Biography
Dr Karen Aitken is a Principal Research Scientist in CSIRO Agriculture and Food, based in Brisbane.
Karen completed her PhD at the John Innes Centre in the UK working on wheat genetics she then moved to the USA where she was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis working on molecular genetics. Karen joined CSIRO to work on sugarcane genetics and disease interactions. She has led a series of collaborative projects aimed at understanding the complex polyploid genome of sugarcane. She led the development of the first sugarcane SNP array which is being used for selection of high sucrose and disease resistance in a number of sugarcane breeding programs.
Achievements and Awards
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2010-2011
Queensland International Fellowship
Queensland Government -
2012-2012
Presidents Medal for best publication
Australian Society of Sugarcane Technologists
Professional Areas
Current Roles
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Project Leader
SRA2018/005 Genetic analysis and marker delivery for sugarcane breeding -
Project Leader
SRA2018/006 Selecting high value chromosomes from Saccharum species -
Principal Investigator (PI)
United States Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute community science program, 502967 Understanding polyploidy through the generation of the first sugarcane genome sequence
Professional Experiences
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2014-present
Molecular Biology Committee
International Society of Sugarcane Technologists
Grants
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2018-2022
Genetic analysis and marker delivery for sugarcane breeding, SRA
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2018-2020
Selecting high value chromosomes from Saccharum species, SRA
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2014-2017
Generation of a high thoughput SNP chip for introgression of resistance genes, SRDC, SRA
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2013-2018
Applying the genome sequence for variety improvement: validation and implementation, SRA
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2014-2016
The Sugarcane Hub, development of an interface between sugarcane genome sequence and sugarcane genetic data, SRA
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2014-2017
Selecting high value chromosomes from wild introgression material to deliver more resistant varieties, SRA
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2012-2015
Investigation of the genetic mechanisms of smut resistance in sugarcane, SRDC
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2012-2016
Development and testing of a SNP marker platform in sugarcane, SRDC, SRA