Kumar Pillai has spent over thirty years conducting dermatology research and solving problems in skin science. After obtaining his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from India, he pursued post-doctoral fellowships at Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas, United States), Case Western Reserve University (Cleveland, Ohio, United States), and University of California, San Francisco (San Francisco, California, United States). After close to a decade as a Dermatology Research Scientist at the University of California, Kumar pursued a long career in R&D and cosmetic ingredient development at Unilever, BASF, and L'Oréal. His areas of expertise include in vitro testing, ingredient development, clinical research, proof-of- concept, and clinical trials. In addition, he has helped guide the safety and efficacy of ingredients used in several cosmetic brands. Kumar retired from L'Oréal in early 2016 and is currently consulting for cosmetic product development companies to help them with ingredient efficacy claims.