On Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, Dr. Tesfamichael Kebrom was awarded a Faculty Innovation and Enhancement (FIE) funding for a collaborative research project to “Acquire Plant Growth Facility to Establish Plant Genomics Research at PVAMU”, for the amount of $19,110.00. This collaborative research project is also supported by the College of Agriculture and Human Sciences (CAHS) with $20,000.00, and the Center for Computational Systems Biology with an additional $20,000.00. This collaboration was made possible by enthusiastic support from Dean D’Souza (College of Agriculture and Human Sciences) and Dean Obiomon (Roy G. Perry College of Engineering). For this project, Dr. Kebrom will collaborate with Dr. Xishuang Dong who will provide computational support for the data generated from this collaboration.

Dr. Kebrom was hired as a Research Scientist for Plant Systems Biology at the Center for Computational Systems Biology (Roy G. Perry College of Engineering) and the Cooperative Agricultural Research Center (College of Agriculture and Human Sciences) in April 2019. His current research interest focus on identifying gene regulatory networks and molecular pathways controlling plant growth and development in response to environmental and endogenous factors using plant systems biology approaches, and developing strategies for improving crop yield and tolerance to abiotic stress such as reduced light, water, and plant nutrients.