BioCassava Plus

BioCassava Plus is an integrated team of scientists from Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and North America whose objective is to reduce malnutrition among the 250 million people in sub-Saharan Africa who rely on cassava as their staple food by delivering a more nutritious and marketable cassava.

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Research Staff

Mr. Shuaibu Kahya

African Trainee Scientist, Sayre Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center,
975 North Warson Road, St. Louis, MO 63132
314-587-1689
skahya@danforthcenter.org

Mr. Shuaibu Kahya is a Molecular Biologist with the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria. He holds a Higher National Diploma in Microbiology/Virology and Post Graduate Diploma in Crop Protection/Plant Pathology. Mr. Kahya’s work has been largely on Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) in Cassava Breeding activities of the general Challenge Program (GCP) funded Molecular Biology Laboratory at NRCRI, Umudike, rests largely on his shoulders. His vision is to apply biotechnology to solve a variety of genetic and environmental problems hindering the production of Root and Tuber Crops in Nigeria. He is happily married to his heartthrob, Asmanana S. Kahya.

Dr. Eliana Gaitan-Solis

Research Scientist
VIRCA/BC Plus Operations Coordinator, Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, 975 North Warson Road
St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA.
314-587-1468
egaitansolis@danforthcenter.org

Eliana obtained her bachelor's degree from the Universidad del Valle (Cali-Colombia) in Biology focused on genetics in 1994. She spent 10 years working at CIAT, Palmira-Colombia, where she was involved in molecular marker development and implementation of new methodologies for determining molecular diversity and molecular mapping studies in common bean, Brachiaria and palms. In 2004, she obtained her PhD in plant breeding from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Palmira-Colombia. Her PhD was funded by a scholarship for tuition and research from COLCIENCIAS, Colombia.

Eliana's doctoral research was focused on population genetic structure and molecular genetic diversity of three endangered Colombian palms. After finishing her PhD, she worked for one-year as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Illinois.  This work involved the isolation of promoters from 10 genes highly expressed in soybean under flooding stress. In 2005 she joined BioCassava Plus as a postdoctoral fellow at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. The research is focused on increasing the zinc content of the cassava tuber by overexpressing two zinc transporters from Arabidopsis thaliana.

Ms. Irene Muchiri

African Scientist
Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center,
975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA.
314-587-1252
imuchiri@danforthcenter.org

Irene Njagi Muchiri is a Senior Research Scientist at the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya. She works in the Department of Biotechnology’s Tissue Culture and Transformation Laboratory. She graduated with a Higher Diploma in Medical Laboratory Technology from Kenya Polytechnic, Nairobi in 1985, specializing in Microbiology and Immunology. She initially worked as a Technologist in the Microbiology Department of the University of Nairobi and later at the Center for Virus Research at the Kenya Medical Research Institute.

Irene graduated with a Master of Science Degree in Biotechnology from Kenyatta University, Nairobi, in 2004. Her master’s thesis work was in Plant Biotechnology, focusing on genetic modification of Sweetpotato for viral resistance. From November 2004 to March 2006 Irene attended a hands-on training program in Dr. Fauquet’s lab, ILTAB, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri under the supervision of Dr. Nigel Taylor. The training was funded by USAID and was aimed at enhancing skills in molecular biology and cassava transgenic technologies. rene recently returned to ILTAB as part of the BioCassava Plus team at the Danforth Plant Science Center to perform research for the nutritional enhancement and viral resistance of cassava through genetic modification. This work is under the sponsorship of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Ms. Ihuoma Umezurumba

African Scientist
Fauquet Lab, Donald Danforth Plant Science Center,
975 North Warson Road, St, Louis, Missouri, 63132, USA.
314-587-1252
iumezurumba@danforthcenter.org

Ihuoma obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in Combined Microbiology and Chemistry from University of Nigeria- Nsukka in 1998 and Master of Science degree in Applied Microbiology and Plant Pathology from University of Jos- Nigeria in 2004. Her MSc work was on the phytochemical and microbiological analysis of a combination of plant parts for the control of salmonella typhi infections. She is presently pursuing a Ph.D. degree in Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology in the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture in Umudike, Nigeria.

In June 23 2008, Miss Umezurumba joined the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike as a research scientist in the biotechnology unit where she worked on the improvement of root and tuber crops using plant tissue culture techniques. Presently she is training in cassava transformation in Claude Fauquet’s Lab, ILTAB, at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri in order to improve the nutritional, postharvest, and disease resistance qualities in cassava. When she is not working she enjoys reading and writing.

Edgar Cahoon Laboratory, University of Lincoln-Nebraska

Mr. Felix R. Solomon

Research Project Manager
Dept. of Biochemistry & Center for Plant Science Innovation,

University of Nebraska-Lincoln
fsolomon2@unl.edu
402-472-0275

Felix obtained his B.A. in Biology from St. Louis University and M.A. in Biotechnology from Washington University in St. Louis. He worked for seven years at Washington University Medical School and another seven years at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute in the Wash U Microbiology Department. where he studied Salmonella typhimrium pathogenesis.
He joined the BioCassava Plus team in January of 2006 as a USDA employee at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. In April of 2007, he became an employee of the Danforth Center and in 2008 he re-located with the project to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln.
Felix is a project manager in the Cahoon lab and conducts research on provitamin A and vitamin E biofortification. Felix is adapting to life in Nebraska and enjoys working out at the University's recreation complex in his spare time.

National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI)

Dr. Chiedozie Egesi

Chiedozie is a Nigerian and served as a Cassava breeder at the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Nigeria. The main focus of his research has been breeding for resistance to the major pests and diseases of cassava such as the cassava mosaic disease; and in the biofortification of cassava roots with beta carotene. The Cassava Research Programme coordinates the development of superior cassava varieties and national pre-release varietal trials conducted in all agroecologies of the cassava growing areas of Nigeria. He has numerous publications in cassava and yam breeding or genetics in peer reviewed journals. He also pioneered and supervised the introduction of molecular marker assisted breeding for important traits in cassava in NRCRI.

Chiedozie was also a postdoctoral researcher in the Cassava Genetics Laboratory of the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia between late 2005 and Fall 2007. He worked on the introgression of delayed post-harvest physiological deterioration (PPD) genes from Manihot walkerae (a wild relative of cassava) into cultivated cassava in the BioCassava Plus project. He also investigated the genetics of inheritance of the delayed PPD trait. The work was focused on transferring the PPD trait, through molecular breeding, into adapted cassava varieties for distribution to breeders and farmers in the major cassava growing areas of the world.

In the Fall of 2007, Chiedozie returned back to Nigeria where he continued his work on cassava variety development. From there he joined the BioCassava Plus team as the In-Country Product Development Manager for Nigeria where he coordinates all project activities with relevant stakeholders in Nigeria. Chiedozie’s goal is to apply modern molecular biotechnology approaches to low-cost and efficient improvement schemes aimed at making cassava fulfill its roles as a food security and poverty alleviation crop. During his leisure time, Chiedozie enjoys traveling and visiting historic sites. He is married to Chioma and they have three lovely sons Chineme, Josh, and Stephen.

Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) Laboratory