2018 Risk Taker Leading Light Award

Dr. Sastry-Dent holds a PhD in Chemistry from Columbia University and trained as a postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Biology at the Scripps Research Institute.  She has an impressive background in biotechnology in both academia and industry. 

As the External Technology Leader at Corteva Agriscience, Dr. Sastry-Dent makes significant contributions to the field of agriculture and delivers robust solutions to advance science and technology. She actively seeks out high-risk and challenging problems, and presents novel, innovative, cross-functional approaches to sustainably advance agricultural productivity.

Dr. Sastry-Dent is named as inventor or co-inventor on six patent applications, and her approach and methods can be translated across other industries.  Success was not guaranteed in any of these projects, and Dr. Sastry-Dent’s problem solving and cross-functional thinking was key to developing these foundational capabilities. 

Her findings have resulted in new intellectual property for Corteva and advancements in agricultural biotechnology to meet global food security needs.