Eduard Akhunov is a University Distinguished Professor in the Plant Pathology Department at Kansas State University and Director of the Wheat Genetics Resource Center. His program focuses on studying the evolution of wheat diversity and contribution of wild relative introgression to local adaptation and crop improvement. By applying integrated analysis of genomic data, molecular genetics and genome editing approaches his team seeks to understand mechanisms controlling wheat productivity, nutritional quality and disease resistance traits with the goal of developing new resources and tools for improving this vital crop.