J. Lusu Kika

J. Lusu Kika is a PhD Postgraduate Student at the Crop Science Centre as part of the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge.

Biography

I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture (Crop Science) form Kenyatta University (Kenya). For my final-year’s research, undertaken at the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe, Nairobi), I worked on pollination efficiency of indigenous African stingless bees. This placement was the genesis on my interest in research which later became focused on plant pathology, specifically in understanding the molecular and evolutionary mechanisms underlying the relationships between plants and their pathogens. Subsequently, I joined Ghent University (Belgium) for a Master's in Nematology. For my master's thesis research, I went to the Institut Sophia Agrobiotech (Sophia Antipolis, France), where I worked on functional characterization of root-knot nematodes’ effectors.

For my PhD now, I have joined the Derevnina’s and Eves-van den Akker’s groups to work on defining and functionally characterizing the “core” effectorome or root-knot nematodes, by focusing on four of the most important, but also genetically diverse species of the Meloidogyne genus.

Qualifications

2023 - MSc in Nematology - Ghent University, Belgium

2019 - BSc in Agriculture Science (Crop Science) - Kenyatta University, Kenya

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Awards

2023 Cambridge Africa Changemakers Scholarship for a PhD in Plant Sciences

2023 Erasmus+ Studentship mobility grant

2021 VLIR-UOS Scholarship for the Master of Nematology at Ghent University

2020 Kariuki-VLIR-UOS travel award to attend the Basic Crash Course Nematology at IITA/icipe, Nairobi from 14-18 December 2020.

Committees

2024 - Organising Committee - Norwich-Cambridge Student Symposium (NoCaSS)