Corey Casper is the Interim President and Chief Executive Officer at the Infectious Disease Research Institute in Seattle. He also serves as a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Global Health at the University of Washington and an Affiliate Member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Dr. Casper received his medical degree from Cornell University, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at the University of California – San Francisco and a fellowship in Infectious Disease at the University of Washington, where he also earned a Masters of Public Health. His research focuses on the relationship between infectious diseases, immunity and cancer. He has authored more than 120 peer-reviewed publications, and serves on several international advisory boards.
In 2003, Dr. Casper was among the first to describe that antiviral medications could be an important option for treating patients with HHV-8-associated Multicentric Castleman Disease (MCD). In the subsequent years, he established one of the largest clinics for patients with MCD in the United States, and helped design, execute and analyze the pivotal clinical trials of the first FDA-approved therapy for MCD, Siltuximab. He continues to see patients with Castleman Disease and conduct clinical and translational research in this field.
At IDRI, Dr. Casper oversees a scientific portfolio of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics that together provide comprehensive solutions to global health problems. These include vaccines, drugs and diagnostics to reduce the burden of tuberculosis around the globe, the first vaccine specifically designed to prevent and treat leprosy, and the development of a novel RNA replicon platform for the prevention of pandemic / emerging viruses and the treatment of cancer.