MRIGlobal Executive Joins University of Missouri Research & Development Advisory Board

Dr. Robert Casillas to advise MU on research strategy, foster collaboration

(Kansas City, MO) June 29, 2012 – MRIGlobal announces that Robert Casillas, Ph.D., has been appointed to serve on the University of Missouri Research & Development Advisory Board.

Casillas, MRIGlobal Vice President of Strategic Global Health and Security, is a biochemical toxicologist and an internationally recognized expert in chemical and biological defense.

MU’s Research & Development Advisory Board works to advance the University’s research partnerships with industry and government, to promote translational research from MU to the private sector, and to foster development opportunities that enhance the University’s mission.

Managed by MU Vice Chancellor Rob Duncan, the 72-member Advisory Board supports efforts to grow the $425 million in external monies that MU annually receives (expenditures) through sponsored research, contracts, and diverse fee-for-service agreements.

Casillas will assist with the Board’s strategic focus in several areas of MRIGlobal expertise, including transformational and disruptive technologies in engineering, medicine, and agriculture.  

At MRIGlobal, Casillas is responsible for developing strategic plans, opportunities, and programs for strengthening MRIGlobal’s business, working with government, industry, and academia.

Before joining MRIGlobal, he was Vice President, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosive (CBRNE) Business Integration for medical and non-medical defense markets for the National Security Global Business at Battelle Memorial Institute. 

Casillas’ career includes 20 years’ active duty service in the U.S. Army; he continues to serve as a Research Biochemist in the U.S. Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel, Medical Service Corps. While on active duty, he served as Chief, Chemical and Biological Collection Systems, Chief, Chemical Defense Section, 520th Theater Army Medical Laboratory, and as a Senior Researcher at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. As a reservist, he was twice deployed to support Operation Iraqi Freedom.

In addition, Casillas is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, Rutgers University, and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine. 

Casillas was named as one of the “Top 200 Most Influential Hispanics in Technology” for 2011 by Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology magazine.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and doctoral degree in biochemistry from Georgia State University, and also completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular toxicology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Department of Biochemistry.

About University of Missouri Research & Development Advisory Board
MU’s Research & Development Advisory Board works to advance the University’s research partnerships with industry and government, to promote translational research from MU to the private sector, and to foster development opportunities that enhance the University’s missions of research, teaching, service, and economic development. Areas of strategic focus include food for the future; new media; comparative and translational medicine; sustainable energy; and transformational and disruptive technologies. The Board consists of 72 members and includes alumni, venture capitalists, directors of national laboratories, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, and patent attorneys.

About MRIGlobal
MRIGlobal, a not-for-profit research and development organization, delivers global solutions in national security and defense, energy and environment, life and animal sciences, agriculture and food safety, and transportation. The organization performs scientific research, advanced engineering and program integration and management for clients in government, industry and academia. Established in 1944 as Midwest Research Institute, MRIGlobal is based in Kansas City, Mo., operates in nine states and Washington, D.C., and manages more than 3,300 employees.

The organization is one of two partners in the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC, which manages and operates the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., for the U.S. Department of Energy. MRIGlobal established and manages SolarTAC and supports the National Energy Technology Laboratory for the DOE to develop technologies for clean coal, carbon management, energy efficiency and techno/economic analysis of energy systems.

For more information, visit www.mriglobal.org.