2022 Pilot Grant Awardee, Johns Hopkins
Dr. Catherine Simpson is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her areas of clinical expertise include internal medicine, pulmonary and critical care medicine, and pulmonary vascular diseases. Dr. Simpson earned her M.D. from the Louisiana State University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Johns Hopkins, where she also performed a fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine and earned her M.H.S. degree from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Awarded: $50,000
What is Dr. Catherine Simpson studying?
Doctor Simpson is studying increased blood pressure in the lung (Pulmonary hypertension). Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a condition where the blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs is abnormally high. This increased pressure makes it difficult for the heart to pump blood through the lungs.
Why study Pulmonary hypertension?
About 1% of the world’s population experiences pulmonary hypertension; over 10% of people over 65 years of age have the condition. The cost per month per patient ranges from $6500 to $14,742 in the US.
What did Dr. Catherine Simpson find?
Doctor Simpson has made and continues to make important advances in our understanding of how best to treat this disease. She developed evidence that certain biochemicals present in the blood of patients with pulmonary hypertension are better measures of the function of the right ventricle (which bears the burden of increased pulmonary pressure), than measurements currently used. She also helped develop studies in intact patients that allow physicians to predict outcomes in patients with this disease.
How did The Foundation for Gender-Specific Medicine’s grant help her research?
This grant supported Dr. Simpson’s continued research on the nature and treatment of pulmonary hypertension, with a particular emphasis on patient care.
What is Dr. Simpson’s current status?
Dr. Simpson is an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.