Francis Onyilo is a Spring 2015 Borlaug LEAP Fellow, joining the program from the East African country of Uganda.  He is currently enrolled at the University of Makerere and is pursuing a PhD in Molecular Plant Pathology and Biotechnology. His research is focused on the use of genetic modification in African banana and plantain plants to help combat the black Sigatoka disease, caused by the Mycosphaerella fijiensis fungus.  As bananas are an important crop across Africa, for both income and food, helping stem their loss due to disease is crucial to the livelihoods and well being of many people. His concern is that while Uganda’s population is increasing, food production has seen an overall downward trend, bananas and plantains included. He hopes to help identify the RNA sequencing responsible for the resistance to M. fijiensis and introduce it into banana cultivars, which could then help increase overall production.

Throughout his academic career, Francis has studied internationally across Africa, Belgium, and the United States. As a part of his Master's thesis, he did research on potato gene resistance to the potato cyst nematode.  He has also worked as a crop protection research supervisor with the Kinyara Sugar Company, where he designed and implemented field trials for pest and disease management. While his work is mainly focused on agriculture and food security, he knows first-hand just how interconnected poverty, poor education and food insecurity can be, having witnessed the destruction 20 years of war and unrest brought to Uganda.  As a Scout Leader, Francis has been a part of community mobilization efforts to bring better hygiene and sanitation knowledge to rural areas. He also created a farmer-to-farmer community extension program while working as an intern with Action Against Hunger.  He hopes to continue to model good leadership skills while mentoring youth and other students.

During his Fellowship year, Francis will be working with Dr. Bryce Falk of the University of California, Davis and Dr. Leena Tripathi, currently at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nairobi, Kenya.  Dr. Falk is a distinguished professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and will be mentoring Francis on the technical aspects of plant breeding and genetic modification.  Dr. Falk will also help him refine his goals and monitor his research progress.  Dr. Tripathi is the Team Leader and Senior Scientist in Biotechnology at IITA. She will be providing hands-on experience for Francis in her lab, in the area of transgenic research and experimentation.  While there, he will also have to opportunity to interact with many other young, international scientists who are currently working in similar fields.  Francis expects to finish his PhD in September 2016.