Aqeel Ahmad, PhD, serves as Pest Control Project Lead at Bayer (legacy Monsanto) and is a Science Fellow, an honor for scientists at Bayer. Throughout his 20-year career, he has made significant contributions to insect control commercial products using his expertise in environmental risk assessment and trait product development.

Uniqueness of achievements: Ahmad’s contributions to Bayer’s Regulatory and Plant Biotechnology functions have directly impacted business by advancing 16 genetically modified traits in five crops. Recently, he led the Bollgard 4 Cotton project, advancing a 10-gene package with four loci, specific positions of gene locations on a chromosome. This led to a significantly reduced cost of goods for comprehensive insect and weed control in cotton.

Ahmad worked on ThryvOn® cotton technology, the first cotton biotech trait that provides protection against tarnished plant bug and thrips species that cost US farmers hundreds of millions of dollars annually. He provided technical and strategic leadership on Regulatory approvals, Market Development field trials and the product launch.

Leading a cross-functional effort at Bayer, Ahmad focused on data transportability, resulting in three publications about the scientific rationale of environmental risk assessment (ERA) data transportability across countries. Both countries of cultivation and import are adopting and benefiting from this practice. These efforts also affect regulatory agencies by helping them make informed decisions quickly and driving innovation forward while maintaining safety standards.

Discipline for Achievements: Ahmad’s success can be attributed to his disciplined leadership, continuous pursuit of knowledge and commitment to create innovative products for farmer customers. Through his hard work, he is currently recognized as an expert in environmental risk assessment and trait product testing. He collaborates with legal and technical teams to create IP and publication strategies to support Bayer’s license to operate, helps shape the Biotech pipeline and facilitates Bayer’s competitive advantage. 

He has published more than 40 technical research reports that support 16 different Biotech products related to herbicide tolerance, insect control, yield and quality traits. He has co-authored 17 publications in peer-reviewed journals and six extension publications.

Overcoming obstacles: Ahmad immigrated from Pakistan in 1997 to pursue a doctoral degree at Kansas State University. Pursuing a PhD in the US presented unexpected challenges, including cultural and language barriers, financial struggles, and adapting to a new academic system. But with perseverance and resilience, he overcame them and thrived in his studies.

Additionally, Ahamd has overcome obstacles in his industry role. He served as the leader of an industry technical expert sub-group (sponsored by EuropaBio and CropLife International), which initiated, developed, and implemented a reduction in data requirements and a more streamlined process for environmental-interaction data submissions across the industry for crops and regions. This harmonization led to efficiency gains in organizations and a unified approach across the industry, resulting in reduced questions from regulators. He offers expert guidance across Bayer on experimental design and data interpretation and fosters collaboration with individuals from diverse teams in Small Molecules, Biologics, Biotechnology, Field Solutions and more.

Serving as a role model: Ahmad has mentored over 20 young scientists across Bayer and leverages his experience and networks to link them with opportunities. He is a BASIA (Bayer Asian Employee Resource Group) St. Louis Chapter Lead and helps nurture an environment for Asian employees to thrive. For the past three years, he has volunteered for the St. Louis Academy of Science Fair for K-12 students, International Science and Engineering Fair, KidSmart and STEM school nights.