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PhD alumni

From 2012 onwards

Laura Skrubbeltrang Hansen

Date of PhD defence: 25 January 2024

Project titleSelective Breeding in Insects for Food and Feed.

Laura's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Ana Claudia Guillenea Golovanesky

Date of PhD defence: 5 December 2022

Project titleGenomic prediction and QTL mapping in multi-breed and crossbred cattle populations considering breed origin of the alleles

Ana's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Miguel Angel Raffo Busco

Date of PhD defence: 28 November 2022

Project titleGene-by-gene and genotype-by-environment interactions in wheat

Miguel's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Jón Hjalti Eiríksson

Date of PhD defence: 15 November 2022

Project titleStatistical models for genomic evaluations of crossbred dairy cows.

Jón's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Egill Gautason

Date of PhD defence: 1 November 2022

Project titleGenetic diversity, genomic selection and sustainable breeding schemes in small dairy cattle populations.

Egill's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Bjarke Grove Poulsen

Date of PhD defence: 28 September 2022

Project titlePrediction of breeding values for survival of commercial sows

Bjarke's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Mattia Fois

Date of PhD defence: 17 June 2021

Project title: Genetic dissection of crown rust (Puccinia coronata f.sp. lolii) resistance in perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)

Mattia's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Aarhus University (Flakkebjerg).

Lu Cao

Date for PhD defence: 21 January 2021

Project titleOptimizing dairy cattle breeding programs in the presence of genotype-by-environment interaction.

Lu's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Faculty of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University.

Flavia Pilar Forte

Date of PhD defence: 2 December 2020

Project title:  Inter-kingdom signaling regulating the mutualistic adaptation between a fungal endophyte of the genus Epichloë and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) in novel association 

Flavia's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Aarhus University (Flakkebjerg).

Pernille Bjarup Hansen

Date of PhD defence: 23 October 2020

Project title: Genetic Dissection and Prediction of Complex Traits in Barley and Festulolium Grasses

Pernille's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Aarhus University (Flakkebjerg).

Charlotte Damsgård Robertsen

Date of PhD defence: 7 October 2020

Project title: Genomic Selection for yield and malting quality in winter barley.

Charlotte's industrial PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Aarhus University and Sejet Plant Breeding I/S.

Thinh Tuan Chu

Date of PhD defence: 8 november 2019

Thesis title: Genotype by environment interactions in poultry breeding programs     

The PhD degree was completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and the Graduate School of Wageningen Institute of Animal Sciences (WIAS), Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands as part of the Erasmus Joint Doctorate Program “EGS-ABG”.

Dana Olijhoek

Date of PhD defence: 7 November 2019

Thesis title: Enteric methane production and residual feed intake of dairy cows - Nutritional and phenotypic perspectives  

The PhD degree was completed at the Centre of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and Institute for Animal Science, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.

Md Mesbah Uddin

Date of PhD defence: 17 September 2019

Thesis title: Identification of causal factors for recessive lethals in dairy cattle with special focus on large chromosomal deletions

The PhD degree was completed at the Centre of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and Animal Genetics and Integrative Biology, AgroParisTech/INRA, France.

Roos Marina Zaalberg

Date of PhD defence: 12 April 2019

Thesis title: Genetic analysis of Fourier transform infrared milk spectra in Danish dairy cattle 

The PhD degree was completed at the Centre of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.  

Wossenie Mebratie

Date for PhD defence: 25 March 2019

Project titleThe genetics of body weight and feed efficiency in broiler chickens 

Wossenie's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University, and Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Margot Slagboom

Date of PhD defence: 22 March 2019

Thesis title: Quantifying the value of specific breeding lines for organic dairy cattle 

The PhD degree was completed at the Centre of Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University.  

Peter Skov Kristensen

Date of PhD defence: 5 March 2019

Project title: Improving baking quality of wheat 

Peter's industrial PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University and Nordic Seed A/S.

Grum Gebreyesus Teklewold

Date for PhD defence: 14 December 2018

Project titleFine mapping and genomic prediction for detailed milk composition

Grum's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University, and Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Bingjie Li

Date for PhD defence: 26 October 2018

Project titleGenetic properties of feed efficiency and related traits in dairy cattle.

Bingjie's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sverige.

Aoxing Liu

Date for PhD defence: 23 October 2018

Project title: Improvement of genetic evaluation and detection of quantitative trait loci for female fertility traits in dairy cattle

Aoxing's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and  National Engineering Laboratory for Animal Breeding, College of Animal Science and Technology, China Agricultural University.

Andrew Gitahi Marete

Date for PhD defence: 19 October 2018

Project titleUse of large-scale cow genotyping to dissect dairy complex traits beyond additive effects.  

Andrew's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and the GABI unit at AgroParisTech and INRA, France.

Gareth Difford

Date for PhD defence: 28 September 2018

Project titleGenetic control of Methane Emission, Feed Efficiency and Metagenomics in Dairy Cattle 

Gareth's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University and Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, the Netherlands.

Larissa Zetouni

Date for PhD defence: 16 March 2018

Project titleOpportunities to select for low methane emitting dairy cattle

Larissa's PhD degree has been obtained at Aarhus University under the programme Science without Borders. The project was financed by the Brazilian government.

Qianqian Zhang

Date for PhD defence: 19 December 2017

Project titleExploiting whole genome sequence variants in cattle breeding: Unraveling the distribution of genetic variants and role of rare variants in genomic evaluation

Qianqian holds an EGS-ABG double degree, obtained in a collaboration between Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics at Aarhus University and Wageningen University (Holland) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).    

Palle Duun Rohde

Date of PhD defence: 12 December 2017

Project title: Dissecting the genetic variation of schizophrenia and ADHD using an integrative genomic approach

Palle's PhD degree is completed at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics (QGG), Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University.

Berihu Gebremedhin Welderufael

Date of PhD defence: 20 November 2017

Thesis title: Genetic evaluation of susceptibility to- and recoverability from mastitis in dairy cows

Berihu holds a double degree, completed jointly at the Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and at the Center for Quantitative Genetics and Genomics, Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Science and Technology, Aarhus University Foulum.

Tao Xiang

Date of PhD defence: 8 September 2017

Thesis titleCombined purebred and crossbred information for genomic evaluation in pigs

Tao Xiang holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with Paris AgroTech (INRA) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).

Lingzhao Fang

Date of PhD defence: 23 May 2017

Thesis title: Genomic feature model analysis of complex traits in diary cattle

Thu Hong Le

Date of PhD defence: 2 December 2016

Thesis title: Breeding for robust sows: Association between leg conformation, fertility and sow stayability

Thu holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).  

Since her PhD graduation, Thu Hong Le has worked as postdoc at QGG.

Xiaowei Mao

Date of PhD defence: 21 November 2016

Thesis title: Population level genome-wide association studies in dairy cattle

Xiaowei holds a double degree as EGS-ABG student in collaboration with Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics)   

After his PhD graduation, Xiaowei Mao works as research assistant at QGG (ELIXIR).

Minhui Chen

Date of PhD defence: 17 November 2016

Thesis title: Studies on selection signatures in the genome of domestic animals.

Minhui Chen holds a double degree, obtained  in collaboration with China Agricultural University.

After his PhD graduation, Minhui Chen went back to China, but has recently started in a 1-year postdoc position at QGG.

Ahmed Ismael Sayed Ismael

Date of PhD defence: 30 March 2016

Thesis title: Genotype by environment interaction for automated and traditional fertility traits in dairy cattle

Ahmed holds a double degree EGS-ABG in collaboration with Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics). 

After his PhD graduation, Ahmed Ismael Sayed Ismael worked as postdoc at QGG for 6 months (GinH project).

Xiangyu Guo

Date of PhD defence: 29 February 2016

Thesis title: Genomic prediction and GWAS for reproduction traits in Danish pigs

Xiangyu holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with China Agricultural University.

After her PhD graduation, Xiangyu Guo works as postdoc at the GenSAP centre at QGG.

Hadi Esfandyari

Date of PhD defence: 12 February 2016

Thesis title: Genomic selection for crossbred performance

Hadi holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with Wageningen University (the Netherlands) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).  

After obtaining the PhD degree, Hadi Esfandyari works as postdoc at the GenSAP centre at QGG.

Gabriel Alejandro Rovere

Date of PhD defence: 12 February 2016

Thesis title: Sport horses: Breeding specialist from a single breeding programme.

Daniel holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with Wageningen University (the Netherlands) under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).

After obtaining the PhD degree, Gabriel Alejandro Rovere went back to Uruguay until 1 May 2016, where he started in a postdoc position at the GenHorse project at QGG.

Edin Hamzic

Date of PhD defence: 8 December 2015

Thesis title: Genetics of mechanisms controlling responses to two major pathogens in broiler and layer chickens

Edin holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with AgroParisTech under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).

Edin Hamzic works as data analyst in a private company in Bosnia.

Xiujin Li

Date of PhD defence: 30 November 2015

Thesis title: Methods to improve genomic prediction and GWAS using combined Holstein populations

Xiujin holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with China Agricultural University.

Xiujin Li works as postdoc in China.

Irene van den Berg

Date of PhD defence: 7 September 2015

Thesis title: The use of whole sequence data for genomic selection in dairy cattle

Irene holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with AgroParisTech under the European Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctorate program EGS-ABG (European Graduate School in Animal Breeding and Genetics).  

After her PhD defence, Irene van den Berg worked as research assistant at the GenSAP centre at QGG until December 2015. She subsequently got a postdoc position at the University of Melbourne.

Dario Fè

Date of PhD defence: 17 June 2015

Thesis title: Establishing the basis for Genomic Prediction in Perennial Ryegrass

Dario holds an industrial PhD, obtained in collaboration with DLF Trifolium.

After graduation, Dario Fè has worked at DLF Trifolium.

Setegn Worku Alemu

Date of PhD defence: 3 June 2015

Thesis title: Indirect Genetic Effects for group-housed animals

Setegn holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with Wageningen University (the Netherlands).  

After obtaining the PhD degree, Setegn Worku Alemu works as postdoc at QGG (COBB).

Bilal Hassan Ashraf

Beatriz Castro Dias Cuyabano

Date of PhD defence: 16 December 2014

Thesis title: Genomic prediction of dairy cattle traits using haplotype blocks from high density marker data

After graduation, Beatriz Castro Dias Cuyabano is working as postdoc at QGG (GenSAP).

Xiaoping Wu

Date of PhD defence: 26 November 2014

Thesis title: GWAS and Genomic Prediction Based on Markers of SNP-CHIPS and Sequence Data in Cattle. Populations

After PhD graduation, Xiaoping Wu works as postdoc at QGG (Genomics in herds).

Lei Wang

Date of PhD defence: 14 November 2014

Thesis title: Exploiting linkage disequilibrium in statistical modelling in quantitative genomics

After graduation, Lei Wang worked as research assistant at QGG for two years, and is now postdoc at QGG.

Stefan McKinnon Høj-Edwards

Date of PhD defence: 24 October 2014

Thesis title: Improving biological understanding and complex trait prediction by integrating prior information in genomic feature models

After his PhD graduation Stefan McKinnon Høj-Edwards worked as research assistant at QGG until April 2015. 

Anna Amanda Schönherz

Date of PhD defence: 28 May 2014

Thesis title: Evolutionary Mechanisms Involved in Emergence of Viral Haemorrhagic Septicaemia Virus (VHSV) into Cultured Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss

After her PhD graduation, Anna Amanda Schönherz worked as research assistant at QGG (genetic resources) for two years, before being employed as postdoc at the Aalborg University.

Smitha Anantharama Ankinakatte

Date of PhD defence: 13 May 2014

Thesis title: Statistical methods for longitudinal data with agricultural applications

After her PhD defence, Smitha Anantharama Ankinakatte has worked for GE Capital and NOVO Nordisk in India.

Janne Pia Thirstrup

Date of PhD defence: 23 April 2014

Thesis title: Litter size, fur quality and genetic analyses of American mink

After her PhD defence, Janne Pia Thirstrup worked as research assistant at QGG (mink) until April 2016.

Huiming Liu

Date of PhD defence: 11 April 2014

Thesis Title: Application of dense marker genotypes for long-term genetic gain in animal breeding schemes

After graduation, Huiming Liu worked as a research assistant in QGG (Genomic Selection in cattle) until December 2014. Since 2015 she has been a postdoc at the GenSAP center at QGG.

Lei Zhou

Date of PhD defence: 29 January 2014

Thesis title: Genomic prediction across dairy cattle populations and breeds

After his PhD graduation, Lei Zhou now works as postdoc at the Michigan State University in the USA.

Naveen Kumar Kadri

Date of PhD defence: 24 January 2014

Thesis title: Methods for association mapping using multiple population data

After obtaining the PhD degree, Naveen Kumar Kadri works as postdoc at the University of Liège in Belgium.

Rasmus Froberg Brøndum

Ali Reza Ehsani

Peipei Ma

Date of PhD defence: 3 June 2013

Thesis title: Methods and strategies to impute missing genotypes for improving genomic prediction.

Peipei Ma holds a double degree, obtained in collaboration with China Agricultural University.

Rafael Pimentel Maia

Date of PhD defence: 21 May 2013

Thesis titleEvent History Analysis in Quantitative Genetics

Rafael Pimentel Maia is currently employed as assistant professor at the University of Campinas in Brazil.

Jørn Rind Thomasen

Date of PhD defence: 17 May 2013

Thesis title: Genomic selection in small dairy cattle populations (Description in Danish)

Vahid Edriss

Date of PhD defence: 14 December 2012

Thesis title: Choosing the best cattle with more accuracy

Kristian Krag

Date of defence: 2 November 2012

Thesis title: Quantitative Milk Genomics: Estimation of variance components and prediction of fatty acids in bovine milk (Description in Danish)

Hongding Gao

Date of PhD defence: 22 May 2012

Thesis title: Comparison of statistical models for genomic predictions in nordic dairy cattle populations.

After PhD graduation, Hongding  Gao worked as postdoc at QGG. Today he holds a position as researcher at QGG.