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Robert C. Sills, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Robert C. Sills, D.V.M., Ph.D.
Chief, Comparative and Molecular Pathogenesis Branch
Tel 984-287-3839
[email protected]
NIH Intramural Profile Robert C. Sills, D.V.M., Ph.D.
P.O. Box 12233
Mail Drop B3-06
Durham, NC 27709

Research Summary

Robert C. Sills, D.V.M., Ph.D., DACVP, Fellow IATP, is a senior staff scientist/pathologist and Chief of the Comparative and Molecular Pathogenesis Branch (CMPB) in the Division of Translational Toxicology (DTT) at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). He oversees 6 groups that are responsible for Anatomical and Clinical Toxicologic Pathology including, Molecular Pathology, Artificial Intelligence and Imaging Sciences, Comparative Medicine (Laboratory Animal Medicine), Pathology Peer Review and Evaluation, Pathology Support (Necropsy, Histology, Immunohistochemistry) and Mouse Embryo Phenotyping.

Sills served as the Interim Scientific Director, DTT (March 2023- May 2024) and on the National Toxicology Program Steering Committee during that time.

Additionally, he is an adjunct professor in the Department of Toxicology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and in the Department of Population Health and Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University.

Sills is passionate about global perspective in toxicologic pathology.  His research interests include the study of molecular mechanisms of non-cancer and cancer diseases related to environmental exposures. Of special interest is in the area of neuropathology evaluations. He is a member of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), Society of Toxicologic Pathology (STP) and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).  He has served on the Executive Council of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology and was an associate editor for the environmental pathobiology section of Veterinary Pathology.

Sills has served as the President of the Society of Toxicologic Pathology (2013-2014). He chaired STP annual meeting sessions on the human genome, implications for toxicologic pathology and carcinogenesis, and a session on cellular and molecular neurocarcinogenesis, and toxicologic pathology of the nervous system. Also, he co-chaired the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) seminar series on current issues in neuropathology.

Sills received his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from Tuskegee University (1984) and completed an internship in anatomical pathology from Tuskegee University (1985) and a combined residency/Ph.D. in toxicologic pathology from Michigan State University (1991). He is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathologists and Fellow of the International Academy of Toxicologic Pathologists.

Selected Publications

Global Perspectives - Toxicologic Pathology

  1. Sills R, Brix A, Cesta M, Churchill SR, Cora MC, Dixon D, Dykstra M, Flake G, Herbert R, Kovi R, Janardhan K, King-Herbert A, Malarkey D, Pandiri A, Travlos G, Willson C, Elmore SA. 2017. NTP/NIEHS Global Contributions to Toxicologic Pathology. Toxicol Pathol. 45(8):1035-1038. [Abstract]
  2. Cesta MF, Malarkey DE, Herbert RA, Brix A, Hamlin MH 2nd, Singletary E, Sills RC, Bucher JR, Birnbaum LS. 2014. The National Toxicology Program Web-based nonneoplastic lesion atlas: a global toxicology and pathology resource. Toxicol Pathol. 42(2):458-60. [Abstract]
  3. Schmidt SP, Jokinen MP, Law JM, Pandiri AR, Weddle DL, Wolf JC, Sills RC. 2013. Environmental pathobiology and global opportunities. Vet Pathol. Sep;50(5):733-4. [Abstract]

Non-Cancer

  1. Letsinger AC, Ward JM, Fannin RD, Mahapatra D, Bridge MF, Sills RC, Gerrish KE, Yakel JL. 2023. Nicotine exposure decreases likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 RNA expression and neuropathology in the hACE2 mouse brain but not moribundity. Sci Rep. 13(1):2042. [Abstract]
  2. Sills RC, Johnson GA, Anderson RJ, Johnson CL, Staup M, Brown DL, Churchill SR, Kurtz DM, Cushman JD, Waidyanatha S, Robinson VG, Cesta MF, Andrews DMK, Behl M, Shockley KR, Little PB. 2020. Qualitative and Quantitative Neuropathology Approaches Using Magnetic Resonance Microscopy (Diffusion Tensor Imaging) and Stereology in a Hexachlorophene Model of Myelinopathy in Sprague-Dawley Rats. Toxicol Pathol. 48(8):965-980. [Abstract]
  3. Bradley AE, Bolon B, Butt MT, Cramer SD, Czasch S, Garman RH, George C, Gröters S, Kaufmann W, Kovi RC, Krinke G, Little PB, Narama I, Rao DB, Sharma AK, Shibutani M, Sills R. 2020. Proliferative and Nonproliferative Lesions of the Rat and Mouse Central and Peripheral Nervous Systems: New and Revised INHAND Terms. Toxicol Pathol. 48(7):827-844. [Abstract]

Cancer

  1. Brooks AM, Vornoli A, Kovi RC, Ton TVT, Xu M, Mashal A, Tibaldi E, Gnudi F, Li JL, Sills RC, Bucher JR, Mandrioli D, Belpoggi F, Pandiri AR. 2024. Genetic profiling of rat gliomas and cardiac schwannomas from life-time radiofrequency radiation exposure study using a targeted next-generation sequencing gene panel. PLoS One. 19(1):e0296699. [Abstract]
  2. Ton TT, Hong HL, Kovi RC, Shockley KR, Peddada SD, Gerrish KE, Janardhan KS, Flake G, Stout MD, Sills RC, Pandiri AR. 2023. Chronic Inhalation Exposure to Antimony Trioxide Exacerbates the MAPK Signaling in Alveolar Bronchiolar Carcinomas in B6C3F1/N Mice. Toxicol Pathol. 51(1-2):39-55. [Abstract]
  3. Riva L, Pandiri AR, Li YR, Droop A, Hewinson J, Quail MA, Iyer V, Shepherd R, Herbert RA, Campbell PJ, Sills RC, Alexandrov LB, Balmain A, Adams DJ. 2021. The mutational signature profile of known and suspected human carcinogens in mice. Nat Genet 52(11):1189-1197. [Abstract Riva L, Pandiri AR, Li YR, Droop A, Hewinson J, Quail MA, Iyer V, Shepherd R, Herbert RA, Campbell PJ, Sills RC, Alexandrov LB, Balmain A, Adams DJ. 2021. The mutational signature profile of known and suspected human carcinogens in mice. Nat Genet 52(11):1189-1197.]