Byung-Kook (Brian) Ham, research chair in plant molecular signaling at the Global Institute for Food Security (GIFS) and assistant professor in the biology department in the University of Saskatchewan, was one of eight researchers at the institution to receive a $1.3 award million from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI). The CFI John R. Evans Leaders Fund will support leading-edge projects in food security, human health, environmental protection, public safety and computer technology.
Ham’s $225,000 CFI award will support his research into real-time imaging of the long-distance molecular signaling agents in plants—in response to nutrient-limited stress conditions. This research will help to understand the mobile dynamics of potential signaling molecules that function as mediators, communicating the nutrient demands between plant root and shoot systems.
The vision of the Global Institute for Food Security is to create ingenious science that delivers sustainable food security for the world. Ham’s research, will contribute to this vision by developing strategies to breed crop plants that acquire nutrients better and that use them more efficiently.