I’m an Assistant Professor of Horticultural Crop Breeding for Nutrition in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Kentucky. My research group—The Sapkota Lab—is dedicated to blending the best of traditional plant breeding with the latest innovations in molecular biology, genomics, metabolomics, bioinformatics, machine learning, and AI. Our mission is to develop improved horticultural crop varieties that are not only high-yielding and disease-resistant but also packed with better flavor and enhanced nutritional value—helping to meet the evolving needs of Kentucky growers and consumers while contributing to food security on a global scale.