Michel Gilliet, M.D. is Chair of the Department of Dermatology at the University Hospital CHUV in Lausanne, Switzerland. He received his training in Dermatology at the University of Zürich, Switzerland and his research training in Immunology at the DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto, California. In 2004, he was recruited to the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, first as Assistant Professor, then as tenured Associate Professor with a clinical appointment in Dermatology, a translational research appointment in Melanoma Oncology, and a basic science appointment in Immunology. In 2010 he returned to Switzerland as Full Professor and Chair of the Department of Dermatology in Lausanne.
His research has focused primarily on translational research studying immune responses in inflammatory skin diseases and melanoma. In particular, his lab has discovered mechanisms how dendritic cells initiate and drive inflammation in the skin based the complex formation of DNA with antimicrobial peptides. These studies provided a paradigm shift in the understanding how inflammation is regulated in wounded skin and inflammatory diseases such as psoriasis and lupus erythematosus. Dr Gilliet has also been involved in the initial discovery of TSLP and its role in driving allergic inflammation in atopic dermatitis. These studies have resulted in more than 100 peer-reviewed publications with over 19,000 citations, including papers published in Nature, Nature Immunology, Nature Medicine, Nature. Dr. Gilliet has served as Secretary Treasurer (2016-17) and President (2018) of the European Society of Dermatological Research (ESDR) and is honorary member of several international associations including Austria, France and Japan. In 2016, he has received the Cloetta Prize, the most prestigious Award for Medical Research in Switzerland.