ANDREA L. CASILLAS, PH.D.
Dr. Casillas was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ, attending public schools and becoming increasingly interested in how the body functions.
After completing high school, she enrolled at The University of Arizona where she received her B.S. in Biology in 2015, graduating with honors and cum laude. She wrote her senior honors thesis, advised by Dr. Anne Cress, on the link between the DNA damage response and the invasive prostate cancer phenotype.
With a strong interest in cancer signaling, she matriculated into The University of Arizona Cancer Biology Graduate Interdisciplinary Program and the Dr. Noel Warfel Lab in 2016. Throughout her tenure as a doctoral student, she was independently funded from a mix of NIH/NCI training grants and an institutional graduate fellowship. Her doctoral research focus was elucidating mechanisms of drug resistance, specifically the molecular mechanisms responsible for PIM-mediated resistance to anti-angiogenic agents.
Upon completion of her doctoral work, she obtained a postdoctoral research position studying ovarian cancer metastasis at the University of Wisconsin Madison in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Dr. Pamela Kreeger Lab in 2020.
After her postdoc, Dr. Casillas decided to leave academic research and pursue non-profit research administration. She obtained a Research Grants Manager (RGM) position at Susan G. Komen where she managed a portfolio of early career, leadership and health disparities training grants from peer review through post award. She also helped launch Komen's first career transition award and Komen's first diversity supplement grant programs. As an RGM, she had the opportunity to plan networking events for the grantees, create and edit scientific content for distribution through blogs and social media media, represent Komen at conferences and generally advocate for eliminating health disparities and diversifying the biomedical workforce, areas she is particularly passionate about. Personally, she also fundraised over $10,000.00 for Komen's Mission through the 3-Day and advocated both in Washington, D.C. and the Colorado Capitol for research investment and low-income cancer screening programs.
Dr. Casillas is an active volunteer for causes she cares about. Through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southern Arizona's Mentor 2.0 program, she spent four years supporting a high school student facing significant adversity. Her "little sister" went on to become the first in her family to earn a professional certificate, enrolling in a dental hygienist program after graduation. As DEI Learning Community Co-Chair for the Health Research Alliance, a collaborative of nonprofit biomedical research funders, she worked to ensure member organizations felt empowered to advance equity in their grantmaking and help eliminate health disparities across the research ecosystem. Most recently, she began volunteering as a grant writer for Hope Starts Here, a mobile outdoor food bank serving the southeastern Denver metro, helping secure funds to expand their mission of bringing fresh, healthy food to families in the community, with hopes of one day moving the operation indoors.To donate, visit here.
In her free time, Dr. Casillas enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and friends, pursuing creative hobbies and cooking delicious food. She currently resides in Denver, CO with her husband, Dr. Jason Giles, Ph.D., a Data Scientist at the University of Colorado Anschutz, and their rescue dog, Pablo Escobark.