illuminata women shaping the future of agriculture

Dr Catherine Feuillet received her PhD in 1993 from the Paul Sabatier University in Toulouse (France) with a research project focused on genes involved with lignification in eucalyptus. She then spent 10 years in Switzerland for postdoctoral studies and as assistant professor at the University of Zurich where she developed research projects aiming at the isolation of disease resistance genes and a better understanding of the genome structure and evolution of wheat and barley. In 2004, she was appointed by INRA (French National Agricultural Research Institute) as a research director in Clermont-Ferrand to lead and develop wheat genomics projects to support wheat improvement. In 2013, Catherine joined Bayer CropScience and became the head of the Trait Research. In 2018, she joined Inari as Chief Scientific Officer. Inari is designing seeds to help address one of the greatest challenges of our times - growing enough nutritious calories for a growing population while reducing the footprint of agricultural production on the environment. Catherine leads a group of ~100 scientists located in Cambridge (MA, USA) and in Gent (Belgium) that develop Inari’s SEEDdesignTM technology platform. The platform integrates A.I.-powered Predictive Design and advanced Multiplex Gene Editing tools to develop resilient seeds that require fewer natural resources and inputs, in a drastically shorter time and lower costs than current approaches. Catherine has coordinated several large national and European projects and is one of the founders of the International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium. She was elected the French “golden woman of the year for research” in 2008.  Then, for her achievement in wheat research, she received in 2009 the "Prix Foulon" from the French Academy of Sciences. She received the Legion of Honour in 2010, was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and, received the “Prix J. Dufrenoy” from the French Academy of Agriculture in 2012. Catherine has supervised the work of more than 30 masters, PhDs and postdoc scientists and published more than 130 scientific papers in peer reviewed journals and books.



INARI

https://inari.com/

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Dr Anna Backhaus is working on pre-breeding for cereals at ICARDA. Her work focuses on accelerating the identification and introgression of useful gene bank material. She also focuses on using the diversity in the more distal crop wild relatives (CWR) of wheat and barley. These are difficult to assess, and crossing barriers are in the way. However, CWR introgressions have shown great potential in breeding for dry areas. She believes germplasm diversity, but equally in the workplace, will be essential for future crop improvement. Furthermore, She is keen to advance the application and use of next-generation sequencing data in breeding and pre-breeding.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.



Dr Batiseba Tembo, a skilled plant breeder from Zambia, is dedicated to improving wheat yields and combating diseases like wheat blast. She works at the Zambia Agricultural Research Institute, focusing on developing high-yielding, disease-resistant wheat varieties. With a background in agricultural science and a Ph.D. in plant breeding, Tembo's research aims to address challenges faced by wheat farmers in Zambia. She is particularly known for her discovery of wheat blast in Africa and is actively working to identify resistant germplasm for breeding programs. Tembo's passion for wheat research drives her efforts to enhance food security and agricultural sustainability in Zambia and neighboring regions.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Dr. Jessica Rutkoski is an Assistant Professor and wheat breeder at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her mission is to develop varieties that will help improve the profitability of wheat production in the eastern part of the US. In line with this goal, Jessica’s scholarly research program develops and implements new ways to improve the efficiency of small grains breeding. Before joining the University of Illinois, Jessicaworked at International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), located in the Philippines and at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), located in Mexico.

 

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Paula Silva received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Universidad de la República in Uruguay, studying barley and wheat genetic resistance to diseases. During her master's, she had the opportunity to do an internship at CIMMYT, working with Dr. Sybil Herrera-Foessel, Dr. Julio Huerta-Espino and Dr. Ravi Singh. In 2021 she completed her Ph.D. in Genetics at Kansas State University under a Fulbright scholarship with Dr. Jesse Poland. Her research included phenomics and genomics for curl mite, yellow dwarf and blast, three economically important diseases affecting wheat. In 2013 she got a job appointment in Crop Molecular Breeding at Instituto Nacional de Investigación Agropecuaria (INIA) in Uruguay. In 2019, she was appointed at INIA to lead the wheat and barley disease resistance breeding program as well as the coordination of the Precision Phenotyping Platform for Multiple Wheat Diseases in collaboration with CIMMYT.

This episode is part of a series featuring recipients of the Jeanie Borlaug Laube Women in Triticum (WIT) award program from the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. The Borlaug Global Rust Initiative is an international consortium based at Cornell University dedicated to Norman Borlaug’s vision of fostering a new generation of hunger fighters. This series highlight the journeys and accomplishments of five WIT awardees in the world of wheat science. We really want to thank the amazing Maricelis Acevedo, that is the associate director for science and a 2010 WIT winner, for the support in making this series possible.

Samia Berraies was born wanting to work with wheat. Originally from Tunisia, she moved to Canada in pursue of the crop. In 2014, she received her PhD from a collaboration between the University of Natural Science in Tunisia and Laval University in Quebec, where she studied the genetic basis for resistance of durum wheat to Septoria Leaf Blotch and Leaf Rust. Currently she is a Cereal Molecular Pathologist at the Swift Current Research and Development Centre, at Agriculture and Agrifood Canada. In this role, shefocuses on understanding the genetic and molecular basis of resistance to several wheat diseases. This valuable information is shared with wheat breeders who use it in marker-assisted selection to incorporate disease resistance in Canadian wheat varieties. The impact of her work translates as substantial savings for Canadian farmers, enhanced crop quality, and ultimately, local and global food security.

About Women in Triticum (WIT): The Women in Triticum awards, part of the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative, recognizes and supports early-career female researchers and mentors in the field of wheat science. The program aims to promote collaboration, communication, and engagement among women in crop science, contributing to gender equality and advancement in agriculture.