Honorary Professor Appolinaire Djikeng

Professor Appolinaire Djikeng

Director, Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH)
Chair, Tropical Agriculture and Sustainable Development
The Roslin Institute
The University of Edinburgh, UK

I completed undergraduate studies (BSc and MSc) at the University of Yaoundé I (Cameroon) and received a PhD in Biochemistry from Brunel University (UK). I was a postdoctoral research fellowsh at Yale University School of Medicine (USA) and subsequently held faculty positions at Yale University School of Medicine and at the J Craig Venter Institute (USA) from 1999 to 2009.

I joined the faculty of the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh in 2017. My current research and training activities are centered on tropical livestock genetic improvement. My administrative responsibilities are to provide the overall leadership, research and strategic orientations of the Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health (CTLGH) with operating nodes in the UK (Edinburgh) and in Africa (Kenya, Ethiopia). CTLGH is a flagship livestock research and development centre with the mission to enhance the resilience, productivity, profitability and sustainability of livestock in tropical production systems in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) through genetic improvement.

Prior to my current appointment at the University of Edinburgh, I completed an eight years tenure at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) from 2009 to 2017. At ILRI, I served as Technology Manager/Principal Scientist and then from 2012 as Director of BecA (Biosciences eastern and central Africa). I also serve on several scientific and advisory boards including The Sainsbury Laboratory in Norwich (UK), The Kirkhouse Trust (UK), IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement, France) and CIRAD (Centre de Cooperation Internationale en Recherche pour le Development, France), Southern Africa Centre for Infectious Diseases Surveillance (SACIDS, Southern Africa).