Professor Lee Hickey

ARC Future Fellow

Centre for Crop Science
Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation
l.hickey@uq.edu.au
+61 7 336 54805

Overview

Professor Lee Hickey is a plant breeder and crop geneticist within the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at The University of Queensland, Australia. He leads a diverse research team that specialises in plant breeding innovation to support development of more productive food crops like wheat, barley, mungbean and chickpea. This includes understanding the genetics of key traits like drought adaptation and disease resistance, plus the development of novel technologies to assist plant breeders. He has a strong interest in the integration of breeding technologies, such as the rapid generation advance technology ‘speed breeding’ with genomic selection and genome editing. His advice for speed breeding crops is sought internationally and the technology is now adopted by plant breeding programs worldwide, which is fast-tracking development of improved crop varieties for farmers. His research outcomes have featured in 84 refereed publications, including articles in high profile journals Nature Plants, Nature Protocols and Nature Biotechnology. Lee is a prolific science communicator and his research outcomes have appeared in mainstream media such as BBC World News, National Geographic, and the New York Times. He is passionate about training the next generation of plant breeders and currently mentors 19 PhD students, while 14 of his previous graduates now work for leading plant breeding companies and high-profile research institutes around the globe.

Check out the Hickey Lab website here

Follow Professor Lee Hickey on Twitter: @DrHikov

Research interests

  • Speed breeding techniques to reduce the length of breeding cycles
  • Understanding the genetics of physiological traits that support yield in different environments
  • Integrating breeding technologies to accelerate genetic gain in breeding programs
  • Innovative genomic selection methodologies
  • Identifying novel sources of disease resistance

Research Impacts

Tapping into roots to develop sustainable wheat

Professor Hickey's ARC Future Fellowship aims to deliver genetic solutions to optimise root systems in wheat crops, read the article here.

Digging deep to boost barley

Teaming up with Integrain, Australia’s leading barley breeding company, in an ARC Linkage project to develop innovative breeding methods develop more productive crops in the face of climate change.

Why the world needs faster food

We need to embrace new technology to feed the world in the face of climate change and rapidly evolving pests and diseases: watch A/Prof Hickey's TEDx talk.

Grow Faster, Grow Stronger: Speed-Breeding Crops to Feed the Future

Speed breeding technology featured in the New York Times, read the article here.

Lab-free genome editing to develop future crops

Professor Hickey reieved a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to develop lab-free genome editing systems, watch the video.

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Research Commercialisation, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland

Publications

  • Cha, Jin-Kyung, O’Connor, Kathryn, Alahmad, Samir, Lee, Jong-Hee, Dinglasan, Eric, Park, Hyeonjin, Lee, So-Myeong, Hirsz, Dominique, Kwon, Soon-Wook, Kwon, Youngho, Kim, Kyeong-Min, Ko, Jong-Min, Hickey, Lee T., Shin, Dongjin and Dixon, Laura E. (2022). Speed vernalization to accelerate generation advance in winter cereal crops. Molecular Plant, 15 (8), 1300-1309. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2022.06.012

  • Crisp, Peter A., Bhatnagar-Mathur, Pooja, Hundleby, Penny, Godwin, Ian D., Waterhouse, Peter M. and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 73, 88-94. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.07.008

  • Hickey, Lee T., N. Hafeez, Amber, Robinson, Hannah, Jackson, Scott A., Leal-Bertioli, Soraya C. M., Tester, Mark, Gao, Caixia, Godwin, Ian D., Hayes, Ben J. and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2019). Breeding crops to feed 10 billion. Nature Biotechnology, 37 (7), 744-754. doi: 10.1038/s41587-019-0152-9

  • Ghosh, Sreya, Watson, Amy, Gonzalez-Navarro, Oscar E., Ramirez-Gonzalez, Ricardo H., Yanes, Luis, Mendoza-Suárez, Marcela, Simmonds, James, Wells, Rachel, Rayner, Tracey, Green, Phon, Hafeez, Amber, Hayta, Sadiye, Melton, Rachel E., Steed, Andrew, Sarkar, Abhimanyu, Carter, Jeremy, Perkins, Lionel, Lord, John, Tester, Mark, Osbourn, Anne, Moscou, Matthew J., Nicholson, Paul, Harwood, Wendy, Martin, Cathie, Domoney, Claire, Uauy, Cristobal, Hazard, Brittany, Wulff, Brande B. H. and Hickey, Lee T. (2018). Speed breeding in growth chambers and glasshouses for crop breeding and model plant research. Nature Protocols, 13 (12), 2944-2963. doi: 10.1038/s41596-018-0072-z

  • Watson, Amy, Ghosh, Sreya, Williams, Matthew J, Cuddy, William S, Simmonds, James, Rey, María-Dolores, Asyraf Md Hatta, M, Hinchliffe, Alison, Steed, Andrew, Reynolds, Daniel, Adamski, Nikolai M, Breakspear, Andy, Korolev, Andrey, Rayner, Tracey, Dixon, Laura E., Riaz, Adnan, Martin, William, Ryan, Merrill, Edwards, David, Batley, Jacqueline, Raman, Harsh, Carter, Jeremy, Rogers, Christian, Domoney, Claire, Moore, Graham, Harwood, Wendy, Nicholson, Paul, Dieters, Mark J., DeLacy, Ian H. ... Hickey, Lee T. (2018). Speed breeding is a powerful tool to accelerate crop research and breeding. Nature Plants, 4 (1), 23-29. doi: 10.1038/s41477-017-0083-8

  • Voss-Fels, Kai P., Robinson, Hannah, Mudge, Stephen R., Richard, Cecile, Newman, Saul, Wittkop, Benjamin, Stahl, Andreas, Friedt, Wolfgang, Frisch, Matthias, Gabur, Iulian, Miller-Cooper, Anika, Campbell, Bradley C., Kelly, Alison, Fox, Glen, Christopher, Jack, Christopher, Mandy, Chenu, Karine, Franckowiak, Jerome, Mace, Emma S., Borrell, Andrew K., Eagles, Howard, Jordan, David R., Botella, Jose R., Hammer, Graeme, Godwin, Ian D., Trevaskis, Ben, Snowdon, Rod J. and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). VERNALIZATION1 modulates root system architecture in wheat and barley. Molecular Plant, 11 (1), 226-229. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2017.10.005

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Grants

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Supervision

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

  • Doctor Philosophy

View all Supervision

Publications

Featured Publications

  • Cha, Jin-Kyung, O’Connor, Kathryn, Alahmad, Samir, Lee, Jong-Hee, Dinglasan, Eric, Park, Hyeonjin, Lee, So-Myeong, Hirsz, Dominique, Kwon, Soon-Wook, Kwon, Youngho, Kim, Kyeong-Min, Ko, Jong-Min, Hickey, Lee T., Shin, Dongjin and Dixon, Laura E. (2022). Speed vernalization to accelerate generation advance in winter cereal crops. Molecular Plant, 15 (8), 1300-1309. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2022.06.012

  • Crisp, Peter A., Bhatnagar-Mathur, Pooja, Hundleby, Penny, Godwin, Ian D., Waterhouse, Peter M. and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Beyond the gene: epigenetic and cis-regulatory targets offer new breeding potential for the future. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 73, 88-94. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.07.008

  • Hickey, Lee T., N. Hafeez, Amber, Robinson, Hannah, Jackson, Scott A., Leal-Bertioli, Soraya C. M., Tester, Mark, Gao, Caixia, Godwin, Ian D., Hayes, Ben J. and Wulff, Brande B. H. (2019). Breeding crops to feed 10 billion. Nature Biotechnology, 37 (7), 744-754. doi: 10.1038/s41587-019-0152-9

  • Ghosh, Sreya, Watson, Amy, Gonzalez-Navarro, Oscar E., Ramirez-Gonzalez, Ricardo H., Yanes, Luis, Mendoza-Suárez, Marcela, Simmonds, James, Wells, Rachel, Rayner, Tracey, Green, Phon, Hafeez, Amber, Hayta, Sadiye, Melton, Rachel E., Steed, Andrew, Sarkar, Abhimanyu, Carter, Jeremy, Perkins, Lionel, Lord, John, Tester, Mark, Osbourn, Anne, Moscou, Matthew J., Nicholson, Paul, Harwood, Wendy, Martin, Cathie, Domoney, Claire, Uauy, Cristobal, Hazard, Brittany, Wulff, Brande B. H. and Hickey, Lee T. (2018). Speed breeding in growth chambers and glasshouses for crop breeding and model plant research. Nature Protocols, 13 (12), 2944-2963. doi: 10.1038/s41596-018-0072-z

  • Watson, Amy, Ghosh, Sreya, Williams, Matthew J, Cuddy, William S, Simmonds, James, Rey, María-Dolores, Asyraf Md Hatta, M, Hinchliffe, Alison, Steed, Andrew, Reynolds, Daniel, Adamski, Nikolai M, Breakspear, Andy, Korolev, Andrey, Rayner, Tracey, Dixon, Laura E., Riaz, Adnan, Martin, William, Ryan, Merrill, Edwards, David, Batley, Jacqueline, Raman, Harsh, Carter, Jeremy, Rogers, Christian, Domoney, Claire, Moore, Graham, Harwood, Wendy, Nicholson, Paul, Dieters, Mark J., DeLacy, Ian H. ... Hickey, Lee T. (2018). Speed breeding is a powerful tool to accelerate crop research and breeding. Nature Plants, 4 (1), 23-29. doi: 10.1038/s41477-017-0083-8

  • Voss-Fels, Kai P., Robinson, Hannah, Mudge, Stephen R., Richard, Cecile, Newman, Saul, Wittkop, Benjamin, Stahl, Andreas, Friedt, Wolfgang, Frisch, Matthias, Gabur, Iulian, Miller-Cooper, Anika, Campbell, Bradley C., Kelly, Alison, Fox, Glen, Christopher, Jack, Christopher, Mandy, Chenu, Karine, Franckowiak, Jerome, Mace, Emma S., Borrell, Andrew K., Eagles, Howard, Jordan, David R., Botella, Jose R., Hammer, Graeme, Godwin, Ian D., Trevaskis, Ben, Snowdon, Rod J. and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). VERNALIZATION1 modulates root system architecture in wheat and barley. Molecular Plant, 11 (1), 226-229. doi: 10.1016/j.molp.2017.10.005

Book Chapter

  • Alahmad, Samir, Rambla, Charlotte, Voss-Fels, Kai P. and Hickey, Lee T. (2022). Accelerating breeding cycles. Wheat improvement. (pp. 557-571) Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-90673-3_30

  • Voss-Fels, Kai P., Herzog, Eva, Dreisigacker, Susanne, Sukumaran, Sivakumar, Watson, Amy, Frisch, Matthias, Hayes, Ben and Hickey, Lee T. (2019). “SpeedGS” to accelerate genetic gain in spring wheat. Applications of genetic and genomic research in cereals. (pp. 303-327) edited by Thomas Miedaner and Viktor Korzun. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier. doi: 10.1016/b978-0-08-102163-7.00014-4

  • Periyannan, Sambasivam and Hickey, Lee (2018). Trends in exploring wheat and barley germplasm for novel disease resistance traits. Integrated disease management of wheat and barley. (pp. 261-270) Sawston, Cambridge, United Kingdom: Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing. doi: 10.19103/as.2018.0039.15

  • Riaz, Adnan and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). Rapid phenotyping adult plant resistance to stem rust in wheat grown under controlled conditions. Wheat rust diseases: methods and protocols. (pp. 183-196) edited by Sambasivam Periyannan. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7249-4_16

  • Mackay, M. C., Street, K. A. and Hickey, L. T. (2016). Toward more effective discovery and deployment of novel plant genetic variation: reflection and future directions. Applied mathematics and omics to assess crop genetic resources for climate change adaptive traits. (pp. 139-150) edited by Abdallah Bari, Ardeshir B. Damania, Michael Mackay and Selvadurai Dayanandan. Boca Raton, FL, United States: Taylor & Francis Group. doi: 10.1201/b19518-16

Journal Article

Conference Publication

Other Outputs

Grants (Administered at UQ)

PhD and MPhil Supervision

Current Supervision

Completed Supervision