PHOENIX (Feb. 3, 2025) – Corey Casper, MD, MPH, who has more than 20 years of experience as a physician-scientist in Seattle, has been named Chief Research Officer for Banner Health.

“Dr. Casper will be dedicated to our efforts delivering the best care to our communities and enhancing our knowledge of health care through impactful research,” said Dr. Marjorie Bessel, chief clinical officer for Banner Health. “He is a dynamic executive leader and physician-scientist, bringing extensive experience leading complex research, training and clinical care programs in the academic and non-profit sector.”

Dr. Casper, whose appointment was effective Jan. 27, has designed and led numerous impactful research collaborations over his three-decade career. He was the founding chief executive officer of the Access to Advanced Health Institute in Seattle, a novel non-profit research institute that collaborates with academic and government partners and pharmaceutical companies to invent, develop, manufacture and license vaccines and immunotherapeutics.

He also served as the founding director of the Global Oncology program at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center, responsible for building a preeminent international research, training and clinical care center and growing a new research and academic section. Dr. Casper also previously held positions as a professor of medicine, epidemiology and global health at the University of Washington, where he was a co-director of the Center for AIDS Research, and an affiliate professor and associate cancer center director at the Fred Hutch Cancer Center.

An accomplished scientist who has led the development of more than two dozen products and made important gains in our understanding of the relationship between infection, immunity and cancer, Dr. Casper has served as the principal investigator on more than $100 million in grants and contracts and authored more than 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts.

“I’m excited to work with leadership and staff to assure research at Banner remains strategic, leads to better health outcomes for patients, and is a source of pride and prestige for Banner,” said Dr. Casper.

Banner Research transforms discoveries into new diagnostic, treatment and prevention methods for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, cardiovascular disease and cancer. This work is the catalyst for bringing groundbreaking scientific discoveries to the forefront in finding new ways to treat, prevent and detect illnesses.

This new position will give Eric Reiman, MD, a world-renowned leader in Alzheimer’s disease research and care, the time to work with his colleagues to find effective Alzheimer’s prevention therapies within the next two to four years, establish new models of care for cognitively impaired patients and families, and transform the fight against Alzheimer’s and related diseases in other ways. As CEO of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institutes, he will oversee and spearhead initiatives at the Alzheimer’s institutes in Phoenix and Tucson and Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City. 

Dr. Casper will champion these efforts while advancing research through Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center and many other Banner facilities, academic medicine in collaboration with the University of Arizona, and other research across the system.

Dr. Casper brings to Banner experience in designing strategic plans, communicating complex medical and scientific concepts to key stakeholders, leading cross-functional teams, managing large-scale research and training physicians and scientists.

A graduate of Cornell University Medical College in New York, he completed an internal medicine residency at the University of California – San Francisco. He received his Master of Public Health in epidemiology from the University of Washington, where he also completed his infectious disease fellowship.

About Banner Health

Banner Health is one of the largest, secular nonprofit health care systems in the country. In addition to 33 hospitals, Banner also operates an academic medicine division, Banner – University Medicine, and Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center, a partnership with one of the world’s leading cancer programs, MD Anderson Cancer Center. Banner’s array of services includes a health insurance division, employed physician groups, outpatient surgery centers, urgent care locations, home care and hospice services, retail pharmacies, stand-alone imaging centers, physical therapy and rehabilitation, behavioral health services, a research division and a nursing registry. To make health care easier, 100% of Banner-employed doctors are available for virtual visits and patients may also reserve spots at Banner Urgent Care locations and can book appointments online with many Banner-employed doctors. Headquartered in Arizona, Banner Health also has locations in California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit bannerhealth.com.