Speakers Dr Crispin Howitt

Dr Crispin Howitt

Plant Protein Lead at CSIRO

Dr Crispin Howitt

Dr Crispin Howitt completed his PhD at the Australian National University, studying respiratory pathways and photorespiration in cyanobacteria and the chloroplasts of higher plants. His first postdoctoral fellowship was at Arizona State University where he studied the interaction of respiration and photosynthesis in cyanobacteria. In 2000 he moved to CSIRO in Canberra, Australia, for a second postdoctoral fellowship using gene technology to modify starch structure and function in the model plant Arabidopsis. At the end of 2002, Dr Howitt he moved into the area of cereal quality. Since then, he has had a diverse range of interests: carotenoid biosynthesis in cereal grains, how manipulation of protein content and composition impacts end product functionality, the genetics of end product quality in wheat and modification of grain composition for health benefits.