Dr. Pillai is a Cancer biologist with more than 16 years of experience in basic and translational cancer research. He devoted over a decade into investigating the molecular features of Disseminated Tumor Cells (DTCs) from the bone marrow of breast cancer patients, and studying their role in disease progression and metastasis at the Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Dr. Pillai has also studied and published on the mechanisms of cell death regulation in tumor cells and its role in tumor progression. Dr. Pillai earned a Ph.D. from Indian Council for Agricultural Research (Central Institute of Fisheries Education), India and completed post doctoral research at Saint Louis University and Washington University in St Louis.