Robert Henry, PhD
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Affiliate Faculty
Institute of VinUni Big Data Research
Affiliate Faculty
Biography
Robert Henry conducts research on the development of new products from plants. He was Professor of Innovation in Agriculture and was Foundation Director of the Queensland Alliance for Agriculture and Food Innovation (QAAFI), a Research Institute of the University of Queensland established in collaboration with the Queensland Government. He is leader of the UQ node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Plant Success in Nature and Agriculture and was foundation Director of the ARC Research Hub for Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon. He was previously Director of the Centre for Plant Conservation Genetics at Southern Cross University, Research Director of the Grain Foods CRC and Research Program Leader in the Queensland Agricultural Biotechnology Centre. His current research targets plant genome sequencing for the capture of novel genetic resources for diversification of food crops to deliver improved food and biomaterials. Robert Henry has been involved in establishing several Cooperative Research Centres in Australia and has contributed to the management of research funding by Rural Research and Development Corporations.
Robert Henry is a graduate of the University of Queensland (B Sc (Hons)), Macquarie University (M Sc (Hons)) and La Trobe University (Ph D). He was awarded a higher doctorate (D Sc) by the University of Queensland for his work on variation in plants, is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a recipient of the Guthrie Medal for his contributions to cereal chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and a highly cited scientist (ISI) in agriculture.
· Agricultural biotechnology
· Conservation genetics
· DNA sequencing
· Biochemistry and molecular biology
· Genomics
· Plant Breeding
· Product quality; food, feed or bio-industrial products
· Bioenergy and biomaterials
• Climate adaptation in agriculture
• Genomics of food security
• Advances in genomics of complex organisms
· Wijesundara U K, Masouleh A K, Furtado A, Dillon N L, Smyth H, Henry RJ (2026) Chromosome-scale genome assemblies for the Australian mango Kensington Pride and a wild relative, Mangifera laurina, provide insights into anthracnose resistance and volatile compound biosynthesis genes. Plant Biotechnology Journal https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70556
· Millsteed T, Sullivan R, Kainer D, Sun X, Li KL, Mao L, Macdonald A, Henry R (2025) Spatial transcriptomics of developing wheat grain reveals cocentric gene expression zones and sub-genome biased expression of key genes. Plant Biotechnology Journal https://doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70351
· Barmukh R, Garg V, Liu H, Chitikineni A, Xin L, Henry R, Varshney RK (2024) Spatial omics for accelerating plant research and crop improvement. Trends in Biotechnology doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2025.03.007
· Fang J, Zhou L, Chen Q, Lin S, Wang J, Yan H, Zhang J, Henry RJ (2024) Integrated transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis unravels the floral scent characteristics and regulation in “Hutou” multi-petal jasmine. Communications Biology doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-07685-w
· Abdullah M, Furtado A, Kharabian Masouleh A, Okemo P and Henry RJ (2025) The genomes of the most diverse AA genome rice species provide a resource for rice improvement and studies of rice evolution and domestication. BMC Genomics 26, 54 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12864-025-11246-0
· Nurmansyah, Agnelo Furtado A¸ Okemo P, Henry RJ (2025) Unique starch biosynthesis pathways in wild rice revealed by multi-omics analyses, Plant Biotechnology Journal doi.org/10.1111/pbi.70021
· Nakandala U, Furtado A, Henry RJ (2025) Citrus genomes: Past, present and future Horticulture Research doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhaf033
· Ratnasekera D, Fan J, Henry RJ, Song B-K, Wambugu P, Pusadee T, Aun OM, Vilayheuang K, Zheng X, Qian Q (2024) The First International Symposium of the World Wild Rice Wiring: Conservation & Utilization of Global Wild Rice Germplasm Resources through International Cooperation. Molecular Plant DOI: 1016/j.moip.2025.01.002
· Wang Y, Dong W, Liang Y, Lin W, Chen J, Henry RJ, Chen F (2024) PhyloForge: Unifying micro and macro evolution with comprehensive genomic signals. Molecular Ecology Resources doi/10.1111/1755-0998.14050
· Zhang X, Wang J, Noor-ul-Áin, Que Y, Zhang J, Abid J, Zhao P, Zhang Y, Lin J, Chen L, Bao Y, Herry R, Tangphatsornruang S, Wang Q, Huang D, Ye J, Zhang M, Luo M Butterfield M, D’Hont A, Wang R, Ming R (2025) International Research Initiative on Genomics-guided Sugarcane Breeding. Molecular Plant 18, 171-174
· Wilkinson MJ, McLay K, Kainer D, Elphinstone C, Dillon NL, Webb M, Wijesundara UK, Ali A, Bally ISE, Munyengwa N, Furtado A, Henry RJ, Hardner CM, and Ortiz-Barrientos D (2024) Centromeres are Hotspots for Chromosomal Inversions and Breeding Traits in Mango New Phytologist https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.20252
· Nakandala U, Furtado A, Masouleh AK, Smith MW, Mason P, Williams DC, Henry RJ (2024) The genomes of Australian wild limes. Plant Molecular Biology 114(5) 102
· Zheng X, Peng Y, Qiao J, Henry R, Qian Q, (2024) Wild rice: unlocking the future of rice breeding. Plant Biotechnology Journal http:/doi.org/10.1111/pbi.14443
· Mason PJ, Blaakmeer A, Furtado A, Stuart PN, Nomula R, Bjarnholt N, Sørensen M, Koleva Dt, Pedas PR, Knudsen S, Møller BL, Skadhauge B, Henry RJ (2024) Harnessing the power of an extensive EMS-Induced Sorghum Population for rapid crop improvement Physiologia Plantarum 176 e14449
· Li X, Li B, Gu S, Pang X, Mason P, Yuan J, Jia J, Sun J, Zhao C, Henry R (2024) Single-Cell and Spatial RNA Sequencing Reveal the Spatiotemporal Trajectories of Fruit Senescence. Nature Communications doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-47329-x
· Zheng X, Ratnasekera D, Fan J, Henry RJ, Song B-K, Olsen KM, Joshi; BK, Maria Banaticla-Hilario MCN, Pusadee T, Melaku AG, Loko YLE, Vilayheuang K, Oppong GK, Poku SA, Wambugu PW, Ge S, Merotto Junior A, Aung OM, Venuprasad R, Kohli A, Zhou W, Qian Q (2024) Global Wild Rice Germplasm Resources Conservation Alliance: World Wild-Rice Wiring Molecular Plant doi.org/10.1016/j.molp.2024.03.001
· Healey A, O Garsmeur O, Lovell JT, Shengquiang S, Sreedasyam A, Jenkins J, Plott CB, N Piperidis N, Pompidor N, Llaca V, Metcalfe C, Doležel J, P Cápal P , Carlson JW, Hoarau JY, Hervouet C, Zini C, Dievart A , Lipzen A, Williams M, Boston LB, Webber J, Keymanesh K , Tejomurthula S , Rajasekar S, Suchecki R, Furtado A, May G, Parakkal P, Simmons BA, Barry K, Henry RJ, Grimwood J, Aitken K, Schmutz J, D’Hont A (2024) The complex polyploid genome architecture of sugarcane. Nature doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07231-/
· Wijesundara U K, Masouleh A K, Furtado A, Dillon N L, Henry RJ (2024) Chromosome level genome of mango exclusively from long read sequence data. The Plant Genome doi.org/10.1002/tpg2.20441 Biorxiv 30/11/23
· Okemo P, Wijesundra U, Nakandala U, Dillon N, Chandora R, Campbell B, Smith M, Hardner C, Cadorna CA, Martin G, Yahiaoui N, Garsmeur O, Pompidor N, D’Hont A and Henry RJ (2024) Crop Domestication in the Asia Pacific Region. Agriculture Communications doi.org/10.1016/j.agrcom.2024.100032
· Salojärvi J, Rambani A, Yu Z, Strickler S, Guyot R, Lepelley M, Rajaraman S, Rastas P, Chunfang Z, Muñoz DS, Meidanis J, Paschoal AR, Bawin Y, Krabbenhoft T, Wang ZQ, Fleck S, Aussel R, Bellanger L, Charpagne A, Fournier C, Kassam M, Lefebvre G, Métairon S, Moine D, Rigoreau M, Stolte J, Hamon P, Couturon E, Tranchant-Dubreuil C, Mukherjee M, Lan T, Engelhard J, Stadler P, Suzuki SI, Sumirat U, Man WC, Dauchot N, Orozco-Arias S, Garavito A, Kiwuka C, Musoli P, Nalukenge A, Guichoux E, Reinout H, Smit M, Carreto-Paulet L, Filho OG, Braghini MT, Padilha L, Sera GH, Ruttink T, Henry R, Marraccini P, Van de Peer Y, Andrade A, Domingues D, Giuliano G, Mueller L, Pereira LF, Plaisance S, Poncet V, Rombauts S, Sankoff D, Albert VA, Crouzillat D, de Kochko A, Descombes P (2024) The genome and population genomics of allopolyploid Coffea arabica reveals the diversification history of modern coffee. Nature Genetics doi.org/10.1038/s41588-024-01695-w
· Nakandala U, Masouleh AK, Smith MW, Furtado A, Mason P, Constantin L, Henry RJ (2023) Haplotype resolved chromosome level genome assembly of Citrus australis reveals disease resistance and other citrus specific genes. Horticulture Research doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhad058
· Henry RJ (2023) Genomic analysis of new food options from the Australian flora. Sustainable Food Technology DOI: 10.1039/D3FB00001J
· Margarido GRA, Correr FH, Furtado A, Botha FC, Henry RJ (2022) Limited allele-specific gene expression in highly polyploid sugarcane. Genome Research 32 (2), 297-308
· MacDonald H and Henry RJ (2022) Balancing incentives for innovation in new plant varieties. Nature Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01246-3
· Henry RJ (2010) Plant Resources for Food, Fuel and Conservation. Earthscan, London, UK pp 200.
· BSc (Hons) Biochemistry, University of Queensland
· MSc (Hons) Biological Sciences, Macquarie University
· PhD Biochemistry, La Trobe University
· DSc Botany University of Queensland
· Fellow Royal Australian Chemical Institute
· Guthrie Award for Cereal Science, RACI
· Highly Cited Researcher (ISI)
· Fellow Australasian Grain Science Association
· Fellow Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering
· Honorary Fellow Indian Society of Genetics and Plant Breeding
