Asha Pillai

About Asha Pillai

I am a physician-scientist, recently Global Development Scientific Council Chair in Hematology/Hem Malignancies/Transplant at a leading immunology company innovating therapies for serious diseases. I have 20+ years experience in clinical and translational research in innate immunity, alloregulation, and immune tolerance, particularly in allo-transplantation and in the past 2 years have been central to visioning, positioning, and developing (from pre-IPA to pre-IND planning and asset acquisition) the Benign Conditioning program at Regeneron Cell Medicines.Innovation: I developed the first Med/Peds Hem/Onc dual certification at Stanford School of Medicine was a Ruth Kirschtein NRSA Fellow and K08 recipient, ran an active NIH-funded laboratory program in benign conditioning strategies, cellular immunotherapy, and transplantation tolerance (murine-human) where I trained several outstanding physicians and scientists. Our work discovered important new pathways of innate immune regulation and methods to optimize these pathways to facilitate mismatched donor transplant tolerance through reduced toxicity conditioning. Building upon those seminal findings, we also devised novel means to expand these cells ex vivo and modulate/target them for innate immune cancer immunotherapy.My research mission is to apply previously unappreciated pathways and principles of innate immunity in immunotherapy and transplantation, and to develop pragmatic yet compassionate clinical solutions that transform the lives of patients worldwide. I have been continuously funded by the NIH and led international initiatives in medicine, transplantation, education, and development, and mentored the next generation of scientists, clinicians, and educators. At Regeneron, I have found a home where I collaborate with like-minded colleagues who share my passion for excellence, integrity, and equity in basic research and healthcare.Some points for those connecting:I am a no-nonsense type who values excellence, growth, rigor, high integrity, and straight talk. Through many direct professional experiences, I have learned the art of getting things done while maintaining integrity in my research, clinical, and professional endeavors (including in the face of systems working against this).I am committed to working on impactful global problems [read: no interest in “me-too” efforts, not afraid of hard work and enjoy forging uncharted paths], and mentoring next generations. I will not hesitate to call out a problem, though I will do it respectfully and with EQ for team dynamics.

Experience

1. Vice President Global Development

   Regeneron

   Dec 2025 — Present · New York, NY, US

Education

• Harvard Medical School

  GCSRT, Clinical Research

  2017 — 2018

• Indiana University School of Medicine

  Doctor of Medicine - MD with Distinction, Medicine with Research Honors

  1991 — 1995

• Baylor College of Medicine

  Combined Med-Peds Residency, Medicine/Pediatrics

  1995 — 1999

• Stanford University School of Medicine

  Ruth Kirschtein T32 NRSA Research Fellowship, Transplant Immunology

  2004 — 2008

• Stanford University

  BS Summa cum Laude, Research Honors, Microbiology and Immunology

  1986 — 1990

• Stanford University School of Medicine

  Combined Med-Peds Hematology/BMT Fellowship, Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation

  2000 — 2004