Our Team
The Dry Bean Breeding & Computational Biology Program thrives thanks to our diverse, passionate team. Together, we’re cultivating innovation in agriculture.
Principal Investigator
Dr. Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi
Principal Investigator
Head of the AI-Driven Plant Breeding and Computational Biology in AI4Food
2024–Present
Overseeing the dry bean breeding and computational biology program.
Staff
Lyndsay Schram
Head Technician
2021–Present
Overseeing crossings, field trials, technician management, and breeding program operations.
Alexander Schaefer
Technician
2023–Present
Assisting with technical tasks.
Sajal Ahlawat
Research Assistant
Exploring Advanced Breeding Techniques.
Postdoctoral Fellows
Graduate Students
Aashvi Patel
Master Student
Researching Genomics-Based Selection for Anthracnose Resistance.
Philip Lorenc
Master Student
Researching Phenomics-Based Selection for Anthracnose Resistance.
Mehdi Babaei
PhD Student
Co-advised with Dr. Davoud Torkamaneh.
Sarika Saini
PhD Student
Co-advised with Dr. Istvan Rajcan.
Arwa Sheheryar
Master Student
Co-advised with Dr. Yan Yan.
Leah Chin
Master Student
AI-based sensory evaluation and canning quality assessment in dry beans.
Indhu Ayyappan
Master Student
CFIA collaborative projects studying E. coli and antimicrobial resistance in food systems using genomic analysis.
Yifei Zhou
Master Student
Co-advised with Dr. Yan Yan.
Visiting Scholars & Faculty
Douglas de Oliveira Maciel
Visiting Research Scholar
Universidade Federal de Goiás
Screening a Dry Bean GWAS Panel for Resistance to Two Contrasting HG Types of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN).
Marc Ernso GEORGES
Visiting Research Scholar
Universidade Estadual de Santa Cruz
Screening a Dry Bean GWAS Panel for Resistance to Two Contrasting HG Types of Soybean Cyst Nematode (SCN).
Undergraduate Students
Trinity Solinger
Undergraduate Student
Participate in field work and provide support to the technicians.
Abrienna Mills
Undergraduate Student
Developing an Image Processing Pipeline for High-Throughput Analysis of Drone Images.
Collaborators and Volunteers
Dr. Alexandros Kouretsis
External Collaborator
Developing AllInOne Genomics R Shiny App.
Koosha Rokhzadi
Volunteer
Developing Predictive AI algorithms for the dry bean breeding program.
Paul Dosekun
Volunteer
Assisting with field and lab research.
Taiya Moreau
Volunteer
Assisting with field and lab research.
Chloe Chen
Volunteer
Assisting with field and lab research.
Alumni
<h3 style="color: rgb(0,0,0); font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; text-align: center;"Abrienna Mills</h3>Former Undergraduate Student
2024-2026
<h3 style="color: rgb(0,0,0); font-size: 1.6rem; font-weight: 600; margin-bottom: 0.5rem; text-align: center;"Abrienna Mills</h3>Former Post Doctoral Researcher
2025-2026
Niki Esmaeili
Former Volunteer
2025-2026
Ryan Male
Former Undergraduate Student
2025
Ruby Rogers
Former Volunteer
2025
Cyrus Lysander Chrakyan
Former Volunteer
2025
Kiarash Mirkamandari
Former Volunteer
2025
Shania Van Herk
Former Technician
2021-2025
Madison Taylor
Former Undergraduate Student
2024
Christian Alloway
Former Undergraduate Student
2024
Anna Collins
Former Undergraduate Student
2025