Category Archives: News
Position Announcement-Vegetable Breeder-Uvalde
Position Announcement Specialty Crops Vegetable Breeder Texas A&M AgriLife Research, Uvalde (http://uvalde.tamu.edu/) is seeking a highly motivated and visionary plant breeder to lead a national and international vegetable improvement program aimed to develop abiotic stress tolerant specialty vegetable crops. The breeder will develop resource-use efficient (water, nutrient), drought and heat tolerant genotypes in combination with advanced (or existing) germplasm with improved disease resistance, root structure, quality, nutrition, and/or yield traits. The breeder will implement and integrate the latest genomics, phenomics, molecular marker and QTL mapping technologies with fundamental knowledge of physiological and quantitative genetics…. Read More →
6th International Human Health Effects of Fruits & Vegetables Symposium
Information regarding the 6th International Human Health Effects of Fruits & Vegetables Symposium (FAVHealth 2014) is now available. For information regarding the conference, dates, speakers, accommodations, and more, please click the following link: FAVHealth 2014
Bhimu Patil gets Distinguished Service Award from American Chemical Society
Story by: Kathleen Phillips COLLEGE STATION — Dr. Bhimu Patil, director of the Texas A&M University Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, has received the Distinguished Service Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. The award was presented Sept. 10 at the society’s annual meeting in Indianapolis, Ind. Patil has been a leader in the society’s agriculture and food chemistry division for years and was chair of the 3,100-member division in 2007. He received the Outstanding Young Scientist award in 2003 and was selected… Read More →
Jayaprakasha named American Chemical Society Fellow
COLLEGE STATION — Dr. G.K. Jayaprakasha, a researcher at Texas A&M AgriLife’s Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center and department of horticultural sciences in College Station, has been selected a Fellow in the American Chemical Society’s Division of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. Jayaprakasha will receive the honor at the society’s annual meeting Sept. 8-12 in Indianapolis. According to the citation, his collaborative work has been published in more than 105 peer-reviewed food science and technology, analytical, bio-organic and medical chemistry journals. He has edited and authored several books, reviews… Read More →
Patil honored as outstanding graduate educator by American horticultural society
Story by: Kathleen Phillips PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – The American Society for Horticultural Science has presented Dr. Bhimu Patil of College Station its Outstanding Graduate Education Award. The award was presented July 22 during the society’s annual conference in Palm Springs, Calif. Patil, who is director of the Texas A&M University Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center, was given the award in recognition as “an educator who has had a distinguished and outstanding graduate education teaching career in horticultural science for a period of 10 or more… Read More →
Student workers value jobs in research more after national competition
Story by: Kathleen Phillips COLLEGE STATION — Anyone familiar with a university town knows that many restaurants and retail stores revolve around college student employees, who may be learning life-long lessons in customer service while paying for their college education but who don’t plan to stay in those businesses. Patients in physicians’ clinics and hospitals, however, may not realize that their medical treatments also likely had a student worker preparing samples and replicating trials in the laboratories of professors who maintain research projects alongside of academics. These students… Read More →
How Circadian Rhythms Give Vegetables A Healthy Boost
Story By: Allison Aubrey Just as we have internal clocks that help regulate the systems in our bodies, fruit and vegetable plants have circadian rhythms, too. And a new study published in Current Biology finds there may be a way to boost some of the beneficial compounds in plants by simulating the light-dark cycle after crops are harvested. So, how does it work? Well, take cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, which contains cancer-fighting compounds called glucosinolates. Studies have shown that glucosinolates secrete enzymes that can remove carcinogens. “The protective effect of these vegetables is that they… Read More →
The VFIC is on Facebook!
The VFIC is announcing a new format for our newsletter. In the past the newsletters were either printed or electronic, in order to give you frequent updates, we are implementing a Facebook newsletter. This new format will continue to include lab updates, graduate student spotlight, new publications, conference announcements, awards of our faculty, staff and industry partners in addition to any other exciting news. A link to the corresponding VFIC webpage will be included in the post so you can see more detailed information. To receive… Read More →
David Byrne Receives National 2013 Carroll R. Miller Award for Peach Research
COLLEGE STATION — Dr. David Byrne, Texas A&M AgriLife Research scientist in College Station, has received the Carroll R. Miller Award from the National Peach Council. The award was established in memory of Miller of Martinsburg, W.V., a founding member and first president of the peach council, according to the group’s website. The award is given “to encourage and recognize noteworthy research relating to improved marketing and utilization of peaches and/or peach products.” Byrne, who researches stone fruit and roses, was cited for his recent introduction of… Read More →
Professor Studies Plants, Foods to Prevent Cancer
Story by Jennifer R. Lloyd, San Antonio Express-News Twigs, leaves and berries may sound like the diet of the destitute, but for molecular medicine professor Michael Wargovich, certain plants — like those in traditional medicines and food in developing countries — could be gold mines in the fight against cancer. In his newly outfitted lab at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, Wargovich and his staff are testing the cancer-preventing properties of green tea. They’ll also soon start investigating the anti-inflammatory abilities of the neem… Read More →