Dinesh Kumar Saini is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at Texas Tech University. His research focuses on molecular and conventional breeding strategies for climate-resilient crops, with a major emphasis on sorghum improvement.

Background

Saini earned his Ph.D. in Plant Breeding from Punjab Agricultural University, India, where he received top academic honors, including the Chancellor Medal, University Gold Medal, and fellowships such as DST-INSPIRE and ICAR-SRF. He also earned multiple gold and silver medals, along with the Kisan Trust Prize, during his bachelor’s and master’s studies at Chaudhary Charan Singh University.

Previously, Saini was a postdoctoral research associate at Texas Tech under the United Sorghum Checkoff Program, focusing on ideotype breeding and developing climate-resilient sorghum germplasm. He also served as a research associate at South Dakota State University and as guest faculty at Chaudhary Charan Singh University.

Research Interests

Saini brings expertise in plant breeding, genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics with a strong emphasis on sorghum improvement. His research spans trait mapping, marker-assisted breeding, high-throughput phenotyping, and the integration of physiological and data-driven approaches to accelerate crop improvement. Saini also contributes to graduate student mentoring, departmental teaching, and service activities.