Richard Sayre Laboratory
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center

Uzo Ihemere, Ph.D.
Research Scientist 1, Richard Sayre Laboratory, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri.

Uzo obtained BS and MS degrees in Botany from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria and a Ph.D in Horticulture and Crop Science from The Ohio State University, Columbus (2003). His graduate research was on cassava transformation to increase the starch content of the root-tuber. Uzo and colleagues were able to increase the root-tuber starch by up to two times by expressing a modified E. coli glgC gene in cassava.

Uzo is involved in the BioCassava Plus project aimed at increasing the bio-available Fe in cassava root-tuber by transforming cassava with Chlamydomonas FEA1 gene, an Fe-transporter gene, codon-optimized for cassava. The alternative strategy is using Arabidopsis FER1 gene. Previously, Uzo worked on down-regulating gbss (granule-bound starch synthase) gene in cassava root-tuber to increase the amylopectin:amylose ratio. While in Nigeria, he worked in the National Root Crop Research Institute, Umudike, Nigeria on the tissue culture of African root crops (cassava, ginger, cocoyam, yam) for one year establishing the regeneration and germplasm maintenance techniques.

Uzo is interested in a career in plant biotechnology (metabolic engineering) in academic or industry settings to improve crops.

Tawanda Zidenga, M.S.
Graduate student,
Department of Plant Cellular & Molecular Biology,
The Ohio State University

Tawanda obtained a BSc in Crop Science at the University of Zimbabwe in 2001 and went on to do post-graduate research in Plant Biotechnology at the same university. His master’s thesis was on somatic embryogenesis in elite maize germplasm in Zimbabwe. While in Zimbabwe, Tawanda worked for Agri-Biotech, a small company working on transferring tissue culture technology for virus elimination in cassava and sweet potato planting material to farmers, before moving to the Ohio State University in 2003 as a visiting research scholar. He joined the graduate program in PCMB in 2004 and Dick Sayre’s lab in 2005. Tawanda’s current project focuses in cyanide metabolism as it relates to post-harvest physiological deterioration and amino acid pool sizes in cassava. Tawanda is also a contributing writer for Information Systems for Biotechnology based at Virginia Tech.

Tawanda is a member of the Africabiotech media contacts team, and the Southern African Young Professionals, for which he is also the webmaster.

Ms. Elisa Leyva-Guerrero
Graduate Student,
Department of Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology,
The Ohio State University

Ms. Elisa Leyva-Guerrero graduated on May 2004 with a B.S. in Chemistry from the Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, México. She was awarded a High Academic Achievement Award by the National Assesment Center for Higher Education (CENEVAL) for her academic progress and received first place for her Final Undergraduate Research Proyect on Diffusive gradients in Thin Films Technique for analysis of heavy metals in rivers.

She was awarded a University Fellowship by The Ohio State University to pursue graduate studies in the Department of Horticulture of Crop Science. She joined the MS degree program in such department in Autumn 2004 and began working under the supervision of Dr. Richard Sayre in a project involving Protein Content Enhancement in Cassava roots.

The Department of Horticulture and Crop Science granted Ms. Leyva-Guerrero an Ohio Research and Development Center Scholarship for her second year of studies. The Mexican National Science Council (CONACyT) awarded Ms. Leyva-Guerrero a Stipend Fellowship as well for her second year of studies.

Ms. Leyva-Guerrero is at the moment continuing her work on protein content enhancement and free amino acid pool analysis of cassava roots as part of the Bio Cassava Plus Project.

Shantha J.R. Pieris, Ph.D. Program Administrator, BioCassava Plus

Shantha has been working as Program Administrator for Bio Cassava Plus since October, 2008. Dr. Pieris is responsible for performing and coordinating the administrative activities for Dr. Sayre, the Principal Investigator of Bio Cassava Plus and Dr. Martin Fregene, the BC Plus Product Development Manager by managing outside contacts, internal meetings, and information sharing and arranging and scheduling meetings including making travel plans for team members. He is also involved in maintaining paper and electronic records and the BC Plus web site, assisting in preparation of project reports and monitoring and accounting for the disbursement of funds for BC Plus partners. His other duties include overseeing the operation of the Sayre laboratory and the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Institute for Renewable Fuels at Danforth which involves financial, administrative, and social functions geared towards building a team that functions harmoniously and effectively.

Shantha graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Law at the University of Colombo (LL.B), Sri Lanka and he is an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka. He finished a Master of Public Policy and Administration at Iowa State University, U.S.A. His research focused on strengthening democratic institutions and national reconciliation in the aftermath of a civil war or violent strife with studies generated from Sri Lanka, South Africa, Guatemala, Chile, and El Salvador. He completed his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies at Iowa State University, U.S.A. He has also done research presented at national student affairs professionals' conferences on meta-cognitive thinking to overcome prejudices, develop critical thinking, and solve unstructured problems.

Dr. Pieris' work has been multi-disciplinary and he has worked in Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America over the last three decades. He has been an International human rights lawyer specializing in the rule of law, and civil society, leadership training, democratic governance, and applying restorative justice concepts to the underprivileged in Central, South, and South-East Asia.

Shantha grew up in Zambia, Central Africa where he had his elementary, middle, and high school education and thus has a close emotional and cultural affinity with Africa. He finds his work at BC Plus very rewarding and a way of repaying his debt to his many friends in Sub Saharan Africa. Apart from his work he loves investing time with Shayani, his wife, and his three lovely children, Anagi, Amila, and Avunker.

Narayanan N. Narayanan, Ph.D.
Research Scientist 1, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis, Missouri.

Narayanan obtained his bachelors and masters degrees in Plant Science and doctoral in Botany (Molecular Plant Pathology) from University of Madras, India. During his doctoral studies Narayanan was awarded with a Rockefeller Foundation grant, to pursue his research dissertation at the International Rice Research Institute, Manila, Philippines. His graduate research was on molecular breeding to develop rice that are resistant to blast and bacterial blight. After his doctoral studies, Narayanan joined Dr. Madan Bhattacharyya’s laboratory at Iowa State University, where he worked on several projects to understand the molecular mechanisms that determine the recognition and signal transduction events in soybean-Phytophthora sojae (Root rot pathogen) interaction.

Later, Narayanan joined Dr. Michael Grusak’s laboratory as a postdoctoral researcher at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, which is jointly funded by the Baylor College of Medicine and the US Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS). Narayanan pursued a large-scale expression profiling and functional analysis of metal homeostasis genes and gene products in rice. With 10 years of experience in crop development, Dr. Narayanan joined Dr. Richard Sayre’s laboratory in August 2007. Narayanan is involved in the BioCassava Plus project aimed at increasing the content and bioavailability of iron in cassava tubers, to decrease the cyanogen content in cassava tubers, to develop virus-resistant cassava varieties and demonstrate its resistance in the field.

Besides work, Narayanan likes listening to music and spend time with his family especially with his new born son Navin.

Solomon Afuape M.Sc.
African Trainee Scientist, Sayre Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132. Tel: 314-587-1688. E-mail: safuape@danforthcenter.org

Solomon Afuape is a Plant Breeder with the National Root Crops Research Institute, Umudike, Nigeria. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Agriculture, and an M.Sc. degree in Plant Breeding. He has been working with the Institute for about seven years now. He has worked extensively on sweet potato, initiating the development of new varieties of sweet potato that meet both farmers' and consumers' demands. Presently, he is with the Bio-Cassava Plus group, learning the art of biotechnology as a tool for the development of highly nutritious cassava varieties that satisfy both the agronomic, food and nutrient requirements of the malnourished population, farmers and consumers. He has the vision to become a major force in the application of biotechnology in the development of model root and tuber crops in Nigeria.

Shuaibu Kahya
African Trainee Scientist, Sayre Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132. Tel: 314-587-1689. E-mail: skahya@danforthcenter.org.

Shuaibu S. Kahya is a Molecular Biologist with the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Microbiology/Virology and Post Graduate Diploma in Crop Protection/Plant Pathology.

His work has been largely on Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) in Cassava Breeding activities of the general Challenge Program (GCP) funded Molecular Biology Laboratory at NRCRI, Umudike, rests largely on his shoulders. His vision is to apply biotechnology to solve a variety of genetic and environmental problems hindering the production of Root and Tuber Crops in Nigeria. He is happily married to his heartthrob, Asmanana S. Kahya.

Paul Kuriya, M.S.
African Trainee Scientist, Sayre Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132. Tel: 314-587-1686. E-mail: pkuriya@danforthcenter.org

Paul obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees in horticulture from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and technology in Nairobi, Kenya. During his Master's Degree he worked closely with the international Potato Center (CIP) in Nairobi under the leadership of Dr. Paul Demo to basic seed potato production strategies through tissue culture and positive selection. To diversify his skills Paul took a banking career with the Barclays Bank of Kenya for six months where he learned customer service and corporate finance. In February 2008 he joined Kenya Agricultural research Institute (KARI) biotechnology program as a research officer. His research is focused on plant tissue culture specifically regeneration of Kenyan farmer preferred cassava cultivars.

Aside from research, Paul enjoys climbing mountains and investment management.

Claude Fauquet Laboratory
(ILTAB, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center)

Jitender Yadav, Ph.D.
Research Scientist 1,
VIRCA/BC Plus, Virus Resistance Coordinator, Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132. Tel: 314-587-1258. E-mail: jyadav@danforthcenter.org

Jitender S. Yadav obtained his BS and MS in Botany (Honors) and Ph.D. in Genetics from University of Delhi, India. Yadav was awarded a Research Fellowship funded by the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, to pursue his doctoral work “Polyamine mediated regulation of somatic embryogensis and lateral root differentiation in eggplant”. Yadav’s graduate work established that adjusting cellular polyamine levels in plant tissues regulated somatic embryogenesis from plant tissues, an approach that was successfully applied to improve regeneration in recalcitrant genotypes of rice and eggplant. This concept is today being applied to improve the regeneration potential of recalcitrant cultivars of wheat, cotton and many tree species.

After completing his Ph.D., Yadav established a genetic transformation system for eggplant and developed a salinity tolerant transgenic eggplant that was provided to Ankur Seeds Ltd., Nagpur, India for use in a breeding program under a Memorandum of Understanding between South Campus, Delhi University and Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi. Later, Yadav joined Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, CA and pursued controlling Rice tungro disease using genes from Rice tungro spherical virus and Rice tungro bacilliform virus and testing transgenic rice against Rice tungro disease there and at the Malaysian Agriculture and Development Research Institute. With his experience in different aspects of plant biotechnology, Dr. Yadav joined Dr. Claude Fauquet’s laboratory, ILTAB, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri and is currently working on controlling cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in cassava by using g5 protein and RNA interference approaches. CMD is an important component of the BioCassava Plus project that aims to develop virus-resistant cassava varieties and demonstrate CMD resistance in the field.

Eliana Gaitan-Solis, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Associate
VIRCA/BC Plus Operations Coordinator, Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA. Tel: 314-587-1468, Email: egaitansolis@danforthcenter.org

Eliana obtained her bachelor's degree from the Universidad del Valle (Cali-Colombia) in Biology focused on genetics in 1994. She spent 10 years working at CIAT, Palmira-Colombia, where she was involved in molecular marker development and implementation of new methodologies for determining molecular diversity and molecular mapping studies in common bean, Brachiaria and palms. In 2004, she obtained her PhD in plant breeding from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira-Colombia. Her PhD was funded by a scholarship for tuition and research from COLCIENCIAS, Colombia.

Eliana's doctoral research was focused on population genetic structure and molecular genetic diversity of three endangered Colombian palms. After finishing her PhD, she worked for one-year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois.  This work involved the isolation of promoters from 10 genes highly expressed in soybean under flooding stress. In 2005 she joined BioCassava Plus as a postdoctoral fellow at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. The research is focused on increasing the zinc content of the cassava tuber by overexpressing two zinc transporters from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Mohammad Abhary
Graduate Student
Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA. Tel: 314-587-1269, Email: mabhary@danforthcenter.org

Mohammad obtained his B.Sc.. in Biology from Al-AlBayet University (Jordan) in 2000 and joined the department of Biotechnology in Al-Balqa` Applied University (Jordan) to receive his M.Sc. in 2003. Meanwhile, he conducted his research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working on Geminivirus gene silencing. Between 2003-2006, Mohammad worked as an R.A. in the same institute, involved in studying different viruses infecting crops in Jordan. In January 2006, Mohammad joined the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) to begin working towards his Ph.D. in Biology while performing research for BC+ in ILTAB at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Currently, Mohammad is responsible for enhancing the protein content in cassava storage roots by expressing nutritious proteins in many different strategies. He is also involved in promoter studies and gene stacking proteins with Vitamin A, Linamarase, and other genes. Through his research, he is gaining experience in virology, molecular biology, genetics and tissue culture, while benefitting from working with international groups.

Irene Muchiri
African Scientist
Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA. Tel: 314-587-1252, Email: imuchiri@danforthcenter.org

Irene Njagi Muchiri is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. She works in the Department of Biotechnology’s Tissue Culture and Transformation Laboratory. She graduated with a Higher Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology from Kenya Polytechnic, Nairobi in 1985, specializing in Microbiology and Immunology. She initially worked as a Technologist in the Microbiology Department of the University of Nairobi and later at the Center for Virus Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Irene graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Biotechnology from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, in 2004. Her master’s thesis work was in Plant Biotechnology, focusing on genetic modification of Sweetpotato for viral resistance. From November 2004 to March 2006 Irene attended a hands-on training program in Dr. Fauquet’s lab, ILTAB, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri under the supervision of Dr. Nigel Taylor. The training was funded by USAID and was aimed at enhancing skills in molecular biology and cassava transgenic technologies.

Irene recently returned to ILTAB as part of the BioCassava Plus team at the Danforth Plant Science Center to perform research for the nutritional enhancement and viral resistance of cassava through genetic modification. This work is under the sponsorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ihuoma Umezurumba
African Scientist
Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA. Tel: 314-587-1252, Email: iumezurumba@danforthcenter.org

Ihuoma obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Combined Microbiology and Chemistry from University of Nigeria- Nsukka in 1998 and Master of Science degree in Applied Microbiology and Plant Pathology from University of Jos- Nigeria in 2004. Her MSc work was on the phytochemical and microbiological analysis of a combination of plant parts for the control of salmonella typhi infections. She is presently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology in the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike, Nigeria.

In June 23 2008, Miss Umezurumba joined the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike as a research scientist in the biotechnology unit where she worked on the improvement of root and tuber crops using plant tissue culture techniques. Presently she is training in cassava transformation in Claude Fauquet’s Lab, ILTAB, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri in order to improve the nutritional, postharvest, and disease resistance qualities in cassava.

When she is not working she enjoys reading and writing.

CIAT Laboratory
(Cali, Colombia)

Contact:
International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), AA 6713, Cali, Colombia
Email: c.egesi@cgiar.org
Tel: 57 2 445 0000
Fax: 57 2 445 0073

Herve Vanderschuren
Cassava Research Group Leader,
Institute of Plant Sciences, Plant Biotechnology Laboratory,
LFW E 14,
ETH Zurich Universitatstrasse 2
8092 Zurich Phone: Office: +41 44 632 8725 // Lab: +41 44 632 4952
E-Mail: h.vanderschuren@ethz.ch

Herve obtained his B.Sc. at the University of Agricultural and Bio Sciences of Gembloux (FUSAGx, Belgium). He continued his Master studies at the Institut National Agronomique Paris-Grignon (INAP-G, France). During his studies, he did several internships to gain knowledge in different fields such as molecular biology (Concordia University, Montreal, Canada), phytochemistry (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada), agronomy (Scottish Agricultural College, Aberdeen, UK). He did his Ph.D Studies in the field virus resistance engineering at ETH Zurich. Since 2007 he is leading the Cassava Research Group at the Plant Biotechnology Laboratory (ETH Zurich, Switzerland).

Outside the laboratory, he likes reading, theater, and hiking.

Isabel Moreno, M.S.
Institute of Plant Sciences,
Universitaetstrasse 2
8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Email: isabelm@ethz.ch
Tel:+41 44 6324952

Isabel completed a bachelor's degree in bacteriology at Catholic University, Manizales, Colombia. She obtained a master's degree in biological sciences major in genetics under the direction of Dr Martin Fregene at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia. Isabel worked as research assistant at CIAT during 2005-2007. Isabel worked on developing fine mapping and positional cloning of CMD2 dominant gene that confers high levels of resistant against cassava mosaic disease (CMD) in cassava. Her research was focused on the development of genomics resources for cloning useful genes in cassava including CMD and delayed post harvest deterioration. She was also involved in isolation of full-length cDNA clones of differentially expressed transcripts for traits of agronomic importance, understanding allele diversity at orthologous candidate genes in cassava, training students and visiting researchers on cloning, library construction, sequences analysis, tilling, RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis.

She is currently a doctoral student at the Institute of Plant science ETH-Zurich. Her research at ETH-Zurich focuses on evaluating different strategies to confer resistance in cassava against cassava brown streak virus.

Judith Adhiambo Owiti
Graduate student, Plant Biotechnology,
Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH Zentrum, Universitätstraße, 2 CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland.

Phone: +41 632 3823; E-mail: jowiti@ethz.ch

Judith obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya. She was awarded a Masters scholarship by the Rockefeller Foundation and proceeded to do a post-graduate training in Biochemistry at the same University. Her master's thesis work was on Plant Biotechnology, focusing on optimizing protocols for genetic engineering of sweet potato.

She proceeded to pursue graduate studies in Plant Biotechnology at the Institute of Plant Sciences, ETH Zurich through a Rockefeller scholarship. Currently, she is at the end of her Ph.D study whose generic title is "Towards understanding post harvest physiological deterioration of cassava" with special emphasis on comparative proteomic approaches. This work is being done in collaboration with department of Biochemistry, University of Bath, U.K. The work on post harvest physiological deterioration of cassava has stimulated her special interest in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to biotic and abiotic stresses.

Huahong Wang,

Post Doctoral Scientist
Institute of Plant Sciences,
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory,
ETH, Zurich, Switzerland

Huahong obtained her BSc and MSc degrees in Botany from the Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, China, and a Ph.D in botany from the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Her doctoral graduate research was on the metabolic profiling of transgenic Artemisia annua L.

Huahong joined as a postdoctoral researcher in the Plant Biotechnology Lab, (ETH Zurich) in 2009. She is involved in the cloning of cassava and Arabidopsis root specific promoters cloning, function identification and activity in transgenic cassava system.

Huahong likes nature, and she is enthusiastic to every novelty.

Michael Niklaus
Lab Technician,
Institute of Plant Sciences,
Plant Biotechnology Laboratory,
ETH, Zurich, Switzerland

In 2007 Michael finished his apprenticeship as a laboratory technician at Syngenta (Stein Research Center, Switzerland). The focus of his apprenticeship was plant biology, working both in a research laboratory team and in a field trial team. From 2007-2008 he worked for Syngenta in a research laboratory investigating fungicide resistance. The main task was the characterization of Mycosphaerella graminicola with DNA sequencing and Southern Blot. Michael is now working as a laboratory technician in the Cassava Research Group at the Plant Biotechnology Lab (ETH Zürich, Switzerland). He is responsible for cassava tissue culture and cassava transformation.

Michael is also a High School student in biotechnology.

Evans Nyaboga

Research Scientist
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute-Biotechnology Centre
BioCassava Plus Trainee, Swish Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH).

Evans Nyaboga graduated in 2002 with a BSc (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Nairobi, Kenya. In 2003, he was awarded a scholarship by the University of Nairobi to do a Master of Science in Biochemistry, of which he graduated in 2007. His MSc thesis was on molecular characterization of transgenic sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.) lines and the response of transformants to virus infection. On completion of his masters’ degree, Evans worked at the University of Nairobi, Kenya, as a part-time graduate assistant in the Department of Biochemistry.

In 2008, Evans worked as a research assistant at Kenya Agricultural Research Institute- Biotechnology Centre, where he was involved in molecular diagnosis of cassava mosaic disease (CMD) and cassava brown streak virus (CBSV) in cassava, banana streak virus (BSV) and cucumber mosaic virus (CMV) in banana.

During his leisure time, he enjoys listening to music and playing volleyball.

John Beeching Laboratory

Simon Bull
Research Officer
Department of Biology and Biochemistry
University of Bath, United Kingdom

Simon graduated from the University of Bath with a BSc (Hons) in Applied Biology in 1999. He spent 5 years working at the John Innes Centre, UK, where he was involved in several research projects investigating the disease complexes and molecular aetiology of geminiviruses that infect commercially important crops such as beans, cotton and cassava. From these studies a number of peer-reviewed papers have been published. He completed an MSc (Research) with Distinction from the John Innes Centre/University of East Anglia in 2005.

The project, which addressed the molecular diversity and infectivity of cassava mosaic viruses in Kenya, resulted in the identification of a novel species and a new strain associated with cassava mosaic disease. The project also constitutes the most comprehensive survey of begomoviruses (Family Geminiviridae) associated with a single disease undertaken to date and was published in the Journal of General Virology in 2006.

Simon is now working as a Research Officer in the University of Bath. His research is focused on modulating post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD) of cassava roots as part of the BioCassava Plus grant. He is also involved in collaborative research activities in ETH, Zurich to transform cassava to minimize PPD and thus improve marketability of the crop. Simon is a member of the Biochemical Society, Institute of Biology and the Society for Experimental Biology.

Ed Cahoon Laboratory

Felix R. Solomon, M.A.
Research Project Manager Dept. of Biochemistry & Center for Plant Science Innovation, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Email: fsolomon2@unl.edu. Tel: 402-472-0275

Felix obtained his B.A. in Biology from St. Louis University and M.A. in Biotechnology from Washington University in St. Louis. He worked for seven years at Washington University Medical School and another seven years at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the Wash U Microbiology Department. where he studied Salmonella typhimrium pathogenesis.

He joined the BioCassava Plus team in January of 2006 as a USDA employee at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. In April of 2007, he became an employee of the Danforth Center and in 2008 he re-located with the project to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.

Felix is a project manager in the Cahoon lab and conducts research on provitamin A and vitamin E biofortification. Felix is adapting to life in Nebraska and enjoys working out at the University's recreation complex in his spare time.

SIBS

Qian Xu
Senior Research Assistant
SIBS-ETH Shanghai Center for Cassava Biotechnology (SCCB)
Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, 300 Fenglin Road, 200032 Shanghai, China. E-mail: qianxu@sibs.ac.cn

Qian obtained her Ph.D. degrees in Molecular Genetics and Molecular Biology from the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2008. Her doctoral research was focused on molecular mechanism of PIN FORMED (PIN) gene (polar auxin transport control gene) and SHALLOT-LIKE 1 (SLL1) gene (rolled-leaf control gene ) in rice leaf development process. From July 2008, she has been working on cassava projects at SCCB with focus on whitefly resistance and identification of cassava functional genes.

Jia Liu
Research Assistant
SIBS-ETH Shanghai Center for Cassava Biotechnology (SCCB)
Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
300 Fenglin Road, 200032 Shanghai, China. E-mail: liujia01@sibs.ac.cnenior

Jia received a bachelor of Plant Sciences in 2005 and a Master of Agriculture Entomology in 2008 at Northeast Agricultural University of China. During her Master’s study, Jia was also a joint graduate student in Insect Molecular Biology at Sun Yat-sen University (2007-2008). Her master’s thesis was on the functional study of integrin in cellular immunity of insect. Since September 2008, she joined SCCB and participate in the BioCassava Plus Program with focus on the development of farm-preferred cassava cultivar transformation via somatic embryogenesis and shoot organogenesis.

Shi-Ling Zhao
Research Assistant
Shanghai Center for Cassava Biotechnology
Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology,
SIBS, Chinese Academy of Sciences
300 Fenglin Road, 200032 Shanghai, China
E-mail: slzhao@sibs.ac.cn

Shi-ling obtained his Master in Henan Key Laboratory of Plant Stress Biology, College of Life Science, Henan University, China, in 2009. During his Master’s study, he had studied the function of pH signal in NO-induced Stomatal Closure in Arabidopsis. He joined SCCB in July 2009 and is participating in the BioCassava Plus Program with focus on the development of farm-preferred cassava cultivar transformation via somatic embryogenesis and shoot organogenesis.

KARI

Sally Mallowa, In-Country PDM, KARI, Kenya
Email: sallymallowa@gmail.com, mallowa@yahoo.com

Sally is Kenyan and graduated in 2001, from Egerton University, Kenya, with a BSc in Horticulture (Hons.). In 2006 she completed an MSc. in Horticulture with a thesis on 'Survey and Management of Cassava Mosaic Disease in Western Kenya,' from the same university. Her major research interest lies in the field of Biotechnology , specifically Biosafety, and is currently pursuing a Post-graduate certificate in Biosafety in Plant Biotechnology at Ghent University in Belgium. She also has an interest in Crop protection and gender Issues in Agriculture. Since 2000, she ahs gained valuable research-related training and experience at the Kenyan Agricultural research Institute (KARI), CAB International (CABI) Africa regional Center - Nairobi and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Uganda. She has worked on various aspects of cassava research with KARI and other partners for the last five years. She is married to Paul and they have one son, Igen (meaning to HAVE HOPE). Outside research she loves travelling and cooking and bible study.

NRCRI

Chiedozie Egesi, PhD

Chiedozie is a Nigerian and served as a Cassava breeder at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria. The main focus of his research has been breeding for resistance to the major pests and diseases of cassava such as the cassava mosaic disease; and in the biofortification of cassava roots with beta carotene. The Cassava Research Programme coordinates the development of superior cassava varieties and national pre-release varietal trials conducted in all agroecologies of the cassava growing areas of Nigeria. He has numerous publications in cassava and yam breeding or genetics in peer reviewed journals. He also pioneered and supervised the introduction of molecular marker assisted breeding for important traits in cassava in NRCRI.

Chiedozie was also a postdoctoral researcher in the Cassava Genetics Laboratory of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia between late 2005 and Fall 2007. He worked on the introgression of delayed post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD) genes from Manihot walkerae (a wild relative of cassava) into cultivated cassava in the BioCassava Plus project. He also investigated the genetics of inheritance of the delayed PPD trait. The work was focused on transferring the PPD trait, through molecular breeding, into adapted cassava varieties for distribution to breeders and farmers in the major cassava growing areas of the world.

In the Fall of 2007, Chiedozie returned back to Nigeria where he continued his work on cassava variety development. From there he joined the BioCassava Plus team as the In-Country Product Development Manager for Nigeria where he coordinates all project activities with relevant stakeholders in Nigeria. Chiedozie’s goal is to apply modern molecular biotechnology approaches to low-cost and efficient improvement schemes aimed at making cassava fulfill its roles as a food security and poverty alleviation crop.

During his leisure time, Chiedozie enjoys traveling and visiting historic sites. He is married to Chioma and they have three lovely sons Chineme, Josh, and Stephen.

	November 2009 Completion of the Sequencing of the Cassava Genome Project begun in 2003.
	October 22, 2009 National Biosafety Committee (NBC) in Kenya announced the approval of a CFT permit for Kenya.
	October 22, 2009 Ms. Jenny Rooke, Program Officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's visit to the BC Plus laboratory in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
	October 19-21, 2009 Grand Challenges in Global Health (GCGH) Meeting and GC 9 Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania.
	October 14, 2009 First field trial of transgenic plants in Nigeria.
	October 12, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Tanzania.
	October 8-9, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Kenya.
	October 5-6, 2009 Reaching End Users Strategy Meeting in Nigeria.
	October 2009 Harvesting of transgenic cassava, Pro Vitamin A and Protein (Zeolin) in Puerto Rico.
	July 2009 Harvesting of the G5, Virus resistant plant in Puerto Rico.
	June 27-29, 2009 4th Annual Scientific Research Meeting of BC Plus in Puerto Rico.
	May 8-11, 2009 GC9 Meeting in Beijing, China.

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