Member – Board of Trustees
Dr. Asha Pillai, M.D., FAAP, FACP, serves as a Member of the Board of Trustees at the Hindu University of America. She brings exceptional academic, clinical, and research leadership shaped by her extensive training and contributions in immunology, hematology/oncology, and transplantation. Dr. Pillai holds a B.S. in Immunology from Stanford University and an M.D. from the Indiana University School of Medicine. She completed combined residencies in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the Baylor College of Medicine, followed by the first-ever combined Medicine–Pediatrics Hematology/Oncology/Transplantation fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine, where she also received the Ruth Kirschtein Transplant Immunology Research Fellowship and the NIH K08 Career Development Award.
Dr. Pillai is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, where she also serves as Deputy Director of Translational Research, Co-Director of the FOCIS Center of Excellence in Human Immunology, and a Member of the Tumor Biology Program at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her research group has maintained continuous NIH funding since 2007, with pioneering contributions in innate immunity, immune tolerance, and novel innate immunotherapies for transplantation. She previously established an internationally recognized laboratory at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and has authored numerous publications in immunology, transplantation science, and immunotherapy.
Deeply committed to global health, Dr. Pillai has led medical development initiatives in India since her teenage years and continues to direct international efforts in cancer, transplantation, and immunology. She has served on advisory boards of major organizations such as the Asian American Donor Program (AADP), the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS), and the NIH Transplantation, Tolerance, and Tumor Immunology Study Section.
Beyond her scientific accomplishments, Dr. Pillai has been an avid student and supporter of classical South Indian fine arts since childhood. Since 1987, she has worked toward integrating advanced Hindu studies within major academic institutions. Her intellectual interests include Sanskrit studies, transdisciplinary research, and ensuring accurate representation of Vedic pedagogy across history, literature, and philosophy programs in academia.