Initiative: Genetic Innovation Initiatives

Ranjana Bhattacharjee is Molecular Geneticist with specialization in Molecular Breeding and based at the Bioscience Center, IITA-Ibadan.

Bhattacharjee is responsible for supervising research projects in yams and cacao involving molecular characterization using DNA markers, linkage mapping, QTL analysis, association mapping and genome-wide association studies. She represents the African Cocoa Breeder’s Working Group (ACBWG) to participate in projects involving cacao sustainability in West and Central Africa. She is presently involved in the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) funded project ‘African Cocoa Initiative’ (ACI) to fingerprint the cocoa germplasm from West and Central Africa. In addition, she is involved in USAID-linkage project for linkage mapping and QTL analysis for anthracnose disease in Dioscorea alata (water yam), IITA-JIRCAS collaborative project on ‘Whole Genome Sequencing of D. rotundata’ and IITA-MAFF project on nutrient use efficiency for D. alata and D. rotundata.

Dr. Bhattacharjee obtained her PhD in Plant Breeding from CCS Haryana Agricultural University while she was a Research student in the International Center for Research on Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru, Hyderabad, India. She was a postdoctoral scientist at IITA, Central Biotechnology Laboratory, Ibadan, Nigeria and Scientist, Pearl Millet Breeding, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. She has been involved in various collaborative projects between IITA, USDA-ARS, USAID, MARS and national programs in West and Central Africa for cocoa molecular breeding. Her professional background in molecular breeding and statistical biometrics has resulted in several publications.

Michael Abberton is Head of the Genetic Resources Center, IITA, Ibadan, since August 2012. He obtained his B.Sc. in Botany and Ph.D. in plant cytogenetics from the University of Manchester and subsequently undertook postdoctoral research in molecular biology at the University of St. Andrews. Following two years working on coffee germplasm improvement in Malawi he joined the Institute of Grassl and and Environmental Research (IGER), Aberystwyth, UK. in 1993. For a number of years he carried out research and breeding in forage legumes and became Head of the Plant Genetics and Breeding Department at IGER. Following merger with Aberystwyth University in 2008 [creating the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS)] he became Professor of Public Good Plant Breeding and Director of International Development.

Asrat Asfaw Amele, an Ethiopian, has joined IITA-Abuja, Nigeria, as a Yam Breeder. He obtained a BSc degree in Plant Science from the former Alemaya Agricultural University (now Haromaya University), Ethiopia in 1995. He has an MSc degree in Plant Breeding and Genetics from CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hissar, India. He obtained his PhD in Plant Breeding at Wageningen University, The Netherl ands in 2011.

Before this appointment, he had been a Potato Breeder at the International Potato Center, sub-Sahara Africa Regional Program since 2012.

Beatrice Aighewi is a Yam Seed System Specialist. She is a Cameroonian / Nigerian citizen. She has a PhD in Agronomy from the University of Ibadan (1998). She obtained an M.Sc. in Agronomy (1986) and B.Sc. in Agriculture (1983) from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria.

Prior to her appointment, she was a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Crop Science, University of Abuja since 2008. She was also a consultant with IITA between 2003 and 2007.

Dr. Leena Tripathi is the Director of Eastern Africa Hub and Leader of the Biotechnology Program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a member of One CGIAR. She is leading the transgenic and gene-editing research at IITA. She has been involved in plant biotechnology research for more than 25 years, with specific interests in crop improvement. She focuses on “Science to Practice” and linking scientific innovations to practical applications to solve food production issues worldwide. Her primary research focuses on genetically improving important staple food crops like banana/plantain, cassava, and yam to control diseases and pests. Her scientific contributions have been recognized internationally through several awards and honors, such as excellence awards for outstanding scientist and publications. She has been honored as an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for her contributions to Agriculture.
Dr. Tripathi and her team have established a robust genetic transformation platform at IITA-Kenya, to develop transgenic and gene-edited products and transfer these technologies to national agricultural research systems in sub-Saharan Africa. She collaborates globally with advanced labs in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, as well as with national partners in Africa, and various regional partners. She serves as Editorial Board Member for Plant Biotechnology Journal, Communication Biology, Frontiers in Genome Editing, Scientific Reports, and Plant Cell Reports. Leena obtained her Ph.D. in Plant Molecular Biology and M.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She worked at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro before joining IITA.

Trushar Shah is the Integrated Breeding Platform (IBP) Hub Manager. He is a Kenyan national. He graduated from the University of Bristol, UK, with an honors degree in biochemistry, molecular biology, and biotechnology. He holds an MSc in molecular modeling and bioinformatics from Birkbeck, University of London.

Before joining IITA, he was a Scientist (Bioinformatics) and Coordinator, Data Management Unit at ICRISAT. He also worked as Bioinformatics Specialist & Computational Biology (2007–2009) at CIMMYT on the analysis of gene expression, association mapping, marker and genomic data.

Morag Ferguson is a Scientist working in Crop Genetics and Molecular Breeding at IITA, based in Nairobi, Kenya. She works mainly with cassava and more specifically on host plant resistance or tolerance to biotic stresses, particularly cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD). She has also worked on a number of other IITA crops including bananas, cowpea and yam.

Morag obtained her PhD in Conservation Genetics from the University of Birmingham, UK, while based at the International Centre for Agriculture Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Aleppo, Syria. She has had postdoctoral stays at the University of Southampton (UK), ICARDA (Arabian Peninsula) and ICRISAT, Hyderabad, India, with some time spent at the University of Georgia (USA), before joining IITA in Nairobi in 2002.

Over the past few years Morag has been working to find molecular markers associated with resistance/tolerance to CBSD, but also keeps up her interest in genetic diversity, studying diversity in cassava in South, East and Central Africa and in East African Highl and Banana. She has supervised several MSc, PhD and Post-doctoral students. She works closely with the National Agriculture Research programs in both Tanzania and Ug anda, with DSMZ in Germany and UC Berkeley, Dow AgroSciences and Cornell University in USA.