News Release

Major award recognizes UK and global impact of wheat scientist

Norfolk Scientist with ambition to feed the world lands award

Grant and Award Announcement

John Innes Centre

Dr Cristobal Uauy, John Innes Centre

image: This is the award winning Dr Cristobal Uauy of John Innes Centre. view more 

Credit: John Innes Centre

World-leading wheat scientist, Dr Cristobal Uauy, has been awarded the prestigious Research Medal by The Royal Agricultural Society of England (RASE).

The RASE award recognises a string of benefits delivered by the work of Dr Uauy and his team in developing genomic techniques - and sharing them with national and international community of wheat researchers and breeders.

Dr Uauy, a project leader in crop genetics at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, uses modern molecular genetic approaches to identify genes which deliver yield and quality improvements to wheat.

Valuable traits developed using these ground-breaking techniques include increased grain size, resistance to pests and pathogens, biofortification, and reduced pre-harvest sprouting.

Dr Uauy has pioneered next generation sequencing approaches for marker development in wheat and facilitated the use of molecular markers (genes or DNA sequences associated with a particular trait) by breeders and researchers in the UK and across the globe.

"I am deeply honoured to be awarded the Royal Agricultural Society of England Research Medal. This is a recognition to our vibrant research team at the John Innes Centre and our drive to have impact on the agriculture sector," said Dr Uauy.

"Since arriving in the UK eight years ago I have worked closely with breeders to understand the most pressing needs of UK agriculture and to envisage ways in which my team's research could benefit farmers, consumers, and society at large."

Achievements outlined in the award include:

  • Developing genomics resources to make wheat research more available including PolyMarker, a web-based portal which designs specific markers in wheat and is used by many UK and European molecular breeders.
  • Creating the web resource which allows easy access to wheat gene expression data. Another website draws together information for breeders and researchers.
  • Working with partners to develop and share a mutant resource which allows users to search for potentially useful variation in bread and pasta wheat varieties.

Dr Uauy has helped to develop collaborations with scientists in Kenya, Ethiopia, India and Brazil, which has led to him leading the John Innes Centre International Science Strategy.

His work has appeared in 54 peer-reviewed publications and received more than 4,200 citations. Professor Lars Ostergaard programme leader in crop genetics at the John Innes Centre, said: "This award is richly deserved. Cristobal's programme on wheat genomics and genetics is unparalleled at the international level.

"The resources he has produced facilitate discoveries in wheat that would not have been possible - or even imaginable a few years ago."

The Royal Agricultural Society of England is an independent charity dedicated to the application of science and technology to optimise agriculture and food resources to ensure a secure global future.

The RASE awards recognise excellence in science and technology, the environment and business management.

The Research Medal is presented for research of outstanding merit carried out within the UK which is of benefit to agriculture.

For Dr Uauy, whose research is significantly funded by the BBSRC, the award is the latest stepping stone in a scientific career underpinned by a long-held ambition.

"Feeding the world perhaps sounds naïve but, from since I was young, my work comes from that motivation. I started studying agronomy and went on to research wheat straight away. People get over 20% of their energy and protein from wheat in most parts of the world. I wanted my work to have global impact."

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Background information:

For more information on the awards: http://www.rase.org.uk/awards/

Pictures/Media and captions: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B894VeUw0pgCZ3VlNmZpZmFNcE0

Notes for Editors

Contacts

Press Contact
Adrian Galvin
Tel: 01603-450238
Out of Hours Tel: 07881-255193
Adrian.Galvin@jic.ac.uk

About the John Innes Centre

The John Innes Centre is an independent, international centre of excellence in plant science and microbiology.

Our mission is to generate knowledge of plants and microbes through innovative research, to train scientists for the future, to apply our knowledge of nature's diversity to benefit agriculture, the environment, human health, and wellbeing, and engage with policy makers and the public.

To achieve these goals we establish pioneering long-term research objectives in plant and microbial science, with a focus on genetics. These objectives include promoting the translation of research through partnerships to develop improved crops and to make new products from microbes and plants for human health and other applications. We also create new approaches, technologies and resources that enable research advances and help industry to make new products. The knowledge, resources and trained researchers we generate help global societies address important challenges including providing sufficient and affordable food, making new products for human health and industrial applications, and developing sustainable bio-based manufacturing.

This provides a fertile environment for training the next generation of plant and microbial scientists, many of whom go on to careers in industry and academia, around the world.

The John Innes Centre is strategically funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC). In 2015-2016 the John Innes Centre received a total of £30.1 million from the BBSRC.

The John Innes Centre is also supported by the John Innes Foundation through provision of research accommodation and long-term support of the Rotation PhD programme.

The John Innes Centre is the winner of the BBSRC's 2013 - 2016 Excellence with Impact award.

For more information about the John Innes Centre visit our website http://www.jic.ac.uk

About the BBSRC

The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) invests in world-class bioscience research and training on behalf of the UK public. Our aim is to further scientific knowledge, to promote economic growth, wealth and job creation and to improve quality of life in the UK and beyond.

Funded by Government, BBSRC invested over £473M in world-class bioscience in 2015-16. We support research and training in universities and strategically funded institutes. BBSRC research and the people we fund are helping society to meet major challenges, including food security, green energy and healthier, longer lives. Our investments underpin important UK economic sectors, such as farming, food, industrial biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

For more information about BBSRC, our science and our impact see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk

For more information about BBSRC strategically funded institutes see: http://www.bbsrc.ac.uk/institutes


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