About Dr. Gordon
Think of the most interesting man you know. Now imagine what he would be like had he grown up in a tarpaper shack without indoor plumbing, in a small town called Dowagiac Michigan, which is about 20 miles north of the University of Notre Dame. Imagine if he had joined a monastery, had an extensive career as a female model, actress, author and screen writer, then traded in his weave and acrylic nails for a Ph.D. in neuroscience. If you have been able to conjure up that image, turn it up to 11, then introduce yourself to Dr. Billi Gordon.
Whether you know it or not, if you were born prior to 1980, you have probably seen “Billi” before — if not in Coming to America, or on Married With Children, then most likely gracing the cover of a greeting card featuring a voluptuous black woman inviting you to do something lewd on your birthday. Or perhaps you have seen him on Billboards in the European Commonwealth or in Japanese Commercials. Yep, that was Billi Gordon.
These days, Dr. Gordon spends most of his time conducting research using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify the neurological basis of behavior. In particular, he studies the pathophysiology of stress as an antecedent to disease. His research is driven by the desire to increase awareness and make a kinder more salubrious world.
Education
Dr. Gordon graduated with honors from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1997, under the mentorship of Dr. Sandra Cole, Professor, University of Michigan School of Medicine. He graduated summa cum laude with an Interdisciplinary Masters in Psychology and Sociology at California State University at Northridge, under the direction of Dr. James Elias, the last active researcher from the original Kinsey Institute, Director of the Center for Sex Research, and Preferred Expert Testimony by the United States Supreme Court in Human Sexuality Matters. In November, 2004, following the conclusion of a 3-year internship at the Brain Mapping Core of the Center for Neurovisceral Sciences and Women’s Health in the Department of Digestive Diseases in the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Gordon was awarded his Ph.D in Neuroscience. Dr. Gordon did his Post Doctoral Research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA under the supervision of Mark S. Cohen PhD, in Brain Research and Functional Neuroimaging at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center. During this time, Dr. Gordon served on the Advocacy Committee of UCLA Society of Post Doctoral Scholars.
Professional
Dr Gordon currently serves as Chair of the Advisory Committee for Collective Concerns in Medicine. He’s a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Writer’s Guild of America, PEN-USA, and has authored Four Books.
Personal
In 1981, when Dr. Gordon’s father died suddenly he moved his mentally challenged mother into his home and cared for her until her death in 2002. In 1988, (during his transgendered phase) the State of California issued Dr. Gordon and his male spouse a marriage license, and they were married in Watsonville, CA in August of that year, and are still married today.