Dr. Babu Valliyodan is an Assistant Professor of Molecular Biology and Genomics at the Department of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO, USA. In addition, Dr. Valliyodan is an Adjunct faculty at the Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA. Prior to the current position, he was a Senior Research Scientist at the National Center for Soybean Biotechnology and Division of Plant Sciences, University of Missouri (MU), Columbia for several years. During his tenure at the University of Missouri, Dr. Valliyodan’ s research focused on soybean genetics and genomics and developing genetic and molecular tools for crop improvement. Dr. Valliyodan coordinated large scale genome sequencing project for soybean and provided the genome sequence information to the public breeding programs and farmers. Also, at MU, Dr. Valliyodan conducted genotype-phenotype associations and identified key alleles/genes for both abiotic stress tolerance and yield component traits. The current research focuses of Dr. Valliyodan at the Lincoln University are: application of contemporary genetic and genomic technologies to study genome variation and complex trait improvement in legumes and other major crops. This includes dissecting the molecular/biochemical regulation of stress tolerance traits, studying the role of plant-microbiome (rhizobiome) interactions, and genome editing for water and nutrient use efficiency, plant performance and yield improvement.