Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science
Professor Ian Dubery is a Research Professor in the Department of Biochemistry in the Faculty of Science. He joined Rand Afrikaans University in 1982 and has been an NRF rated scientist since 1988. He is currently B2 rated and an internationally recognised scientist. His early research results in the field of plant–microbe interactions addressed the biochemistry behind the resistance versus susceptible plant phenotypes. His more recent research has significantly contributed to the body of knowledge on plant innate immunity, plant disease resistance and potential for use in novel crop protection strategies.
Having adopted the new 'omics' developments into his research, Professor Dubery has established an internationally recognised foothold in the growing field of metabolomics with more than 40 papers in core journals on the use of metabolomics in investigating inducible plant defence responses. To date he has published 138 papers in leading international journals specialising in Plant Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Physiology. His findings are widely cited by other researchers, both nationally and internationally, as well as quoted in specialised textbooks. The recognition of his work and impact on the scientific community is reflected by an h-index rating of 24 in Scopus and 30 in Google Scholar. Combined, his papers have received more than 3296 citations of which more than half were during the last 5 years.
Professor Dubery contributes to training high-calibre scientists and to date has supervised and mentored 48 Masters and 13 Doctoral biochemistry graduates. In addition, he is currently supervisor/co-supervisor of nine Masters and Doctoral students. Six of his previous students are currently professors in Biochemistry or Plant Science departments at South African universities and a further five group leaders at research institutes in the Agricultural Research Council and the CSIR.
He has received numerous awards for his scientific contributions. Professor Dubery is a life-long fellow of the prestigious Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation and was awarded the 2015 Gold medal by the South African Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology for research excellence and contributions to the discipline of biochemistry and molecular biology.