Prof Robert Henry

Robert Henry was Foundation Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at the University of Queensland, is a researcher in the Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture and was foundation Director of the ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon. He was previously Research Director of the Grain Foods CRC and Research Program Leader in the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre.  His research targets plant genomics to capture novel genetic resources for diversification of crops to deliver improved food and biomaterials.

Prof David Craik

David Craik AO, FRS, FAA, is a Professor of Chemistry at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Innovations in Peptide and Protein Science.

His research focuses on applications of cyclic peptides and toxins in drug design. He is recipient of a number of prizes in the peptide field, including the Hirschmann Award of the American Chemical Society. He was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023 in recognition of his services to the sciences of chemical biology and medicinal chemistry and to mentorship. He is author of more than 800 papers and has trained 100 PhD students.

Prof Jimmy Bottela

Dr. Jimmy Botella is a Professor of Plant Biotechnology at the University of Queensland and the director of the Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory specialising in the fields of tropical and subtropical agricultural biotechnology. He obtained a degree in Quantum Chemistry from the University of Madrid (Spain) and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Malaga (Spain).  

Dr Botella has published >150 scientific papers and his work has been cited in excess of 12,900 times by authors in 116 countries, (h-index 66; i10 index 141). Dr Botella has performed collaborative research with groups across the world including USA, Germany, UK, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Malaysia, India, The Philippines, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan and Korea. Dr Botella has been granted eleven international patents in the field of Plant Biotechnology and is a founding member of two biotechnology companies.

Dr. Botella has been awarded the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists and is a member of the Expert Scientific Panel for the Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (the national coordinating organisation for the Australian agricultural biotechnology sector). Dr Botella is a member of the Singapore National Research Foundation College of Experts and the Chinese Innovation and Talent Introduction Plan.

Prof Yasmina Sultanbawa

Dr. Jimmy Botella is a Professor of Plant Biotechnology at the University of Queensland and the director of the Plant Genetic Engineering Laboratory specialising in the fields of tropical and subtropical agricultural biotechnology. He obtained a degree in Quantum Chemistry from the University of Madrid (Spain) and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Malaga (Spain).  

Dr Botella has published >150 scientific papers and his work has been cited in excess of 12,900 times by authors in 116 countries, (h-index 66; i10 index 141). Dr Botella has performed collaborative research with groups across the world including USA, Germany, UK, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Malaysia, India, The Philippines, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Japan and Korea. Dr Botella has been granted eleven international patents in the field of Plant Biotechnology and is a founding member of two biotechnology companies.

Dr. Botella has been awarded the Chinese Academy of Sciences Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists and is a member of the Expert Scientific Panel for the Agricultural Biotechnology Council of Australia (the national coordinating organisation for the Australian agricultural biotechnology sector). Dr Botella is a member of the Singapore National Research Foundation College of Experts and the Chinese Innovation and Talent Introduction Plan.

Dr Ricky Vanarao

Dr Ricky Vinarao is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Queensland’s Mitchell Lab (RiceDen). He has more than ten years of experience in rice genomics. He develops genomic tools for rice pre-breeding in water-limited temperate production systems, targeting deep rooting, cold tolerance and lodging resistance. Rice Breeding Australia now uses the molecular markers he developed to select climate-resilient varieties. He is also a CI on an AgriFutures Australia project on the genetics of lodging resistance. He previously spent seven years at the International Rice Research Institute, using wild rice species to improve cultivated rice, and is a co-inventor on a patent for hybrid rice seed production.