Contact Information
Summary
Jessica Simpson, M.B., B.S., completed her medical degree at The University of the West Indies in Jamaica. After working in Jamaica as a medical doctor in various specialties, she completed her pediatric residency at Memorial Healthcare System at Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Florida. During her residency, Dr. Simpson was exposed to the field of rheumatology and worked closely with pediatric rheumatologist Dr. Kristina Wiers. Specifically, she was drawn to this field after clinical interactions with patients with juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). She has commenced a pediatric rheumatology fellowship program and completed her clinical year at Children's National Hospital.
Dr. Simpson's interest in JDM has led to her current position as a clinical research fellow in Dr. Hanna Kim's lab, the Juvenile Myositis Pathogenesis and Therapeutics Unit at NIAMS. This lab focuses on understanding JDM's pathogenesis, which could help identify targeted treatment. Jessica will focus on single-cell RNA sequencing data analysis in JDM patients.
Research Statement
Dr. Simpson's career thus far has focused on clinical medicine, specifically pediatric rheumatology. Her clinical experience has now ushered her into the field of research. She is particularly interested in research related to juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM). JDM is a chronic autoimmune condition that classically manifests as myositis, resulting in muscle weakness and characteristic skin findings, among other features. Reliable biomarkers to help guide treatment are limited, and consequently, so is targeted treatment. Dr. Simpson will focus on data analysis from single-cell RNA sequencing in JDM patients. By analyzing transcriptomes of individual cells within a sample, she seeks to identify biomarkers related to JDM disease activity.
Scientific Publications
Education
Children’s National Hospital
Pediatric Rheumatology Fellowship training (2023-Present)
Memorial Healthcare System- Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital
Pediatric Residency training (2020-2023)
The University of the West Indies, Jamaica
Medical Degree - Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (2011-2016)