Genome Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) are pleased to congratulate Dr. Philip Hieter on recently being awarded the 2018 George W. Beadle Award by the Genetics Society of America, for his outstanding contributions to the genetics research community.

Rapid population growth, a changing climate, and increasing constraints on land, water, and nutrients threaten global food security. Canada must dramatically expand agricultural production to meet increased demand and to offset predicted declines in crop yields in tropical and subtropical countries. This will require that plant breeding be accelerated in Canada, with the goal of developing high yielding, climate-adapted and “planet friendly” varieties.