简介
Plant Biotechnologist with over 25 years’ experience in the genetic improvement of major staple food crops to control diseases and pests, enhance productivity, and strengthen food security. My work emphasizes translating cutting-edge science into practical solutions, linking innovation to real-world agricultural transformation, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
I currently serve as the Director for the Eastern Africa Hub, Science Area Director for Genetic Innovation, and Biotechnology Program Lead at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA). In this role, I oversee strategic programs across genebank, biotechnology, breeding, and seed systems for key crops such as banana, cassava, yam, maize, cowpea, and soybean. This portfolio enables me to lead and integrate advanced research in crop improvement across multiple countries to improve crop resilience, enhance yields, and ultimately bolster farmer livelihoods. Through this experience, I am able to translate high-impact scientific research into practical solutions that support agricultural transformation in diverse settings.
I also provide scientific leadership across global institutions, holding appointments such as Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia and serving on advisory panels for the Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development, UK, Cornell Alliance for Science, USA, and the External Technical Evaluation Panel of World Coffee Research (WCR). I am a Board Member of the International Society of Molecular Plant-Microbe Interactions and serve on editorial boards for Communications Biology and Scientific Reports, and as Associate Editor for Plant Biotechnology Journal, Plant Cell Reports, and Frontiers in Genome Editing.
My leadership in the field has been recognized with several international awards for scientific excellence and impactful publications. I am honored to be an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) for my contributions to agriculture.
At IITA-Kenya, my team has established a robust genetic transformation platform for developing transgenic and gene-edited crops, facilitating technology transfer to national agricultural research systems across sub-Saharan Africa. We have implemented a comprehensive product stewardship program and quality management system, earning certification from "Excellence through Stewardship." Our pioneering work in banana genetic engineering has led to the creation of varieties resistant to the destructive bacterial Xanthomonas wilt disease, crucial for the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in East Africa, with successful field trials conducted in Kenya and Uganda. We’ve also expanded our innovations to enset, a staple food crop in Ethiopia, and developed nematode-resistant plantain, which has been tested in Uganda. Utilizing RNAi technology, we demonstrated resistance to critical viral threats, including the Banana Bunchy Top Virus and Cassava Brown Streak Virus. Currently, our lab focuses on genome editing, successfully inactivating the Banana Streak Virus and developing resistance to Xanthomonas wilt disease using CRISPR/Cas9. We are also working on gene-edited varieties of banana, enset, maize and tomato to enhance resistance against various diseases, as well as developing semi-dward varieties of yam. Through these efforts, we aim to provide sustainable agricultural solutions that significantly benefit farmers in the region and beyond.
My passion for capacity strengthening is a core part of my work. I have supervised over 36 postgraduate and numerous undergraduate students and trained over 600 scientists from African National Agricultural Research Systems in modern biotechnology. I also led Africa’s first in-depth CRISPR training program under the African Orphan Crops Consortium (AOCC), the African Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA), in partnership with UC Davis, and the Innovative Genomics Institute at UC Berkeley through which 32 researchers from 10 countries have received hands-on training and gone on to initiate gene editing programs in their home institutions.
Over the course of my career, I have cultivated strong global collaborations with advanced research labs and National and regional partners. I have mobilized more than USD 34 million for my lab’s research and an additional USD 63 million for broader IITA Eastern Africa Hub. The results of my research have been published in over 133 articles in refereed journals with high-impact factors like Nature Biotechnology or in book chapters. Our work has also received widespread media attention, appearing in over 300 national and international news outlets and documentaries such as CNN’s Earth’s Frontiers and Food Evolution.
With a Ph.D. in Botany specializing in Plant Molecular Biology, my career began in 1999 as a Research Scientist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA. Over the past 25 years at IITA, I have contributed s
