Jill Buyon, MD

Jill P. Buyon, M.D., Sir Deryck and Lady Va Maughan Professor of Rheumatology and Director of the Division of Rheumatology at New York University School of Medicine; Director of the NYU Lupus Center, is internationally recognized as a physician scientist specializing in translational research and management of systemic lupus erythematosus, lupus nephritis, neonatal lupus, and rheumatic diseases in pregnancy. Dr. Buyon received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY and continued there for residency in internal medicine. She completed her rheumatology fellowship at New York University School of Medicine and remained there ever since. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Hospital for Joint Diseases under the mentorship of Robert Winchester and Gerald Weissmann in 1985, Dr. Buyon founded the HJD Lupus Clinic, and has served as its Director to this day. She led the first multicenter study in SLE, supported by NIAMS, which resulted in a paradigm change with regard to the safety of contraceptive estrogens and hormone replacement. In 1994, Dr. Buyon received NIAMS funding to found the Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus, a major font of information on this disease (>100 publications). Supported by an NIH MERIT award, her studies have addressed the pathogenesis of fetal conduction disease with a focus on linking maternal antibody to fibrosis. Her most recently completed open label study demonstrated that hydroxychloroquine reduced the recurrence rate of congenital heart block by 50%. In a challenging undertaking projected to enroll 1300 anti-Ro positive pregnancies, she is addressing the use of home doppler recordings to identify emergent reversible fetal block. Dr. Buyon has been an active member of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership as she continues to lead the effort in deconstructing and reconstructing lupus nephritis. She oversees the P50 COMPEL (Translational Center of Molecular Profiling in Preclinical and Established Lupus) which leverages anti-Ro positive mothers to address disease progression. Dr. Buyon has consistently collaborated with many investigators on translational projects in SLE and has provided precise phenotyping to accompany all blood samples. Based on this model, she has established SAMPLE (Specimen and Matched Phenotype Linked Evaluation) at NYU’s Division of Rheumatology to facilitate seamless integration of phenotype and sample storage (blood, stool, urine) under one biorepository with one protocol and consent. Her dedication to mentorship is exemplified by the recent renewal of a T32 training grant in rheumatology. Dr. Buyon has published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed science journals and is co-editor in chief of “Lupus Science and Medicine.” She has received the Distinguished Clinical Investigator Award as well as the Evelyn V Hess Lifetime Achievement Award for Research in Lupus and the Halsted R. Holman Award for Excellence in Clinical Research and was elected to the American Academy of Physicians. She has served on numerous NIH Grant Review Committees including six years on the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Diseases K and T32 Award grant peer review committee and four years on the NIH Peer Review Advisory Committee (PRAC). In 2018, she was appointed as a member of the NIAMS Advisory Council. In keeping with the importance of strong translational bench to bedside leadership, Dr. Buyon approaches the study of SLE with continuous NIH funding, expertise in clinical trials and repositories, paradigm changes in managing the reproductive health of SLE women, and proven excellence in mentorship.