GEORGE OCHIENG ASUDI CURRICULUM VITAE. English (Proficient) and Swahili (Proficient)

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1 GEORGE OCHIENG ASUDI CURRICULUM VITAE Contact details P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya Mobile address address Nationality Kenyan Date of birth 4 th January 1983 Languages Marital status English (Proficient) and Swahili (Proficient) Married with one child ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS Oct 2012 Oct 2015: PhD, North-West University South Africa/ ICIPE Nairobi Kenya: Dynamics of Napier grass stunt disease between the wild and cultivated gramineae in East Africa. Sept 2007 Jul 2010: M.Sc. Plant Biotechnology, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT), Kenya. Apr 2003 Jul 2007: B.Sc. Botany (Plant Biotechnology) - Second class Honours (Upper division), JKUAT, Kenya WORK EXPERIENCE Jan 2016: Lecturer Biochemistry and Biotechnology Department, Kenyatta University, Kenya. P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya. Feb Dec 2015: Tutorial Fellow Biochemistry and Biotechnology Department, Kenyatta University, Kenya. P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya. Oct 2011 Mar 2015: Postgraduate Research Fellow Dynamics of phytoplasma between wild and cultivated gramineae in East Africa, International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya. May Aug 2014: Visiting PhD student: Phylogenetic analysis of phytoplasmas based on the seca and imp protein genes and Intergenic spacer region. Julius Kühn Institute, Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops and Viticulture, Schwabenheimer Street 101, Dossenheim, Germany (DAAD Sandwich Fellowship)

2 Sept Oct 2011: Research scientist (Biotechnology) Bio-prospecting at Kenya Wild Service, P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya Sept 2010 Oct 2011: Adjunct Lecturer in Molecular Biology Catholic University of Eastern Africa, P.O. Box Nairobi, Kenya Jan Jun 2010: Research assistant Efficacy trial of new biological pesticides on insect pests including thrips and white flies in flower farming screen houses, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) Nairobi, Kenya. P.O. Box Nairobi Kenya TECHNICAL SKILLS Molecular disease diagnostics, plant-microbe-insect interactions, Insect rearing, Sequence analysis using different softwares such as CLC Mainworkbench, Genetic analysis using Microsatellites, Efficacy trial, tissue culture, Biological control of pests and survey analysis, monitoring and evaluation. PROFESSIONAL BODIES Member of Horticultural Association of Kenya CREDENTIALS: AWARDS 1. Georg Forster Research Fellowship (Germany) (Postdoc) 2. Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst (DAAD) Sandwich PhD fellowship 2014 Julius Kühn Institute, Institute for Plant Protection in Fruit Crops and Viticulture Dossenheim Germany 3. DAAD PhD Regional fellowship ICIPE, Kenya/ North-West University, South Africa 4. North-West University Doctoral and Institutional Bursary Rattansi Education Trust M.Sc. fellowship Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology FUNDED RESEARCH/ GRANTS a. McKnight Foundation (USA) (10-689), Developing an integrated management approach for Napier grass stunt disease in East Africa. b. Research, Production and Extension division of JKUAT, Improving Papaya Germplasm in Kenya JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS Asudi GO, Van den Berg J, Midega CAO, Schneider B, Seemüller E, Pickett JA, Khan ZR Detection, identification and significance of phytoplasmas in wild grasses in East Africa. Plant Dis. 100(1),

3 Asudi GO, Midega CAO, Van den Berg J, Pickett JA, Khan ZR The significance of Napier grass stunt phytoplasma and its transmission to cereals and sugarcane. J. Phytopathol. 164, doi: /jph Asudi GO, Van den Berg J, Midega CAO, Pittchar J, Pickett JA, Khan ZR, Napier grass stunt disease in East Africa: farmers perspectives on disease management. Crop Protection. 71, Ombwara FK, Asudi GO, Rimberia FK, Ateka EM, Wamocho LS, The distribution and prevalence of papaya ring spot virus in Kenyan papaya. Acta Hort (ISHS). 1022, Asudi GO, Ombwara FK, Rimberia FK, Nyende AB, Ateka EM, Wamocho LS, Evaluating diversity among Kenyan papaya germplasm using simple sequence repeat markers. AJFAND. 13, Asudi GO, Ombwara FK, Rimberia FK, Nyende AB, Ateka EM, Wamocho LS, Shitanda D, Onyango A, Morphological diversity of Kenyan papaya germplasm. Afri. J. Biotechnol. 9, Wamalwa NIE, Midega CAO, Ajanga S, Omukunda NE, Ochieno MWD, Muyekho FN, Asudi G.O, Mulaa M, Khan ZR. Screening Napier grass accessions for resistance to Napier Stunt Disease using the Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification of DNA (Manuscript in Preparation). Asudi GO, Van den Berg J, Midega CAO, Schneider B, Seemüller E, Pickett JA, Khan ZR Phylogenetic analysis of Napier grass stunt (NGS) and Hyparrhenia grass white leaf (HGWL) phytoplasmas based on the seca and immunodominant protein (imp) gene. (Manuscript in Preparation) CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS Asudi GO, Ombwara FK, Rimberia FK, Nyende AB, Ateka EM, Wamocho LS, Shitanda D, Onyango A, Morphological characterization of Kenyan papaya germplasm (Carica papaya L.). Acta Hort. (ISHS) 911: Asudi GO, Ombwara FK, Rimberia FK, Nyende AB, Wamocho LS and Ateka EM. Collection and documentation of Papaya germplasm in Kenya Second RUFORUM Biennial Meeting September 2010, Entebbe, Uganda DEGREE THESES Asudi GO. (2015). Dynamics of Napier stunt phytoplasma between the cultivated and wild graminae in East Africa. Potchefstroom, South Africa: North-West University, PhD Thesis. sequence=1

4 Asudi GO. (2015). Collection, morphological and molecular characterization of papaya germplasm in Kenya. Juja, Kenya: Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, M.Sc. Thesis. CONFERENCES ATTENDED May 5 9 th 2014: The 6th Annual meeting of the East and Horn of Africa Community of Practice of the Collaborative Crop Research Program organised by The McKnight Foundation in Nairobi Kenya. I presented an oral presentation on Detection, identification and characterization of phytoplasmas in East Africa. Jun 30 th Jul 3 rd 2013: The XVIII Congress of the Entomological Society of Southern Africa held at the North-West University, South Africa. I presented a poster entitled Farmers Awareness and Perceptions of Napier Stunt Disease Incidence in East Africa th Nov 2010: The 12th KARI Biennial Scientific Conference, Nairobi. I presented a paper entitled Diversity of African indigenous vegetables with nutrition and economic potential in the Lake Victoria region. 31 st 3 rd Sept 2009: 1 st All Africa Horticulture Congress grown under the sun organized by the International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS) in Nairobi. I presented a poster titled morphological characterization of Kenyan papaya germplasm. 22 nd 26 th Sept 2008: 1st All Africa Congress on Biotechnology organized by the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) held in Nairobi, Kenya TRAINING/ SEMINAR ATTENDED Sept th 2015 Synthetic Biology biosafety and contribution to addressing societal challenges organized by North-West University, GenØk-Centre for Biosafety and NIBIO/Bioforsk (Norway) at North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa. The training was financed by a grant from the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sept 7 th 11 th 2015: Research proposal writing course at ICIPE, Nairobi Kenya organized by the International Foundation for Science (IFS) and ICIPE. Jul th 2015: Science writing skills at ICIPE, Nairobi Kenya organized by ICIPE, The Community of Excellence for Research in Neglected Vector Borne Zoonotic Diseases and African Women in Agricultural Research and Development May th 2015: Finger Millet Genome Annotation Jamboree at BecA-ILRI Hub, ILRI Campus Nairobi organised by BecA-ILRI Hub, in collaboration with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi- Arid Tropics and Bio-innovate Africa

5 Mar 9 13 th 2015: Spatial Statistics using R training course at ICIPE, Nairobi Kenya organized by CIRAD and ICIPE May 6 17 th 2013: Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics at BECA-ILRI, Nairobi funded by the Austalian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through a partnership between CSIRO and the BecA-ILRI Hub, the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Sida. I presented a poster entitled Dynamics of Napier stunt phytoplasma between wild and cultivated Gramineae. Jun 4 8 th 2012: Napier grass stunt disease; Phytoplasma genetics and phylogeny at ICIPE, Nairobi, Kenya Oct 2011 February 2012: Various courses; Biostatistics and data analysis using R Statistics, GIS, Photography, Entomology, scientific writing and Molecular disease diagnostics at ICIPE, Nairobi Kenya. 22 nd 29 th Oct 2011: Ecology its Basics and Applications organized by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and ICIPE at ICIPE Mbita Point campus. 30 th Aug 2010: Benefits of open access for research dissemination, usage, visibility and impact workshop organized by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in collaboration with EIFL.net held at AICAD. 9 th Apr 2010: Biotechnology status in Kenya workshop organized by the African Biotechnology Stakeholders Forum (ABSF) in Nairobi, Kenya. 3 rd Sept 2009: Hortivar training, a geo-referenced database on performance of horticulture cultivars and a platform for horticulture knowledge management and exchange in Nairobi, Kenya th May, 2009: ISO Certification (ISO 9001:2000) training organized by Quality Assurance Systems Limited in Nairobi Kenya. 1 st Dec 2008: Grants proposal-writing workshop organized by Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and International Foundation for Science 9 th Jul 2008: Intellectual Property Rights seminar organized by JKUAT held at Juja, Kenya REFEREES Prof. Zeyaur Rahman Khan, Principal Scientist, Plant Health Department - ICIPE. P.O. Box , MBITA, Kenya. zkhan@icipe.org; Tel: Dr. Damaris A. Odeny, Scientist ICRISAT, Nairobi Kenya. D.Odeny@cgiar.org; Tel:

6 Prof. Johnnie Van den Berg, Head of Zoology Department, North-West University Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom, 2520 South Africa, Tel: +27 (018)