Leena Tripathi Email & Phone Number

Plant Biotechnologist with over 25 years’ experience in the genetic improvement of major staple food crops for controlling diseases and pests to enhance production. My focus is on “Science to Practice” and linking scientific innovations to practical applications to solve worldwide food production issues.Currently, I am working as the Director for East Africa Hub and Biotechnology Leader at IITA. I also provide science leadership as a faculty member of various institutions and play an advisory role as a member of the external advisory panel of Norwich Institute for Sustainable Development, UK, and advisory board member of Cornell Alliance for Science. I am serving as an Editorial Board Member or Associate editor of several journals. My scientific contributions have been recognized through several awards and honors, such as excellence awards for outstanding scientists and publications. I have been honored as an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) for contributions to Agriculture.After obtaining a Ph.D. in Botany specializing in Plant Molecular Biology, I began my career as a Research Scientist at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, USA, in 1999. Since then, I have worked for over 23 years at IITA-CGIAR. In my current role, I am providing leadership to multidisciplinary scientists and specialists to implement the IITA strategy in six countries in East Africa. My team has established a robust genetic transformation platform at IITA-Kenya, to develop transgenic and gene-edited products, aiming to transfer these technologies to national agricultural research systems in sub-Saharan Africa. We've implemented a product stewardship program and quality management system, leading to IITA's certified member to “Excellence through Stewardship”. Through pioneering work in banana genetic engineering, we've created transgenic banana resistant to the deadly Xanthomonas wilt disease, with field trials in Uganda showing promising results. We've also extended this technology to enset in Ethiopia and are leading a project to develop nematode-resistant plantain. Using RNAi technology, we've demonstrated resistance to viruses in banana and cassava, and recently showcased the inactivation of the Banana streak virus using CRISPR/Cas9. Our current focus is on developing gene-edited bananas with resistance to bacterial, viral, and fungal diseases.The research outputs of my group have been published in 117 articles and featured in over 280 news articles and documentary films like CNN- Earth’s Frontiers, and Food Evolution.

Listed skills include Leadership, Quality Management, Crispr/Cas9 Based Genome Editing, Molecular Diagnostics, and 37 others.