IRRI Honors RGP Director

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in conjunction with the 6th International Rice Genetics Symposium (6th IRGS) and the celebration of its 50th anniversary, conferred the Rice Genetics Achievement Award to Dr. Takuji Sasaki, Vice-President of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) and former director of the Rice Genome Research Program (RGP). The award was presented by Dr. David Mckill and Dr. Hei Leung, organizers of the meeting, during the reception dinner held at Manila Hotel on November 16, 2009.

Dr. Sasaki who also led the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), a collaboration of 10 countries that completed the high quality rice genome sequence, was recognized for his achievements and contributions to rice genomics, and his strong support to promote research for the advancement of international agriculture.

In a brief speech before accepting the award, Dr. Sasaki reminisced the events that led to the completion of the rice genome sequence as well as the progress in rice genomics that has been achieved since then. He also expressed appreciation for IRRI's continuous efforts in alleviating world food shortage through innovative rice research.

More than 800 participants from about 45 countries attended the 6th IRGS which was held in conjunction with the 7th International Rice Functional Genomics Symposium (7th IRFGS) and the 6th Rice Annotation Project Meeting (RAP6) in Manila on November 15-20, 2009.