2023 National Fusarium Head Blight Forum Poster Competition Winners

The 2023 NFHB Forum Poster Competition featured 22 posters presented by 16 graduate students and 6 post-doctoral researchers. Winners in both categories (Graduate Student and Post-Doctoral Researcher) received cash prizes generously sponsored by the North American Millers’ Association (NAMA). Evaluations consisted of two rounds where 26 judges evaluated the posters for content and professionalism. A huge thank you to all the judges and NAMA for making this year’s event possible. Here are highlights for each of the 2023 Poster Competition awardees...

 

Post-Doctoral Researcher Category

 

 

1^st Place: Lovepreet Singh, University of Minnesota, Pathogen Biology and Genetics, Poster #409 “High Resolution Melting (HRM) Assay for Rapid Identification and Differentiation of the Fusarium graminearum NX-2 Chemotype”

Lovepreet is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Minnesota and USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Lab, St. Paul, MN. He grew up on a small farm in the breadbasket of India, Punjab. Lovepreet’s farming background fuels his motivation to develop sustainable plant disease management strategies to ensure food security in an environmentally responsible way. He earned his PhD under the guidance of Dr. Nidhi Rawat at the University of Maryland. His PhD research focused on a multipronged approach for FHB management in wheat including genetic mapping for native disease resistance, fungicide efficacy studies for Miravis^® Ace, and studies to understand the mode of action of the wheat PFT gene. To continue his passion for unraveling Fusarium-plant host interactions, Lovepreet joined Dr. Mitch Elmore’s lab at the USDA-ARS Cereal Disease Lab. His project is using multi-omics (including transcriptomics, proteomics, and phospho-proteomics) approaches to study Fusarium graminearum and barley interactions with the goals of developing high-resolution gene regulatory networks and identifying susceptibility factors in FHB-barley pathosystems. Additionally, he is working to develop high-throughput molecular diagnostics tools for the chemotypes of Fusarium gramineaum. When not conducting research, Lovepreet likes to spend time in nature and play with his two-year-old son.

 

 

2^nd Place: Charlotte Brault, University of Minnesota, Variety Development and Host Resistance, Poster #502 “Genomic Prediction for Fusarium Head Blight Resistance in the Hard Red Spring Wheat Uniform Regional Scab Nursery”

Charlotte is from a small town in Burgundy, France. She completed her PhD in plant breeding and genetics from the University of Montpellier. Her research focused on grapevine breeding. She’s now a post-doctoral researcher working with Dr. Jim Anderson. Her current research focuses on optimizing wheat breeding programs using genomic selection. She’s working to optimize the selection gain using genomic selection and data from the breeding programs in the cooperative spring scab nursery. When not running R code, she enjoys hiking and discovering the state parks Minnesota has to offer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

3^rd Place: Adenike Ige, University of Minnesota, Variety Development and Host Resistance, Poster #508 “Investigating the Potential of Weighted Genomic Relationship Matrix in Optimizing Prediction Accuracy of Deoxynivalenol Accumulation in Barley”

Adenike is from Nigeria. She graduated from Pan African University with her PhD in plant breeding. She’s now a post-doctoral researcher working with Dr. Kevin Smith. Her current research focuses on deciphering the genetic architecture of traits using genomic data and phenotypes, and on using weighted genetic relationship matrices to predict breeding values using a genomic selection approach. When not running genomic selection models, she enjoys listening to music.

 

 

 

 

Graduate Student Category

 

 

1^st Place: Peter Oppenheimer, North Carolina State University, FHB Management, Poster #111 “Introducing Synthetic Spike-In Metabarcoding: a Novel, Sensitive, and Quantitative Method for Identifying Fusarium Species”

Peter is from Pelham, New York. He is pursuing his PhD in plant pathology at North Carolina State University with Dr. Christina Cowger. His research focuses on applying a microbial ecology method to research the distribution and diversity of toxigenic Fusarium across the eastern United States. He is also interested in leveraging antagonistic interactions between Fusarium species in order to identify a biocontrol agent that can reduce deoxynivalenol production by Fusarium graminearum in a field setting. When not working on his research project, Peter enjoys playing basketball and golf. He also loves traveling and taking care of his chinchilla, Askri.

 

 

 

 

2^nd Place: Isha Mittal, University of North Texas, Gene Discovery and Engineering Resistance, Poster #306 “Dual RNA-Sequencing Analysis of Lpx3 Conferred Resistance in Wheat During Fusarium graminearum Infection”

Isha is from Punjab, India. She completed her MS in botany at Punjab Agricultural University and is currently pursuing her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of North Texas with Dr. Jyoti Shah. Her research focuses on exploring host genes and mechanisms that enhance fungal virulence and infection in wheat as potential targets to manage FHB. She hopes to identify susceptibility factors and investigate whether suppression enhances resistance to FHB. Additionally, she wishes to determine if specific fungal genes are influenced by knockdown. When not working on her research, Isha enjoys traveling, cooking and roller skating as great ways to unwind and recharge.

 

 

 

3^rd Place: Yejune Moon, North Dakota State University, Food Safety and Toxicology, Poster #203 “Matrix Effect in Quantitative Analysis of DON and DON-3-glucoside in Wheat, Barley, and Malt Using Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry”

Yejune is from South Korea. She is currently an MS student at North Dakota State University working with Dr. Zhao Jin. Her research focuses on the transformation of deoxynivalenol to deoxynivalenole-3-glucoside in wheat, barley, and malt for food safety and evaluating the efficacy of crop resistance strategies. When not in the lab, Yejune enjoys cooking and swimming.

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to all the 2023 NFHB Forum Poster Competition awardees on their accomplishments. The USWBSI wishes each of them the best in all their future scientific endeavors. Additionally, the USWBSI would like to extend a thank you and congratulations to all the poster authors highlighting their researching and providing engaging Poster Sessions. The 2023 National FHB Forum Abstracts of all the posters and presentations are available for viewing.

 

(Please Note: The 2023 NFHB Forum Virtual Poster Room will remain open through the end of January. Make sure to check out these and all the posters before the Virtual Poster Room closes.)

 

You can also check out the series of previous USWBSI Featured Researchers.