Dr Vito Butardo

Biography

Dr Vito Butardo Jr obtained his PhD degree in Agricultural Sciences at The University of Queensland where he majored in plant molecular biology, biochemistry and biotechnology. He was then awarded postdoctoral research fellowships at the CSIRO Plant Industry (Canberra, Australia), International Rice Research Institute (Los Baños, Philippines) and Charles Sturt University (Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia).  He also holds a bachelor's degree in Biology Major in Microbiology (Honours). He joined Swinburne University of Technology in September 2017, where his major research initiatives focus on microbial and agricultural biotechnology. His primary research goal is mitigating the impact of malnutrition by enhancing food security, nutritional value, and food safety of cereal grains. He is also interested in utilising agricultural wastes for industrial purposes and determining the role of plant-based prebiotics on gut health. He is currently looking for honours, MS and PhD research students who are keen on the topics listed below.

Potential Research Topics:

1. Functional genomic validation of genes associated with cereal grain quality, nutrition and safety
   
2. Metabolomic analyses of coloured rice seeds
3. QTL mapping of nutritional quality traits in rice
4. Nutritional and safety implications of micronutrients and heavy metals in rice and other cereals
5. Utilisation of rice husks, hulls and bran for industrial purposes
   
6. Surface chemistry, material science characterisation and synchrotron-based advanced phenotyping of cereal grains
7. Resistant starch, dietary fibre and bioactive peptides in rice and their role in gut health
8. Nutriomic analyses of hempseed and other orphan crops
9. Cloning and expression of thermophilic enzymes from microorganisms in agricultural and food wastes
10. Metagenomics of beneficial microorganisms associated with cereals