Suresh D. Pillai, Ph.D.
Texas A&M University
Suresh Pillai, Ph.D. is a professor of microbiology and Texas A&M AgriLife Research Faculty Fellow at Texas A&M University. He is also the Director of the National Center for Electron Beam Research at Texas A&M University, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Collaborating Center for Electron Beam Technology. Dr. Pillai received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from University of Madras in India and his Ph.D. in Microbiology & Immunology in 1989 from the University of Arizona.
He has studied microbial populations in agricultural soils, groundwater aquifers, aerosols, and foods. His interest in microbial populations extends all the way from developing methods to detect and characterize them, to understanding their survival and transport in different ecosystems and to understanding how to inactivate them as well as how specific microbial cells respond to decontamination and sterilization technologies. His current research is focused on using high energy electron beam (eBeam) irradiation to decontaminate a variety of natural and man-made materials and to understand the transcriptomic and metabolomic responses of specific bacterial cells to these types of ionizing radiation. This research has led to the development of patented methods of creating high potency vaccines as well as the commercialization of eBeam technology-based businesses.
He has studied microbial populations in agricultural soils, groundwater aquifers, aerosols, and foods. His interest in microbial populations extends all the way from developing methods to detect and characterize them, to understanding their survival and transport in different ecosystems and to understanding how to inactivate them as well as how specific microbial cells respond to decontamination and sterilization technologies. His current research is focused on using high energy electron beam (eBeam) irradiation to decontaminate a variety of natural and man-made materials and to understand the transcriptomic and metabolomic responses of specific bacterial cells to these types of ionizing radiation. This research has led to the development of patented methods of creating high potency vaccines as well as the commercialization of eBeam technology-based businesses.