Professor Lee Hickey
Professor

Lee Hickey

Email: 
Phone: 
+61 7 336 54805

Background

Professor Lee Hickey is a plant breeder and crop geneticist within the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation at The University of Queensland, Australia. He is an ARC Future Fellow and Director of the ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding. His own research group specialises in plant breeding innovation to support development of more productive food crops, such as wheat, barley and chickpea. He has a strong interest in the integration of breeding technologies, such as genomic prediction, AI, speed breeding and genome editing. His advice for speed breeding crops is sought internationally and the technology is now adopted by plant breeding programs worldwide, which is fast-tracking development of improved crop varieties for farmers. His research outcomes have featured in >90 refereed publications, including articles in high profile journals Nature Plants, Nature Protocols and Nature Biotechnology. Lee is a prolific science communicator and his research outcomes have appeared in mainstream media such as BBC World News, National Geographic, and the New York Times. He is passionate about training the next generation of plant breeders and currently mentors 18 PhD students, while 20 of his previous graduates now work for leading plant breeding companies and high-profile research institutes around the globe.

Check out the Hickey Lab website here

Follow Professor Lee Hickey on X: @DrHikov

Research interests

  • Speed breeding techniques to reduce the length of breeding cycles
  • Understanding the genetics of physiological traits that support yield in different environments
  • Integrating breeding technologies to accelerate genetic gain in breeding programs
  • Innovative genomic selection methodologies
  • Identifying novel sources of disease resistance

Availability

Professor Lee Hickey is:
Available for supervision
Media expert

Fields of research

Agricultural biotechnology Agricultural, Veterinary and Food Sciences Biological Sciences Crop and pasture production Genetics

Qualifications

  • Bachelor (Honours), The University of Queensland
  • Postgraduate Diploma in Research Commercialisation, The University of Queensland
  • Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Queensland

Research impacts

Tapping into roots to develop sustainable wheat

Professor Hickey's ARC Future Fellowship aims to deliver genetic solutions to optimise root systems in wheat crops, read the article here.

Digging deep to boost barley

Teaming up with Integrain, Australia’s leading barley breeding company, in an ARC Linkage project to develop innovative breeding methods develop more productive crops in the face of climate change.

Why the world needs faster food

We need to embrace new technology to feed the world in the face of climate change and rapidly evolving pests and diseases: watch Prof Hickey's TEDx talk.

Grow Faster, Grow Stronger: Speed-Breeding Crops to Feed the Future

Speed breeding technology featured in the New York Times, read the article here.

Lab-free genome editing to develop future crops

Professor Hickey reieved a UQ Foundation Research Excellence Award to develop lab-free genome editing systems, watch the video.

Search Professor Lee Hickey’s works on UQ eSpace

164 works between 2009 and 2025
All (164) Journal Article (106) Book Chapter (6) Conference Publication (42) Other Outputs (10)

121 - 140 of 164 works

2017

Journal Article

Characterisation of Rph24: a gene conferring adult plant resistance to Puccinia hordei in barley

Ziems, Laura A., Hickey, Lee T., Platz, Gregory J., Franckowiak, Jerome D., Dracatos, Peter M., Singh, Davinder and Park, Robert F. (2017). Characterisation of Rph24: a gene conferring adult plant resistance to Puccinia hordei in barley. Phytopathology, 107 (7), 834-841. doi: 10.1094/PHYTO-08-16-0295-R

Characterisation of Rph24: a gene conferring adult plant resistance to Puccinia hordei in barley

2017

Journal Article

Genome-wide association study for pre-harvest sprouting resistance in a large germplasm collection of Chinese wheat landraces

Zhou, Yong, Tang, Hao, Cheng, Meng-Ping, Dankwa, Kwame O., Chen, Zhong-Xu, Li, Zhan-Yi, Gao, Shang, Liu, Ya-Xi, Jiang, Qian-Tao, Lan, Xiu-Jin, Pu, Zhi-En, Wei, Yu-Ming, Zheng, You-Liang, Hickey, Lee T. and Wang, Ji-Rui (2017). Genome-wide association study for pre-harvest sprouting resistance in a large germplasm collection of Chinese wheat landraces. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8 401, 401. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2017.00401

Genome-wide association study for pre-harvest sprouting resistance in a large germplasm collection of Chinese wheat landraces

2017

Journal Article

Pathogenic variation of Pyrenophora teres f. teres in Australia

Fowler, R. A. , Platz, G. J., Bell, K. L., Fletcher, S. E. H., Franckowiak, J. D. and Hickey, L. T. (2017). Pathogenic variation of Pyrenophora teres f. teres in Australia. Australasian Plant Pathology, 46 (2), 115-128. doi: 10.1007/s13313-017-0468-1

Pathogenic variation of Pyrenophora teres f. teres in Australia

2017

Journal Article

Speed breeding for multiple disease resistance in barley

Hickey, Lee T., German, Silvia E., Pereyra, Silvia A., Diaz, Juan E., Ziems, Laura A., Fowler, Ryan A., Platz, Greg J., Franckowiak, Jerome D. and Dieters, Mark J. (2017). Speed breeding for multiple disease resistance in barley. Euphytica, 213 (3) 64. doi: 10.1007/s10681-016-1803-2

Speed breeding for multiple disease resistance in barley

2017

Journal Article

Mining Vavilov’s treasure chest of wheat diversity for adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina

Riaz, Adnan, Athiyannan, Naveenkumar, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Afanasenko, Olga, Mitrofanova, Olga, Aitken, Elizabeth A. B., Lagudah, Evans and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). Mining Vavilov’s treasure chest of wheat diversity for adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina. Plant Disease, 101 (2), 317-323. doi: 10.1094/PDIS-05-16-0614-RE

Mining Vavilov’s treasure chest of wheat diversity for adult plant resistance to Puccinia triticina

2017

Conference Publication

Speeding genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations

Christopher, J. T., Richard, C., Christopher, M. J., Borrell, A. K., Hickey, L. and Chenu, K. (2017). Speeding genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations. TropAg2017, International Tropical Agriculture Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 20-22 November 2017.

Speeding genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations

2017

Conference Publication

Increasing genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations

Christopher, J. T., Richard, C., Veyradier, M., Christopher, M., Borrell, A. K., Hickey, L. and Chenu, K. (2017). Increasing genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations. Interdrought-V, Hyderabad, India, 21-25 February 2017.

Increasing genetic progress for wheat adaptation to water-limited environments by integrating novel phenotyping for stay-green and root traits, crop modelling and nested association mapping populations

2017

Conference Publication

Understanding the genetic control of quantitative resistance to yellow spot in wheat

Dinglasan, E., Singh, D., Godwin, I. and Hickey, L. (2017). Understanding the genetic control of quantitative resistance to yellow spot in wheat. Annual Meeting the American-Phytopathological-Society (APS), San Antonio TX, United States, 05-09 August 2017. St. Paul, MN United States: American Phytopathological Society.

Understanding the genetic control of quantitative resistance to yellow spot in wheat

2017

Conference Publication

Adapting cereals to drought: genetic and management solutions

Borrell, A. K., George-Jaeggli, B., van Oosterom, E. J., Mace, E. S., Jordan, D. R., Kassahun, B., Matiwos, T., Vadez, V., Talwar, H., Christopher, J. T., Chenu, K., Richard, C., Robinson, H., Hickey, L., Nagothu, S. U. and Hammer, G. L. (2017). Adapting cereals to drought: genetic and management solutions. TropAg2017, International Tropical Agriculture Conference, Brisbane, Australia, 20-22 November 2017. Trop Ag.

Adapting cereals to drought: genetic and management solutions

2017

Book Chapter

Rapid phenotyping adult plant resistance to stem rust in wheat grown under controlled conditions

Riaz, Adnan and Hickey, Lee T. (2017). Rapid phenotyping adult plant resistance to stem rust in wheat grown under controlled conditions. Wheat rust diseases: methods and protocols. (pp. 183-196) edited by Sambasivam Periyannan. New York, NY, United States: Humana Press. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-7249-4_16

Rapid phenotyping adult plant resistance to stem rust in wheat grown under controlled conditions

2016

Journal Article

A rapid phenotyping method for adult plant resistance to leaf rust in wheat

Riaz, Adnan, Periyannan, Sambasivam, Aitken, Elizabeth and Hickey, Lee (2016). A rapid phenotyping method for adult plant resistance to leaf rust in wheat. Plant Methods, 12 (17) 17, 1-10. doi: 10.1186/s13007-016-0117-7

A rapid phenotyping method for adult plant resistance to leaf rust in wheat

2016

Journal Article

Genomic regions influencing seminal root traits in barley

Robinson, Hannah, Hickey, Lee, Richard, Cecile, Mace, Emma, Kelly, Alison, Borrell, Andrew, Franckowiak, Jerome and Fox, Glen (2016). Genomic regions influencing seminal root traits in barley. The Plant Genome, 9 (1), 1-13. doi: 10.3835/plantgenome2015.03.0012

Genomic regions influencing seminal root traits in barley

2016

Journal Article

Into the vault of the Vavilov wheats: old diversity for new alleles

Riaz, Adnan, Hathorn, Adrian, Dinglasan, Eric, Ziems, Laura, Richard, Cecile, Singh, Dharmendra, Mitrofanova, Olga, Afanasenko, Olga, Aitken, Elizabeth, Godwin, Ian and Hickey, Lee (2016). Into the vault of the Vavilov wheats: old diversity for new alleles. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution, 64 (3), 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10722-016-0380-5

Into the vault of the Vavilov wheats: old diversity for new alleles

2016

Book Chapter

Toward more effective discovery and deployment of novel plant genetic variation: reflection and future directions

Mackay, M. C., Street, K. A. and Hickey, L. T. (2016). Toward more effective discovery and deployment of novel plant genetic variation: reflection and future directions. Applied mathematics and omics to assess crop genetic resources for climate change adaptive traits. (pp. 139-150) edited by Abdallah Bari, Ardeshir B. Damania, Michael Mackay and Selvadurai Dayanandan. Boca Raton, FL, United States: Taylor & Francis Group. doi: 10.1201/b19518-16

Toward more effective discovery and deployment of novel plant genetic variation: reflection and future directions

2016

Conference Publication

Speeding up the discovery of novel sources of leaf rust resistance in wheat

Riaz, A., Athiyannan, N., Periyannan, S., Afanasenko, O., Mitrofanova, O., Aitken, E., Lagudah, E. and Hickey, L. (2016). Speeding up the discovery of novel sources of leaf rust resistance in wheat. Annual Meeting of the American-Phytopathological-Society (APS), Tampa, FL, United States, 30 July-August 03, 2016. St. Paul, MN United States: American Phytopathological Society.

Speeding up the discovery of novel sources of leaf rust resistance in wheat

2016

Conference Publication

Rapid phenotyping combined with speed breeding to improve stay-green and root adaptation of wheat in water-limited environments

Christopher, J., Richard, C., Chenu, K., Christopher, M., Borrell, A. and Hickey, L. (2016). Rapid phenotyping combined with speed breeding to improve stay-green and root adaptation of wheat in water-limited environments. 7th International Crop Science Congress, Beijiing, China, 14-19 August 2016. Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Rapid phenotyping combined with speed breeding to improve stay-green and root adaptation of wheat in water-limited environments

2016

Journal Article

Resistance to yellow spot in wheat grown under accelerated growth conditions

Dinglasan, Eric, Godwin, Ian D., Mortlock, Miranda Y. and Hickey, Lee T. (2016). Resistance to yellow spot in wheat grown under accelerated growth conditions. Euphytica, 209 (3), 693-707. doi: 10.1007/s10681-016-1660-z

Resistance to yellow spot in wheat grown under accelerated growth conditions

2016

Conference Publication

Stay-green and root trait physiology combined with crop modelling to improve crop adaptation

Christopher, J. T., Richard, C., Veyradier, M., Hickey, L., Christopher, M., Borrell, A. K. and Chenu, K. (2016). Stay-green and root trait physiology combined with crop modelling to improve crop adaptation. ComBio Conference, Brisbane, QLD Australia, 3-7 October 2016. Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB).

Stay-green and root trait physiology combined with crop modelling to improve crop adaptation

2015

Journal Article

Discovery of QTL for stay-green and heat-stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare) grown under simulated abiotic stress conditions

Gous, Peter W., Hickey, Lee, Christopher, Jack T., Franckowiak, Jerome. and Fox, Glen P. (2015). Discovery of QTL for stay-green and heat-stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare) grown under simulated abiotic stress conditions. Euphytica, 207 (2), 305-317. doi: 10.1007/s10681-015-1542-9

Discovery of QTL for stay-green and heat-stress in barley (Hordeum vulgare) grown under simulated abiotic stress conditions

2015

Journal Article

Spot form of net blotch resistance in barley is under complex genetic control

Wang, Xuemin, Mace, Emma S., Platz, Gregory J., Hunt, Colleen H., Hickey, Lee T., Franckowiak, Jerome D. and Jordan, David R. (2015). Spot form of net blotch resistance in barley is under complex genetic control. Theoretical and Applied Genetics, 128 (3), 489-499. doi: 10.1007/s00122-014-2447-z

Spot form of net blotch resistance in barley is under complex genetic control

Current funding

  • 2025 - 2028
    Unlocking crop epigenomics to uncover and engineer hidden diversity
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 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 - 2028
    Genetic initiative to transform symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Australian pulse crops
    PROC-9176963 Genetic initiative to transform symbiotic nitrogen fixation in Australian pulse crops
    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
  • 2024 - 2027
    Root structure and function traits: Overcoming the root phenotyping bottleneck in cereals
    PROC-9176895 Phenomics methods and tools to enable improved resource capture efficiency in grain crops
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2028
    Enhancing Genomic Prediction for Changing Environments in Wheat
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2027
    RustHapSelect: Fast-tracking rust resistance haplotypes into high-yielding germplasm (GRDC grant administered by CSIRO)
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2023 - 2027
    Improving crops from the ground up: genetic solutions to optimise roots
    ARC Future Fellowships
    Open grant
  • 2022 - 2026
    Digging deeper to improve yield stability
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2021 - 2025
    International Mungbean Improvement Network 2 (ACIAR-funded sub-contract with World Vegetable Center)
    Mungbean Improvement Network
    Open grant

Past funding

  • 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
    Lab-free genome editing to develop our future crops
    UQ Foundation Research Excellence Awards
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2024
    Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world
    ARC Discovery Projects
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Accelerated Varietal Improvement and Seed Delivery of Legumes and Cereals in Africa (AVISA)
    International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics
    Open grant
  • 2019 - 2021
    Establishment of wheat shortening the breeding-cycle using speed breeding
    Rural Development Administration
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Rooty: a root ideotype toolbox to support improved wheat yields
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2023
    FastStack - evolutionary computing to stack desirable alleles in wheat
    ARC Linkage Projects
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2022
    Postdoctoral Fellowship interfacing crop improvement and agronomy/nutrition programs
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2018 - 2019
    Mechanisms controlling root architecture in crop plants
    Universities Australia - Germany Joint Research Co-operation Scheme
    Open grant
  • 2017 - 2019
    Accelerated genomic selection to speed up genetic gain in wheat
    ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2017
    Winter wheat selection
    UniQuest Pty Ltd
    Open grant
  • 2015 - 2018
    Speed pre-breeding for rapid trait pyramiding in durum wheat
    Monsanto Company
    Open grant
  • 2015
    A high-throughput phenotyping platform for transpiration efficiency in cereal crops
    UQ Major Equipment and Infrastructure
    Open grant
  • 2014
    Mining novel disease resistance genes in wheat landraces from the VIR (N I Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry) collection
    UQ Early Career Researcher
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2019
    Accelerating the utilisation and deployment of durable adult plant resistance to leaf rust in barley (Grains and Research Development Corporation grant administered by the University of Sydney)
    University of Sydney
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2019
    Delivery of wheat root traits that contribute to water limited yield stability
    Grains Research & Development Corporation
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2019
    Maintaining a barley pre-breeding capability in Queensland (Grains Research & Development Corporation grant administered by QLD Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry)
    Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
    Open grant
  • 2013 - 2015
    Resistance to Pathogens - UQ - CSP155
    CSIRO
    Open grant
  • 2013
    Validation of rapid gene transfer methodology in barley
    UQ New Staff Research Start-Up Fund
    Open grant

Availability

Professor Lee Hickey is:
Available for supervision

Before you email them, read our advice on how to contact a supervisor.

Supervision history

Current supervision

Completed supervision

Enquiries

Contact Professor Lee Hickey directly for media enquiries about:

  • Barley breeding
  • Barley disease
  • Barley genetics
  • Crops
  • Food production
  • Speed breeding
  • Wheat breeding
  • Wheat disease resistance
  • Wheat genetics

Need help?

For help with finding experts, story ideas and media enquiries, contact our Media team:

communications@uq.edu.au