Dr Didier Boichard
Leader
Cattle Genetics and Genomics Research Group, INRA,
Jouey en Josas, France
Topic: Genomic Selection in Dairy Cattle
Education
Graduate, Agricultural University of Paris
PhD in Fertility of Dairy Cattle
Professional Experience
Dr Boichard joined INRA in 1982 and made his main research contributions in dairy cattle genetics and breeding, particularly on the analysis of genetic variability of production and functional traits. He was in charge of the French national genetic evaluation for dairy cattle, sheep and goats. He also conducted several projects for QTL detection and fine mapping, within breed as well as in a Holstein x Normande crossbreeding design.
In 2002, in close collaboration with the French breeding industry, Dr Boichard implemented a large scale marker-assisted selection programme, transformed in 2008 into a genomic selection programme. From 2002 to 2009, he headed the Animal Genetics Division of INRA. He is presently leading the Cattle Genetics and Genomics research group at INRA and is also chairman of the genotyping company Labogena.
