Ernesto Casillas, MD

Dr. Ernesto Casillas Jr. is an interventional pulmonologist, a specialist in performing minimally invasive procedures to diagnose and treat airway disorders. His expertise encompasses such advanced techniques as flexible and rigid bronchoscopy, endobronchial ultrasound, navigational robotic bronchoscopy, endobronchial valve placement for emphysema, stent placement to keep passages open when a growth creates a blockage, and thoracoscopy. He collaborates closely with a team of specialists that includes oncologists, radiologists, thoracic surgeons, pulmonologists and internists. He has a special interest in using navigational robotic bronchoscopy to diagnose peripheral lung nodules (abnormal growths located toward the lungs' borders).

Casillas earned his medical degree at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). He completed a residency in internal medicine at Los Angeles General Medical Center, an affiliate of USC. He completed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at UCSF, as well as a fellowship in interventional pulmonology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts General Hospital, affiliates of Harvard Medical School.

As an undergraduate, Casillas wanted to be a marine biologist and spent four years studying oyster development and reproduction in Newport Beach estuaries.