Dr. Gustavo A. Slafer
Gustavo A. Slafer (PhD University of Melbourne) is a Research Professor of ICREA at AGROTECNIO-CERCA Center, and the University of Lleida (Catalonia-Spain). His research has focused on studying the mechanisms underlying the responses of grain crops (mainly but not only wheat and barley) to environmental and genetic factors, with lines of research focused on understanding traits determining yield physiology and their plasticity.
He published more than 200 papers, more than 40 chapters and 7 books by International Publishers. His h-index is 67 (Web of Science, Core Collection) or 90 (Google Scholar). He is Honorary Professor of the Universities of Nottingham (UK, since 2005) and Buenos Aires (Argentina, since 2018); Editor/Associate Editor of several journals; and “Fellow” of the Crop Science Society of America.
Dr. Elizabete Carmo-Silva
Elizabete is an expert on the regulation of carbon assimilation by Rubisco in crop plants, especially wheat and cowpea. She leads a research team that aims to understand and improve the efficiency of photosynthesis to optimise the sustainability and climate resilience of crop production.
She received her undergraduate degree in applied plant biology at the University of Lisbon, where she went on to earn her PhD researching photosynthesis and photorespiration in C4 grasses. She specialized on the regulation of Rubisco by its molecular chaperone Rubisco activase as a postdoctoral researcher with the USDA-ARS, then started exploring this knowledge for crop improvement as a research scientist at Rothamsted Research. She joined Lancaster University in 2015 to start a research group that focuses on Rubisco regulation in crops.
Dr. Ana Butrón
Ana Butrón belongs to the Maize genetics and breeding research group of the Misión Biológica de Galicia (CSIC) in Pontevedra. For approximately 30 years, her research activity has been focused on the genetics and improvement of maize resistance to various biotic stresses caused by insect attack and fungal infections, especially, on genomics of resistance to maize stem borers and kernel contamination with mycotoxins, maize response induced by biotic attack and maize metabolites involved in resistance.
These studies have allowed them to generate new knowledge about the plant-parasite interaction and the development of resistant varieties to biotic stresses and have contributed to a more general goal, the increase of the sustainability of agriculture by reducing inputs, limiting the environmental impact of agriculture and enlarging crop genetic variability. She has contributed with more than 120 SCI papers and participated in 27 research projects, being principal researcher in five of them.
Dr. Philippa Borrill
Dr. Philippa Borrill is a Group Leader in the Department of Crop Genetics at the John Innes Centre. Philippa’s research investigates the genetics controlling the nutritional value of wheat grain. Her research also explores how the multiple gene copies in wheat interact to influence agronomically important traits. Her lab uses diverse approaches including transcriptomics, map-based cloning and molecular biology to identify and characterise genes within the large, complex wheat genome. Her lab works across scales from single cells to field-scale experiments.
Previously, as a BBSRC Anniversary Future Leader Fellow, Philippa developed a series of key resources for wheat genomics including a gene expression atlas which has been used by over 45,000 people globally. Philippa’s work on wheat genomics and transcriptomics has been recognised by awards such as the New Phytologist 2019 Tansley Medal for Excellence in Plant Science and the Society for Experimental Biology 2022 Plant President’s Medal.
Philippa is committed to making wheat research accessible to other scientists, industry and the general public. She has organised multiple training workshops in wheat bioinformatics and co-developed a wheat training website. Philippa was elected from 2021-2024 to Chair the Monogram (UK small grain cereals) network which connects UK academics and breeders through an annual conference.