Michael H. Pillinger, MD

Dr. Pillinger completed his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Harvard University and his medical degree at NYU School of Medicine.  He trained in internal medicine at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed his fellowship in rheumatology at the NYU School of Medicine and the Hospital for Joint Diseases.  Dr. Pillinger serves as director of the NYU rheumatology fellowship training program and oversees TREC (Translational Research Education and Careers), the training and career development unit of the NYU Clinical and Translational Science Institute, where he also oversees the Masters of Science Program in Clinical Investigation.

Dr. Pillinger’s research interests focus on the mechanisms and consequences of inflammation, including inflammation in crystal diseases such as gout.  Particular interests include the cardiovascular consequences of inflammatory diseases, which has led to close collaborations with cardiology colleagues, particularly Dr. Binita Shah.  He has done extensive work on the impact of colchicine and other gout-affiliated agents on various consequences of inflammation.  Among his most recent work are the COLCORONA study, examining the benefit of colchicine in patients with COVID, and the STOP-GOUT study, testing the comparative efficacy of two standard gout drugs, allopurinol and febuxostat.  Dr. Pillinger also studies the interaction of gout, the most common inflammatory arthritis in the world, and osteoarthritis, the most common arthritis overall.

To date, Dr. Pillinger has published more than 170 original reports, reviews and book chapters.  He is the recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Program Director and Clinician Scholar Educator Awards, and has trained more than 100 rheumatology fellows.