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Developing Massively Parallel Sequence for Agricultural Surveillance 

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $169,960

Total award amount   $339,969

Location   Starkville, MS

Matching Funders   Mississippi State University

Grantee Institution   Mississippi State University

Global commerce has increased the introduction of exotic plant pathogens and pests to new areas. Farmers need a reliable system to detect newly introduced pests and pathogens. Mississippi State University researchers are combining existing technologies with novel data analysis to detect diverse plant pathogens and insects of importance in row crop, orchard and forestry settings, which will help protect agricultural systems.

Diet, the human gastrointestinal microbiome and metabolic health 

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $299,744

Total award amount   $599,488

Location   Urbana-Champaign, IL

Matching Funders   The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Grantee Institution   University of Illinois

The microbiome in human guts and diet are linked to public health issues including obesity, liver disease and diabetes. While the microbiome is susceptible to changes in diet, there is a dearth of knowledge on how specific foods effect microbiome and how diet and the microbiome are related to disease treatment and prevention. University of Illinois researchers are furthering general understanding of how foods impacts health. The project is providing information that will help consumers to make healthful food choices.

A Novel Bioassay for Culturing and Characterizing Fastidious Phytopathogens 

Year Awarded  2017

FFAR award amount   $299,993

Total award amount   $599,986

Location   College Station, TX

Matching Funders   Southern Garden Citrus

Grantee Institution   Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center

Fastidious pathogens, bacteria that only grow in specific conditions, cause huge agricultural losses and cost farmers billions of dollars annually. Candidatus Liberibacter spp. are fastidious pathogens that cause the potato zebra chip and Citrus greening diseases. Complicating matters, these pathogens are will not grow in laboratory conditions, making it difficult to understand them. To support citrus growers and help other producers manage diseases, Texas A&M AgriLife Research & Extension Center researchers are testing a method of screening for disease resistance genes and chemicals that can combat the pathogens causing citrus greening and potato zebra chip diseases. The research will be translated into disease management strategies that help growers and prevent billions of dollars in annual losses.

First FFAR Grantees: Meet the 2016 New Innovators 

Portrait of Sally Rockey.

Sally Rockey, Ph.D.

Executive Director Emeritus

Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research Grants New Innovator Award to Nine Early Career Scientists Pursuing Research with Transformative Potential 

FFAR at the Borlaug Dialogue: Celebrating the New NAS Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences 

Portrait of Sally Rockey.

Sally Rockey, Ph.D.

Executive Director Emeritus

FFAR and Borlaug Dialogue Attendees Celebrate New $100,000 National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food and Agriculture Sciences 

Honoring & Inspiring Future Breakthroughs: New Prize 

Portrait of Sally Rockey.

Sally Rockey, Ph.D.

Executive Director Emeritus

Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research Establishes National Academy of Sciences Prize in Food & Agriculture Sciences with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Support 

Using Eye Tracking to Better Understand Food Choices 

Year Awarded  2016

FFAR award amount   $300,000

Total award amount   $600,000

Location   Ithaca, NY

Matching Funders   ADM Animal Nutrition, Evonik Nutrition & Care GmbH

Grantee Institution   Cornell University

When consumers make food choices, they choose between nutritional content and more immediate attributes, such as taste. Cornell University researchers are promoting healthier food choices by highlighting certain attributes of food choices through laboratory and field experiments.