Robert J Henry International Plant Molecular Biology Conference 2024

Robert J Henry

Professor Robert Henry conducts research on the development of new products from plants. He is Professor of Innovation in Agriculture and Foundation Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), a Research Institute of the University of Queensland established in collaboration with the Queensland Government. He was previously Director of the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University, Research Director of the Grain Foods CRC and Research Program Leader in the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre. His current research targets plant genome sequencing for the capture of novel genetic resources for diversification of food crops to deliver improved food products. Robert Henry has been involved in establishing several Cooperative Research Centres in Australia and has contributed to the management of research funding by Rural Research and Development Corporations. He is a graduate of the University of Queensland (B Sc (Hons)), Macquarie University (M Sc (Hons)) and La Trobe University (Ph D). He was awarded a higher doctorate (D Sc) by the University of Queensland for his work on variation in plants, is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a recipient of the Guthrie Medal for his contributions to cereal chemistry. Robert Henry is a senior editor of the Plant Biotechnology Journal. Research Interests Robert Henry’s research seeks to improve food and energy security by applying biochemical and molecular tools to the development of improved crop varieties. This research involves analysis of domesticated crops, wild relatives of crop species and potential new crop species. His research aims to define the basis of human selection for quality in food and non-food crops. These traits are critical to satisfying food and energy security because new plant varieties that may have higher yields may not be accepted for production by farmers if they fail to meet consumer expectations of quality and as a result are not marketable. Current research focuses on the major global food crops, rice and wheat and the leading current and potential energy crops, sugarcane and eucalypts and adapting agriculture to climate echange. Analysis of nutritional and functional characteristics ranges from determination of human preferences for properties of foods from bread to coffee and the chemical composition that determines the suitability of plant biomass for biofuel or biomaterial production. Whole genome sequencing and targeted sequencing of the functional parts of the genome allow associations between genetic variation and important traits to be established. Chemical and biochemical dissection of vital traits is facilitated by linking genetic variation at the whole genome level to function at the biochemical and molecular level.