Keynote Speaker

Dr. Laura M. Boykin
Senior Research Fellow & TED Fellow
School of Chemistry and Biochemistry
& Australian Research Council Center of Excellence in Plant Energy Biology
The University of Western Australia, Perth Australia

Dr. Laura Boykin is a computational biologist who uses genomics and supercomputing to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa control whiteflies, which have caused devastation of local cassava crops. Her lab at the University of Western Australia is using genetic data to understand the whitefly’s evolution. Boykin’s research has proven important genetic differences in various whitefly species. Boykin also works to equip African scientists with a greater knowledge of genomics and high-performance computing skills to tackle future insect outbreaks. Boykin completed her PhD in Biology at the University of New Mexico while working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in the Theoretical Biology and Biophysics group, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow and lab head at University of Western Australia and a senior TED Fellow.  She was invited to present her lab’s research on whiteflies at the United Nations Solution Summit in New York City for the signing of the Sustainable Development Goals to end extreme poverty by 2030. She promotes translational research.

ACHIEVEMENTS (the most significant amongst the many more):

• 5 Modern Women in STEM Who Are Changing the World (Laura Boykin: Bringing Agricultural Stability to Africa One Whitefly at a Time)
• Senior TED Fellow 2017  (TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks from science to business to global issues; from every discipline and culture to those who seek a deeper understanding of the world)
• 12 Badass women scientists in the world

• Main project funded through NRI by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: "African cassava whitefly: outbreak causes and sustainable solutions."

• Invited speaker to United Nations - University of Denver boot camp to end extreme poverty by 2030.

• Invited speaker to The Atlantic Dialogues for International Entomology Leadership Summit: Improving the Human Condition through Insect Science.
  

• Featured in Cray.com Amazing Impact on how they use supercomputer to fighting famine in East Africa and provide sustainable agriculture.
  

Institute of Systems Biology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +603 8921 4564/4549/4558/4557   |   Fax: +603 89213398   |   Email: [email protected]
Copyright of INBIOSIS 2017