Dr. Dilip Shah has been a Principal Investigator at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in Missouri since 2001. His lab investigates the mechanisms of action and biotechnological applications of naturally occurring antifungal peptides called defensins and defensin-like NCR peptides. These peptides have the potential for development as antifungal agents for the control of fungal diseases in agriculture. Dilip Shah has over 35 years of experience in plant molecular biology and agricultural biotechnology. During his previous tenure at Monsanto Company, he contributed substantially to developing Roundup herbicide-resistant crops. He is a co-inventor on several patents, and his patents on glyphosate-tolerant crops were listed as “Ten Patents That Changed the World” in the 2003 year-end publication of Intellectual Property Worldwide. He won the 2019 Bar Association of Metropolitan St Louis Inventor of the Year Award. He is also a co-founder of the Peptyde Bio Company, which designs and develops antimicrobial peptides for crop protection.