AfPBA CRISPR Course Instructors
Rita Mumm, Ph.D., Director & Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Professor emerita, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL USA
Rita has had a long career of Seed Product Development in the private and public sectors since earning a PhD degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding at the University of Illinois. A trailblazer in bringing new crop varieties to market utilizing technological innovations and genomics-assisted approaches, she has contributed to agricultural food system advancements through the seed industry, academia, and international development. She holds several US and European patents.
In addition to serving as Director of the African Plant Academy, she serves as Director of Capacity Development and Mobilisation for the African Orphan Crop Consortium (AOCC), provides consulting services to the seed industry through GeneMax Services, and teaches around the world in the UC Davis Plant Breeding Academy. She serves on several scientific advisory boards, and previously served two terms on the CIMMYT Board of Trustees, with roles as Chair of the (Scientific) Program Committee and Chair of the Nominations Committee. She was the first President of the US-based National Association of Plant Breeders (NAPB) and, more recently, led the Education and Training component of the USAID Soybean Innovation Lab.
Rita is passionate about advanced-degree education to prepare the next generation of crop improvement scientists as well as educational empowerment of the current global workforce through continuing education to address food and nutritional insecurity and eradicate stunting due to malnutrition.
Dave Savage, Ph.D., Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Dave is a Professor of Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology in the Department of Molecular & Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley and was recently selected to be an Investigator in the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dave was born and raised in rural Iowa. He continues to help manage his family’s farm, which was recognized in 2010 as an Iowa Heritage Farm. Dave attended Gustavus Adolphus College, where he earned a B.A. in Chemistry and minored in Computer Science. He received his Ph.D. in 2007 from UCSF for his work on membrane protein structure determination with Robert Stroud. From 2007 to 2011, Dave was a Life Sciences Research Foundation fellow with Pamela Silver in the Department of Systems Biology at Harvard Medical School.
Research in the Savage Lab focuses on understanding and engineering two of the most compelling biochemical systems found in nature: genome editing and carbon fixing enzyme machineries. Ultimately, this works seeks to develop enabling genome editing technology and apply it for improving photosynthetic CO2 fixation in plants. For this work, Dave’s research has been recognized with the DOE Early Career Program Award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, and he was selected for the 2018 “Future of Biochemistry” issue by ACS-Biochemistry. In addition to this research, Dave is a co-creator of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory course on synthetic biology, a founding member of the Engineering Biology Research Consortium, and a co-founder of Scribe Therapeutics.
Leena Tripathi, Ph.D., Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Director, Eastern Africa Hub
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Dr. Leena Tripathi is the Director of Eastern Africa Hub and leads the Biotechnology Program at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a member of One CGIAR. She also leads the Genetic Innovation Science area at IITA. With over 26 years in plant biotechnology, her focus lies in enhancing staple crops like banana/plantain, cassava, and yam to resist diseases and pests, crucial for global food security. She champions a "Science to Practice" approach, ensuring her research translates into practical solutions worldwide. Her scientific contributions have been recognized internationally through several awards and honors, such as an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and an elected Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS).
Dr. Tripathi and her team have established a robust genetic transformation platform at IITA-Kenya to develop transgenic and gene-edited products and transfer these technologies to national agricultural research systems in sub-Saharan Africa. She collaborates globally with advanced labs in the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, and Australia, as well as with national partners in Africa and various regional partners. Beyond her role at IITA, Dr. Tripathi contributes to academia as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Queensland, Australia, and plays advisory roles as a member of the external advisory panel of Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development, UK, and advisory board member of Cornell Alliance for Science (AfS). She serves on the editorial boards of esteemed journals such as Plant Biotechnology Journal, Communication Biology, Frontiers in Genome Editing, Scientific Reports, and Plant Cell Reports.
Dr. Tripathi holds a Ph.D. in Botany (Plant Molecular Biology) and an M.Sc. in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She worked at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, USA before joining IITA. Her multidisciplinary efforts underscore her dedication to advancing agricultural biotechnology, which is crucial for addressing global food security challenges.
Evan Groover, Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Ph.D. Candidate, University of California, Berkeley
Evan Groover is a PhD candidate at UC Berkeley, where he works at the Innovative Genomics Institute developing CRISPR gene editing tools for agriculture. He is using gene editing to improve the photosynthetic efficiency and nutritive qualities of grain sorghum, and works testing new CRISPR editors in a variety of crops.
Evan is broadly involved in communicating the current state of CRISPR gene editing to legislators and the public, and is passionate about the democratization of gene editing to meet the needs of the international agricultural community. He is a founding instructor for the AfPBA CRISPR Course, an instructor for the Innovative Genomics Institute's Indian CRISPR Course, a leader of various scientific outreach programs focused on CRISPR, and an advisor to nonprofits and funds investing in gene editing technology to combat climate change. He holds a BS in Molecular Biology with Honors from the University of Washington, and previously worked in the startup world developing technological solutions to food insecurity in Asia and South America. Beyond his PhD, hopes to lead a research program developing and utilizing gene editing tools to solve problems in food and climate.
Nicholas Karavolias, Ph.D., Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Postdoctoral Scholar, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Nicholas is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory working in the lab of Dr. Zachary Lippman. He specializes in CRISPR-based editing in crops for climate change adaptation, with experience working with rice, tomato, and cassava. His current research focuses on identifying novel targets for trait improvement in the Solanaceae using comparative genomics, genetics, and CRISPR. Nicholas is passionate about the vast possibilities for food security, innovation, and equity that biotechnology in agriculture can offer.
Jaindra Tripathi, Ph.D., Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Dr. Jaindra N. Tripathi holds a Ph.D. in plant biotechnology, currently working as a scientist at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), hosted by Biosciences for east and central Africa/ International Livestock Research Institute (BecA/ILRI) hub, Nairobi, Kenya. He has over 23 years of research experience in biotechnological techniques such as plant tissue culture, genetic engineering, and genome editing of tropical crops, especially banana, cassava, enset, potato, and yam. His research interests are to develop diseases and pest-resistant crop varieties using modern biotechnological tools such as genetic modification and genome editing for crop improvement. His focus is on applying advanced scientific tools and engaging scientific inventions to practical applications for farmers in Africa to enhance food production for the growing population globally. His research findings have been published in 69 journal articles in high-impact journals like Nature Biotechnology, Plant Biotechnology Journal, Communications Biology, Scientific Reports, Frontiers in Plant Sciences, and several news articles and book chapters.
Samwel Muiruri, Ph.D., Instructor, African Plant Breeding Academy CRISPR Course
Visiting Scientist, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nairobi Station
Samwel Muiruri a Visiting Scientist at IITA holds a PhD in Genetics, a Master of Science in Plant Physiology and Biochemistry and Bachelors of Science (Botany and Zoology) from The University of Nairobi. Samwel has worked extensively in plant genomics, genetic engineering and molecular biology leveraging the wide array of tools to improve tropical crops. Some of the key highlights of his research include development of haploid inducers in bananas for accelerated banana breeding, genome editing to knockout banana genome integrant and use of viral vectors for gene delivery in tomato and cassava. Currently, his research focuses on application of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing in the improvement of banana against biotic stress.
AfPBA CRISPR Course Staff
Thomas Zschocke, Ph.D., Head of Knowledge, Information, and Capacity Development for CIFOR-ICRAF
Dr. Thomas Zschocke serves as the Team Leader of the Knowledge, Information and Capacity Development (KIC) Unit at ICRAF. He joined ICRAF in 2011 first as the head of the Capacity Development Unit (formerly Training Unit), then as the head of the Knowledge Management Unit; both Units were merged to form KIC in 2020. Prior to joining ICRAF Thomas worked in similar capacities at the International Potato Center (CIP) in Lima, Peru, and at the United Nations University (UNU-EHS) in Bonn, Germany. He attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, USA, receiving a doctoral degree in education with a focus on international education and instructional technology.
Imelda Ingumba, Capacity Development, Learning and Engagement Officer for CIFOR-ICRAF
Imelda Ingumba holds the position of Capacity Development, Learning and Engagement Officer at CIFOR-ICRAF. Imelda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Administration and a Master’s degree in Strategic Management. While at ICRAF, Imelda has assisted with individual learning activities and interacted with the centre's scientists, students and partners. Imelda is based in Nairobi, Kenya and leads logistical support for the African Plant Breeding Academy (AfPBA) including travel itineraries for students and on-site arrangements.
Whitney Lowe, Program Manager for UC Davis Plant Breeding Academies
Whitney Lowe joined the Seed Biotechnology Center in 2021 and coordinates pre-planning logistics for the African Plant Breeding Academy as well as the Plant Breeding Academies in Davis and Europe. Whitney received her B.S. degree from San Diego State University and has a background in program management and hospitality, which reflects in the relationships she has with PBA students and instructors. She enjoys bringing seed industry professionals from around the world together to learn about plant breeding and help feed our world.