Professor Ben Hayes
Professor

Ben Hayes

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 334 62173

Background

Professor Hayes has extensive research experience in genetic improvement of livestock, crop, pasture and aquaculture species, with a focus on integration of genomic information into breeding programs, including leading many large scale projects which have successfully implemented genomic technologies in livestock and cropping industries. Author of more than 300 journal papers, including in Nature Genetics, Nature Reviews Genetics, and Science, contributing to statistical methodology for genomic, microbiome and metagenomic profile predictions, quantitative genetics including knowledge of genetic mechanisms underlying complex traits, and development of bioinformatics pipelines for sequence analysis. Thomson Reuters highly cited researcher in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018.

Availability

Professor Ben Hayes is:
Available for supervision

Qualifications

  • Doctor of Philosophy, Central Queensland University
  • Certificate of Quantum Information, Computation and Communication, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Research impacts

Genomic prediction, of which Ben Hayes was a co-inventor, and first described in the seminal publication [Meuwissen THE, Hayes BJ, Goddard ME (2001) Prediction of total genetic value using genome-wide dense marker maps. Genetics 157, 1819-1829] is now being used very widely in livestock and crops to predict future trait outcomes. The technology is also being used increasingly in human disease research.

In dairy cattle, the technology has been actively used by the industry for the past five years, and increases in genetic gain for key economic traits can be demonstrated. Nearly every dairy bull worldwide chosen for widespread use in the industry is now selected on the basis of genomic predictions. Dr Hayes has been an invited speaker at numerous high profile conferences, including the Biology of Genomes conference at Cold Spring Harbor May 2015, and also has a number of youtube videos explaining complex trait prediction for a general audience, one of which has been viewed more than 5000 times (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RovnCsda-zQ).

Ben Hayes led the program on animal improvement of the Dairy Futures CRC, which concluded June 2016. The animal improvement program in the Dairy Futures CRC is a successful research and utilisation program which has a very high level of industry input and collaboration. The value of the program was recognised recently when it was awarded a Cooperative Research Centres Association (CRCA) Award for Excellence in Innovation. The Dairy Futures CRC under the leadership of Dr. Hayes successfully developed and implemented a genomic breeding value for feed efficiency, which has been widely adopted by the industry.

Dr. Hayes established the 1000 bull genomes project, a consortium of over 30 institutes across the globe, which has assembled whole genome sequences of 1682 cattle of 55 breeds. The consortium has published a widely cited paper in Nature Genetics (Daetwyler et al. 2014), and has already led to more than 50 companion papers.

Search Professor Ben Hayes’s works on UQ eSpace

399 works between 2000 and 2024
All (399) Journal Article (337) Book Chapter (9) Conference Publication (51) Other Outputs (2)

221 - 240 of 399 works

2015

Journal Article

A catalogue of novel bovine long noncoding RNA across 18 tissues

Koufariotis, Lambros T., Chen, Yi-Ping Phoebe, Chamberlain, Amanda, Jagt, Christy Vander and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). A catalogue of novel bovine long noncoding RNA across 18 tissues. PLoS One, 10 (10) e0141225, e0141225. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0141225

A catalogue of novel bovine long noncoding RNA across 18 tissues

2015

Journal Article

Hot topic: Definition and implementation of a breeding value for feed efficiency in dairy cows

Pryce, J. E., Gonzalez-Recio, O., Nieuwhof, G., Wales, W. J., Coffey, M. P., Hayes, B. J. and Goddard, M. E. (2015). Hot topic: Definition and implementation of a breeding value for feed efficiency in dairy cows. Journal of Dairy Science, 98 (10) 73864, 7340-7350. doi: 10.3168/jds.2015-9621

Hot topic: Definition and implementation of a breeding value for feed efficiency in dairy cows

2015

Journal Article

Design of a low-density SNP chip for the main Australian sheep breeds and its effect on imputation and genomic prediction accuracy

Bolormaa, S., Gore, K., van der Werf, J. H. J., Hayes, B. J. and Daetwyler, H. D. (2015). Design of a low-density SNP chip for the main Australian sheep breeds and its effect on imputation and genomic prediction accuracy. Animal Genetics, 46 (5), 544-556. doi: 10.1111/age.12340

Design of a low-density SNP chip for the main Australian sheep breeds and its effect on imputation and genomic prediction accuracy

2015

Journal Article

Selection on optimal haploid value increases genetic gain and preserves more genetic diversity relative to genomic selection

Daetwyler, Hans D., Hayden, Matthew J., Spangenberg, German C. and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). Selection on optimal haploid value increases genetic gain and preserves more genetic diversity relative to genomic selection. Genetics, 200 (4), 1341-1348. doi: 10.1534/genetics.115.178038

Selection on optimal haploid value increases genetic gain and preserves more genetic diversity relative to genomic selection

2015

Journal Article

Validation of markers with non-additive effects on milk yield and fertility in Holstein and Jersey cows

Aliloo, Hassan, Pryce, Jennie E., Gonzalez-Recio, Oscar, Cocks, Benjamin G. and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). Validation of markers with non-additive effects on milk yield and fertility in Holstein and Jersey cows. BMC Genetics, 16 (1) 89. doi: 10.1186/s12863-015-0241-9

Validation of markers with non-additive effects on milk yield and fertility in Holstein and Jersey cows

2015

Journal Article

Animal board invited review: Genetic possibilities to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminants

Pickering, N. K., Oddy, V. H., Basarab, J., Cammack, K., Hayes, B., Hegarty, R. S., Lassen, J., McEwan, J. C., Miller, S., Pinares-Patino, C. S. and de Haas, Y. (2015). Animal board invited review: Genetic possibilities to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminants. Animal, 9 (9), 1431-1440. doi: 10.1017/S1751731115000968

Animal board invited review: Genetic possibilities to reduce enteric methane emissions from ruminants

2015

Journal Article

Impact of QTL properties on the accuracy of multi-breed genomic prediction

Wientjes, Yvonne C. J., Calus, Mario P. L., Goddard, Michael E. and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). Impact of QTL properties on the accuracy of multi-breed genomic prediction. Genetics Selection Evolution, 47 (42) 42, 1-16. doi: 10.1186/s12711-015-0124-6

Impact of QTL properties on the accuracy of multi-breed genomic prediction

2015

Journal Article

Including overseas performance information in genomic evaluations of Australian dairy cattle

Haile-Mariam, M., Pryce, J. E., Schrooten, C. and Hayes, B. J. (2015). Including overseas performance information in genomic evaluations of Australian dairy cattle. Journal of Dairy Science, 98 (5), 3443-3459. doi: 10.3168/jds.2014-8785

Including overseas performance information in genomic evaluations of Australian dairy cattle

2015

Journal Article

A computationally efficient algorithm for genomic prediction using a Bayesian model

Wang, Tingting, Chen, Yi-Ping Phoebe, Goddard, Michael E., Meuwissen, Theo H. E., Kemper, Kathryn E. and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). A computationally efficient algorithm for genomic prediction using a Bayesian model. Genetics Selection Evolution, 47 (1) 82. doi: 10.1186/s12711-014-0082-4

A computationally efficient algorithm for genomic prediction using a Bayesian model

2015

Journal Article

Improved precision of QTL mapping using a nonlinear Bayesian method in a multi-breed population leads to greater accuracy of across-breed genomic predictions

Kemper, Kathryn E., Reich, Coralie M., Bowman, Philip J., vander Jagt, Christy J., Chamberlain, Amanda J., Mason, Brett A., Hayes, Benjamin J. and Goddard, Michael E. (2015). Improved precision of QTL mapping using a nonlinear Bayesian method in a multi-breed population leads to greater accuracy of across-breed genomic predictions. Genetics Selection Evolution, 47 (1) 29. doi: 10.1186/s12711-014-0074-4

Improved precision of QTL mapping using a nonlinear Bayesian method in a multi-breed population leads to greater accuracy of across-breed genomic predictions

2015

Journal Article

Simultaneous discovery, estimation and prediction analysis of complex traits using a bayesian mixture model

Moser, Gerhard, Lee, Sang Hong, Hayes, Ben J., Goddard, Michael E., Wray, Naomi R. and Visscher, Peter M. (2015). Simultaneous discovery, estimation and prediction analysis of complex traits using a bayesian mixture model. PLoS Genetics, 11 (4) e1004969, 1-22. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1004969

Simultaneous discovery, estimation and prediction analysis of complex traits using a bayesian mixture model

2015

Journal Article

Non-additive genetic variation in growth, carcass and fertility traits of beef cattle

Bolormaa, Sunduimijid, Pryce, Jennie E., Zhang, Yuandan, Reverter, Antonio, Barendse, William, Hayes, Ben J. and Goddard, Michael E. (2015). Non-additive genetic variation in growth, carcass and fertility traits of beef cattle. Genetics Selection Evolution, 47 (1) 26. doi: 10.1186/s12711-015-0114-8

Non-additive genetic variation in growth, carcass and fertility traits of beef cattle

2015

Journal Article

How old are quantitative trait loci and how widely do they segregate?

Kemper, K. E., Hayes, B. J., Daetwyler, H. D. and Goddard, M. E. (2015). How old are quantitative trait loci and how widely do they segregate?. Journal of Animal Breeding and Genetics, 132 (2), 121-134. doi: 10.1111/jbg.12152

How old are quantitative trait loci and how widely do they segregate?

2015

Journal Article

Coordinated international action to accelerate genome-to-phenome with FAANG, the Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes project

Andersson, Leif, Archibald, Alan L., Bottema, Cynthia D., Brauning, Rudiger, Burgess, Shane C., Burt, Dave W., Casas, Eduardo, Cheng, Hans H., Clarke, Laura, Couldrey, Christine, Dalrymple, Brian P., Elsik, Christine G., Foissac, Sylvain, Giuffra, Elisabetta, Groenen, Martien A., Hayes, Ben J., Huang, LuSheng S., Khatib, Hassan, Kijas, James W., Kim, Heebal, Lunney, Joan K., McCarthy, Fiona M., McEwan, John C., Nanduri, Bindu, Notredame, Cedric, Palti, Yniv, Plastow, Graham S., Reecy, James M., Rohrer, Gary A. ... Fortes, Marina (2015). Coordinated international action to accelerate genome-to-phenome with FAANG, the Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes project. Genome Biology, 16 (1) 57, 1-6. doi: 10.1186/s13059-015-0622-4

Coordinated international action to accelerate genome-to-phenome with FAANG, the Functional Annotation of Animal Genomes project

2015

Journal Article

Characterizing homozygosity across United States, New Zealand and Australian Jersey cow and bull populations

Howard, Jeremy T., Maltecca, Christian, Haile-Mariam, Mekonnen, Hayes, Ben J. and Pryce, Jennie E. (2015). Characterizing homozygosity across United States, New Zealand and Australian Jersey cow and bull populations. BMC Genomics, 16 (1) 187. doi: 10.1186/s12864-015-1352-4

Characterizing homozygosity across United States, New Zealand and Australian Jersey cow and bull populations

2015

Conference Publication

Optbr: computationally efficient genomic predictions and QTL mapping in multi-bred populations

Wang, Tingting, Yi-Ping, Phoebe Chen, Kemper, Kathryn E., Godard, Michael E. and Hayes, Ben J. (2015). Optbr: computationally efficient genomic predictions and QTL mapping in multi-bred populations. Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Lorne, VIC, Australia, 28-30 September 2015. Lorne, VIC, Australia: Association for the Advancement of Animal Breeding and Genetics.

Optbr: computationally efficient genomic predictions and QTL mapping in multi-bred populations

2014

Journal Article

Genome-wide association studies for feedlot and growth traits in cattle

Bolormaa, S., Hayes, B. J., Savin, K., Hawken, R., Barendse, W., Arthur, P. F., Herd, R. M. and Goddard, M. E. (2014). Genome-wide association studies for feedlot and growth traits in cattle. Journal of Animal Science, 89 (6), 1684-1697. doi: 10.2527/jas.2010-3079

Genome-wide association studies for feedlot and growth traits in cattle

2014

Journal Article

Detection of chromosome segments of zebu and taurine origin and their effect on beef production and growth

Bolormaa, S., Hayes, B. J., Hawken, R. J., Zhang, Y., Reverter, A. and Goddard, M. E. (2014). Detection of chromosome segments of zebu and taurine origin and their effect on beef production and growth. Journal of Animal Science, 89 (7), 2050-2060. doi: 10.2527/jas.2010-3363

Detection of chromosome segments of zebu and taurine origin and their effect on beef production and growth

2014

Journal Article

The effects of demography and long-term selection on the accuracy of genomic prediction with sequence data

MacLeod, Iona M., Hayes, Ben J. and Goddard, Michael E. (2014). The effects of demography and long-term selection on the accuracy of genomic prediction with sequence data. Genetics, 198 (4), 1671-1684. doi: 10.1534/genetics.114.168344

The effects of demography and long-term selection on the accuracy of genomic prediction with sequence data

2014

Journal Article

Identification of genomic regions associated with inbreeding depression in Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle

Pryce, Jennie E., Haile-Mariam, Mekonnen, Goddard, Michael E. and Hayes, Ben J. (2014). Identification of genomic regions associated with inbreeding depression in Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle. Genetics Selection Evolution, 46 (1) 71. doi: 10.1186/s12711-014-0071-7

Identification of genomic regions associated with inbreeding depression in Holstein and Jersey dairy cattle

Current funding

  • 2024 - 2029
    ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding for Agricultural Futures
    ARC Industrial Transformation Training Centres
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2028
    Program 2 - Resistance Sources: Using 'FastStack' to develop effective durable net blotch resistance gene stacks
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2029
    Achieving improved genetic gain for yield in chickpea, faba bean and lentil using genetic diversity (GRDC grant administered by Murdoch University)
    Murdoch University
    Open grant
  • 2024 - 2028
    Fast tracking deployment of chickpea heat tolerance
    GRDC - PROC-9176886 - Fast tracking deployment of chickpea heat tolerance to develop chickpea varieties with improved high temperature tolerance
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2027
    RustHapSelect: Fast-tracking rust resistance haplotypes into high-yielding germplasm (GRDC grant administered by CSIRO)
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2025
    Northern Genomics commercialisation scoping study
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2027
    Reducing methane emissions and improving profitability in Northern Australian beef
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    Scaling Genomic Selection Across the Indian Smallholder Dairy Sector (BMGF grant administered by BAIF Development Research Foundation)
    BAIF Development Research Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2027
    Facilitating Innovations for Resilient Livestock Farming Systems (Re-Livestock) (Horizon Europe grant administered by the Spanish National Research Council)
    Spanish National Research Council (Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas)
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    Balancing polled and profit: demonstration of breeding strategies to replace dehorning in a large integrated beef and cattle operation
    A. A. COMPANY PTY. LTD.
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    On-farm genomics: genomic solutions for Northern beef cattle management and breeding
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    Digging deeper to improve yield stability
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    LESTR Low Emission Saliva Test for Ruminants
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2026
    ARC Research Hub for Supercharging Tropical Aquaculture Through Genetic Solutions - externally administered by James Cook University (JCU)
    James Cook University
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2026
    NB2: Assessing practical interventions to reduce calf wastage and herd mortality in northern systems
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 2023 - 2024
    Genomic prediction of ratoon yield robustness
    Sugar Research Australia Limited
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2024
    Northern Beef Information Nucleus (Spyglass) Phase 4 Extension
    Australian Brahman Breeders' Association Limited
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2024
    Development of genomic multi-breed eating quality trait estimates using shared global data (Meat & Livestock Australia project administered by University of New England)
    University of New England
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2022
    DNA as the ultimate identifier in blockchain traceability systems
    Innovation Connections
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2024
    Screening of diverse barley germplasm for rapid discovery and utilisation of novel disease resistance in barley using R-HapSelect : A haplotype-based toolkit
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2020 - 2023
    FY20 Postgraduate Scholarships - Harrison Lamb
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Bull fertility update: historical data, new cohort and advanced genomics (Meat & Livestock Australia grant administered by CSIRO)
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    India Dairy Genetic Gain: Array designs for Indian Cattle and Buffalo
    Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2024
    National Tree Genomics Program - Genomics Toolbox
    Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Predicting age of livestock from DNA samples
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    National Tree Genomics Program - Phenotype Prediction
    Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    FastStack - evolutionary computing to stack desirable alleles in wheat
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2021
    Female Reproduction Phenobank and Validation Herds
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2020
    Novel genomic technologies to improve fertility in Northern Beef Cattle
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2024
    Improving fertility in northern cattle through host and pathogen molecular diagnosis
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2023
    Implementing and validating genomic selection in SRA breeding programs to accelerate improvements in yield, commercial cane sugar, and other key traits
    Sugar Research Australia Limited
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    Genetics R&D: Characterisation of the Brahman Genome
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2023
    Improving bovine respiratory disease control through the characterisation of pathogen genomics and host interactions
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2018
    Expression of genes and proteins related to meat quality in Bos indicus cattle
    UQ-FAPESP Strategic Research Fund SPRINT
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2022
    Accelerating genetic gain for productivity and profitability in Northern beef cattle with genomic technologies
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2024
    Cattle tick and Buffalo fly host genetics, susceptibility to buffalo fly lesions and biomarkers for resistance
    Meat & Livestock Australia
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Ben Hayes is:
Available for supervision

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Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

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