FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Allison Billi

Allison C. Billi, MD, PhD was recruited to the Department of Dermatology as an Assistant Professor in 2021. A rising star in the field of cutaneous immunology, Dr. Billi’s research explores the biological mechanisms that lead to female sex bias in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Development of new therapies for lupus has been slowed by our poor understanding of autoimmunity, and it is still not known why women are so disproportionately affected by this disease. Dr. Billi’s research aims to improve our knowledge on pathogenesis of lupus and other femalebiased autoimmune diseases in pursuit of new therapeutic targets.

Dr. Billi has shown that overexpression of the transcription cofactor VGLL3 in the skin of mice causes a severe lupus-like rash and systemic autoimmune disease that mimics SLE in humans. In addition, she has shown that excess epidermal VGLL3 drives a program of proinflammatory gene expression that overlaps in both female skin and cutaneous lupus. Importantly, these findings strongly suggest VGLL3 serves a central role in causing lupus in women and that skin inflammation can precipitate systemic autoimmune disease.

A graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School Medical Scientist Training Program, Dr. Billi completed her dermatology residency and postdoctoral research training in the U-M Department of Dermatology. A productive scholar, she has co-authored more than 50 publications, including articles in prestigious scientific journals (e.g., Nature, Science, PLoS Genetics, and Science Translational Medicine). She has provided invited lectures at several top academic institutions, including Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, and Johns Hopkins University, and at various scientific conferences, including annual meetings of the Society for Investigative Dermatology.

Dr. Billi served as a Resident/Postdoctoral fellow representative to the Society for Investigative Dermatology Board of Directors and as an Associate Scientific Advisor for the Editors’ Choice section of Science Translational Medicine. She is recipient of a Dermatology Foundation(DF) Dermatological Investigator Research Fellowship award (2019), a DF Career Development Award in Women’s Health (2020-2021), and a recently funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) K08 grant (20212026) for her research studying the role of VGLL3 in sex bias. In 2021, She received the American Academy of Dermatology Young Investigator Award for Basic/Translational Research.

Dr. Billi provides patient care within the Division of Medical Dermatology at Michigan Medicine. She teaches students, residents, and others, both in her clinics and within the lab. She serves as a member of the department’s Residency Task Force, Telemedicine Workgroup, and Faculty Recruitment and Promotions Committee.