Catherine Alexis Sims

My interest is in improving the delivery of preventative and reproductive health care for patients with autoimmune disease. As a rheumatology fellow, I was awarded a Women’s Health Fellowship grant to expand an international pregnancy registry for women with vasculitis (VPREG) and explore their lived experiences with pregnancy and breastfeeding. Through these efforts, we collaborated with a patient partner to create patient-focused resources (handouts, videos) on pregnancy and contraception that aim to foster shared decision making and patient empowerment. After completion of my rheumatology fellowship, I was selected for a Health Systems Research fellowship at the Durham Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care System. During this fellowship, I was awarded an Internal Pilot grant to characterize pregnancy outcomes of Veterans with autoimmune disease from national Veteran data. In the second phase of this pilot, we are currently conducting interviews with women Veterans from minoritized populations to gain their perspective on preventative and reproductive health care access and facilitation of this care. Additionally, I am working with the Veterans Affairs Rheumatoid Arthritis (VARA) registry to assess completion and outcomes of cervical cancer screening in this higher risk population. During my clinical time, I have the opportunity to engage with patients in the Duke Autoimmunity in Pregnancy Clinic and VA rheumatology clinics as well as educate medical students, resident, fellows, and advanced practice providers. I am excited to continue advocating for preventative and reproductive health to improve delivery of comprehensive health care for patients with autoimmune disease.