Kabwe Nkongolo
Biography
Dr. Kabwe Nkongolo Profile
Biosketch
Dr. Nkongolo received his M.Sc. (Pathology and Toxicology specialization) and Ph.D. (Breeding and Genetics) from Laval University, Quebec (Canada). He was a Post-Doctoral fellow in Genetics at Colorado State University (CSU) in USA and a research scientist at the same Institution (CSU) before joining Laurentian University (LU) as an Associate Professor of Genetics. He is currently a Full professor of Genetics in the Department of Biology and the Biomolecular Science Ph.D. Programme. He teaches Fundamentals of Genetics, Advanced Molecular Genetics, and Population Genetics in both English and French programs. He has supervised and co-supervised 2 Post-Doctoral fellows, 13 Ph.D., 40 M. Sc., and 15 B.Sc. students at Laurentian University and partner Institutions. He has hosted and trained 11 international professors and scientists in his L.U. research laboratory in the last 7 years.
He served as Eastern Director of the Genetics Society of Canada and Coordinator of two major international projects in Food Security and Biodiversity funded by Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA, now in Foreign Affairs, Trade, and Development Canada) and International Development Research Center (IDRC).
He is a member of the International Genetic Epidemiology Society (IGES), Canadian Society of Molecular Biosciences, American Society of Genetics, American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Sciences Society of America (CSSA), and Soil Science Society of America (SSSA). He served for a number of years as coordinator in Canada of ASA, CSSA, and SSSA committees. He has been an invited plenary speaker at international conferences; most recently at the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Korean Society of Genetics in Seoul and the 2012 meeting of International Forum on the promotion of innovations and partnerships in the agri -food and agro- resources sector.
He is Coordinator of the Biomedical Biology Programs (English and French) at Laurentian University. His publications include over 120 research articles, 85 conference proceedings and abstracts, three books, and four book chapters. He has been Principal Investigator of 8 research patents/licenses. He is Editor of the Gene and Genomes Journal.
Research
His research interests in the last 20 years have been in genetic modifications, genome organization and mapping, environmental health and genetics, and preventive medicine. He has contributed significantly to our understanding of karyotype evolution and molecular phylogeny in Pinaceae, interspecific gene transfer for germplasm improvement in Poaceae, genetics, and physiological mechanisms involved in biota resistance to metals. He has developed (and released with his colleagues) 12 drought tolerant crop varieties, eight registered genetically modified cereal lines for disease resistance, and two maize varieties with high lysine and tryptophan content currently used to manage chronic disease in malnourished children/adults.
He has also contributed to our understanding of genetic differentiation between Aboriginals and Europeans as a first step in the analysis of diabetes and other chronic disease onsets in aboriginal populations through ongoing collaboration with the Ottawa Health Institute.
He has monitored with his colleagues land reclamation for over a decade in mining regions using genetic, ecological, and metagenomic tools. He has received over four million dollars in research & development grants from various government agencies (Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada, CIDA, and IDRC) and Industries (Vale limited and Sudbury Nickel Mining Operations – Glencore- Company) for his numerous projects.
Recognitions
Dr Nkongolo received the L.U. Research Excellence award (2014) and the Community Award of Excellence from the Afro-Heritage Association of the Greater Sudbury Region, Ontario Canada (2015). He was part of the Ontario researcher’s panel selected by the Ontario Council of Universities in 2014 to showcase Ontario University research at Parliaments Hill in Ottawa. The team of 12 researchers spoke to members of the Parliament (MPs) about their research initiatives on topics including northern development, the environment, health, national security, justice and finance.
Dr. K.K. Nkongolo can be reached by:
Email: knkongolo@laurentian.ca or Tel. 1 -705 675 1151 ext. 2307