Chris Toomajian

Dr. Chris Toomajian is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director of the Interdepartmental Genetics Program at Kansas State University. He holds a joint affiliation with the Department of Plant Pathology and the Interdepartmental Genetics Program, contributing to both research and graduate education.

Education: B.A. in Biological Sciences & Integrated Science (Northwestern University, 1995), Ph.D. in Genetics (University of Chicago, 2002).

Research focuses on plant and plant pathogen population genetics, genomics, and comparative genomics. Key projects include analyzing Fusarium species variation in traits like pathogen aggressiveness and fungicide sensitivity, and studying speciation in the Fusarium fujikuroi complex. Current grants involve the United States Wheat and Barley Scab Initiative, leading efforts to map genetic markers for disease management.

Advising and grants: Serves as Lead PI on Fusarium head blight mapping projects, collaborating with co-PIs Rupp and Leslie. Lab work emphasizes genomic approaches to understand adaptive divergence and secondary metabolite variation in fungi.

Labs/Teams: Oversees a lab focused on Fusarium comparative genomics and plant-pathogen interactions, integrating QTL mapping and population genomic analyses.