2022 Jones Medal: statistical tools for genome-based livestock breeding
Dr Kenneth Dodds, AgResearch, has been awarded the Jones Medal by Royal Society Te Apārangi for his work developing and applying statistical methods for genetic data analysis that enable the use of low-cost genotyping in primary industries and ecology.
Ken is highly respected for leadership in statistics and bioinformatics and he is internationally recognised for developing, adapting and implementing tools for livestock breeding.
He led the mapping of genes in livestock. Throughout his career, Ken has been a global leader in developing and combining new statistical tools with genetic analysis. His methods and software allowed genome regions in livestock to be associated with diverse production traits.
More recently, he has led the development of statistical tools for the application of low-cost DNA sequencing for genetic improvement.
This year is the first time the Jones Medal has been awarded since the untimely death of the late Sir Vaughan Jones, winner of the prestigious Fields Medal, and Fellow of the Royal Society of London and Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand (Te Apārangi). Associated with this Medal is a $5000 prize generously supported by the family of Sir Vaughan Jones and administered through the New Zealand Mathematics Research Institute.
Jones Medal:
For a lifetime achievement in pure or applied mathematics or statistics.
Citation:
For developing and applying statistical methods for genetic data analysis that enable the use of low-cost genotyping in primary industries and ecology.