Jill P. Buyon, MD

Jill P. Buyon, MD, is the Sir Deryck and Lady Va Maughan Professor of Rheumatology and director of the Division of Rheumatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Dr Buyon has devoted more than 2 decades to understanding and treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and neonatal lupus (NL) and has made significant contributions to the academic literature in these arenas, earning the 2007 Evelyn V. Hess, MD, MACP, MACR, Award from the Lupus Foundation of America for her research in SLE.

She has served on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) committees, including the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) Advisory Council and the Peer Review Advisory Committee. In 1985, Dr Buyon founded the Lupus Center at the Hospital for Joint Diseases (currently known as NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital), which she continues to direct. In 1994, she received NIAMS funding to found the Research Registry for Neonatal Lupus, a major font of information on this disease. Basic research supported by an NIH MERIT Award addressed the pathogenesis of the devastating cardiac manifestation of NL (ie, fetal heart block), linking maternal antibody to fibrosis. The highly integrational and bidirectional “bench-to-bedside” nature of Dr Buyon’s research program uses basic science to identify markers for risk stratification, predict disease outcomes, and identify potential prevention targets.

Leveraging hydroxychloroquine’s inhibition of TLR signaling, she and Peter M. Izmirly, MD, led the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development–funded prospective trial PATCH to evaluate hydroxychloroquine use for the prevention of recurrent congenital heart block, which demonstrated a 50% reduction in recurrence. Additionally, Dr Buyon partnered with Bettina F. Cuneo, MD, in the STOP BLOQ study, a prospective trial designed to empower anti-SSA/Ro+ mothers with home Doppler devices, detect emergent heart block, and evaluate the efficacy of rapid treatment with dexamethasone and intravenous immunoglobulin. Dr Buyon has also championed the concept of “no antibody, no disease,” and, to this end, she, Dr Cuneo, and Justin S. Brandt, MD, recently initiated the NIH- and industry-funded AVERT clinical trial, which aims to evaluate a novel drug’s efficacy in preventing recurrent block via FcRn blockade.

Beyond NL, Dr Buyon has consistently collaborated with numerous investigators on translational projects in SLE and has provided precise phenotyping to accompany all blood samples. Based on this model, she has established the Specimen and Matched Phenotype Linked Evaluation bioregistry (also known as SAMPLE) at NYU’s Division of Rheumatology to facilitate the seamless integration of phenotype and sample storage (ie, blood, stool, and urine) under one biorepository with one protocol and consent. SAMPLE enables the sharing of resources and is the platform that is being used to establish the longitudinal LOCKIT cohort for her NIAMS Accelerating Medicines Partnership Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases grant. Dr Buyon was the principal investigator of a specialized center (P50) grant on SLE pathogenesis, the Translational Center of Molecular Profiling in Preclinical and Established Lupus. All these projects have provided strong translational clinical and research opportunities for medical students, residents, and fellows.