Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi | Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies

Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi

U of G Plant Agriculture PhD candidate Mohsen Yoosefzadeh Najafabadi in his office

Website links: 
OAC News Story: New Dry Bean Expert to Lead Research in Plant Breeding and Computational Biology
Plant Agriculture Faculty Profile

Advice for Prospective Grad Students...

First of all, I would recommend all prospective students to select their advisors based on their academic background. Searching through the internet and find their publications and trying to make a connection between their research and their potential advisor's research. Also, I would recommend reaching out to previous graduate students of the potential advisor and ask them about the personality of the potential advisor.

Program

Plant Agriculture

Tell us about your path...

Now an assistant professor, I was a PhD student at the University of Guelph and worked with Dr. Milad Eskandari on Soybean breeding and genetics. I did my bachelor's and master's degree at the University of Tehran, Iran. Here, I dissect soybean yield and its components by using genomics and phenomic procedures.

At the University of Guelph, I used genomics procedures like Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and genomic selection to detect genomic regions associated with the soybean yield and its components. Also, I provided a robust artificial intelligence model to predict the yield of the soybean in the early growing stage by using phenomics procedures like hyperspectral reflectance and other physiological traits.

Why did you choose to complete your graduate studies in your program at the University of Guelph?

I chose the University of Guelph because it is known as one of the best universities in agricultural research. Also, the University of Guelph has sufficient equipment and facilities which enable me to accomplish my goals and academic ideas.

How do you think your research can potentially improve life?

The results of my study are expected to provide Ontario soybean breeders a better understanding of the genetic control of seed yield and its related traits along with more efficient molecular tools, which in turn will facilitate the development of Ontario-adapted soybean cultivars with increased seed yield potential which is resulted in improving human life.