Joanna Jankowicz-Cieslak is a plant molecular biologist (and genome scientist) with over 17 years’ experience in the field of molecular biology, genomics and crop improvement with the use of mutation breeding techniques. She holds a PhD in biological sciences from the Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland (2011) and a Habilitation degree in biology from the University of Silesia, Katowice, Poland (2019) for her work on mutation induction and functional genomics of plants of special importance in the global South. Her research is focused on the development and adaptation of new tools, protocols and guidelines for mutation induction and discovery in vegetatively propagated crops such as banana. She has extensive experience with induced mutagenesis, in vitro tissue culture, and the application of genomics tools for mutation detection in banana. She has established the first reverse genetics approach for banana and showed that induced mutations in banana are stably inherited over successive in vitro generations. She (co-) authored over 60 original research papers, monographs and book chapters as well as co-edited three protocol books. Ivan L. Ingelbrecht is involved at the Joint FAO/IAEA Centre of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture at the IAEA (www.iaea.org) as Head of the Plant Breeding and Genetics Laboratory in the coordination of R&D in the field of mutation-assisted plant breeding. Since 1994 he has worked on the development of modern biotechnology and molecular genetics tools for the improvement of banana, sugarcane, sorghum and cassava for universities and international organizations in Africa, Europe, and the USA. He has extensive expertise in R&D project management as a project lead and senior R&D Manager at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Nigeria (www.iita.org) (2001-2010). His current research is focused on integrating genomics technologies with advancedcell culture and conventional mutagenesis techniques of banana, coffee and sorghum for improved food and nutrition security, climate change adaptation, and transboundary disease resistance. He has published over 80 research items, including 56 peer-reviewed journal articles, co-authored 3 books and 6 book chapters in the field of plant breeding and biotechnology. He holds a PhD in Plant Molecular Biology from Ghent University, Belgium (1993).
