Robert W. Simms, MD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Simms is Emeritus Professor of Rheumatology at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. His major research interest is in scleroderma clinical outcome measures and clinical trials. He is the most active scleroderma clinician in the section, and is the site PI on multiple past and ongoing multicenter trials. He partners with Dr. Lafyatis in clinical and translational studies. This has included a recently completed trial of rituximab in systemic sclerosis. He works very closely with Dr. Farber on clinical issues as well as clinical trial initiatives in pulmonary hypertension. Dr. Simms receives NIH support as the site PI on a multi-center trial of high dose immunosuppressive therapy and autologous bone marrow transplant compared to cyclophosphamide (SCOT).

Publications

  • Published 12/1/2025

    Khanna D, Spino C, Tashkin DP, Bernstein EJ, Goldin J, Kleerup EC, Harui A, Ibrahim G, Kim GHJ, Huang S, McLain R, Tu YH, Nagaraja V, Silver RM, Steen VD, Weigt SS, Lee JS, Fischer A, Scholand MB, Gordon JK, Dellaripa PF, Rosas IO, Hunninghake GM, Trojanowski MA, Simms RW, Dematte JE, Hsu VM, Domsic RT, Raghu G, Mayes MD, Boente RD, Roth MD. Combining Pirfenidone With Mycophenolate Mofetil for Systemic Sclerosis-Related Interstitial Lung Disease (Scleroderma Lung Study III): An Investigator-Initiated, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Phase 2 Trial. ACR Open Rheumatol. 2025 Dec; 7(12):e70126. PMID: 41294296.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/28/2025

    Kosarek NN, Romano ME, Moen EL, Simms RW, Erickson A, Khanna D, Pioli PA, Whitfield ML. Geographic Clustering of Systemic Sclerosis in Areas of Environmental Pollution. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2025 Jul; 77(7):855-866. PMID: 39895067.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/14/2025

    Georges GE, Khanna D, Wener MH, Mei MG, Mayes MD, Simms RW, Sanchorawala V, Hosing C, Kafaja S, Pawarode A, Holmberg LA, Kolfenbach J, Furst DE, Sullivan KM, Huang S, Gooley T, Nash RA. Autologous Nonmyeloablative Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis: Identifying Disease Risk Factors for Toxicity and Long-Term Outcomes in a Prospective, Single-Arm Trial. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2025 May; 77(5):571-581. PMID: 39624016.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/15/2023

    Spiera R, Kuwana M, Khanna D, Hummers L, Frech TM, Stevens W, Matucci-Cerinic M, Kafaja S, Distler O, Jun JB, Levy Y, Leszcyznski P, Gordon J, Steen V, Lee EB, Jankowski T, Litinsky I, Chung L, Hsu V, Mayes M, Sandorfi N, Simms RW, Finzel S, de Vries-Bouwstra J, Constantine S, Dgetluck N, Dinh Q, Bloom BJ, Furst DE, White B, Denton CP. Efficacy and Safety of Lenabasum, a Cannabinoid Type 2 Receptor Agonist, in a Phase 3 Randomized Trial in Diffuse Cutaneous Systemic Sclerosis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2023 Sep; 75(9):1608-1618. PMID: 37098795.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/16/2022

    Keyes-Elstein L, Pinckney A, Goldmuntz E, Welch B, Franks JM, Martyanov V, Wood TA, Crofford L, Mayes M, McSweeney P, Nash R, Georges G, Csuka ME, Simms R, Furst D, Khanna D, Clair EWS, Whitfield ML, Sullivan KM. Clinical and Molecular Findings After Autologous Stem Cell Transplantation or Cyclophosphamide for Scleroderma: Handling Missing Longitudinal Data. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2023 Feb; 75(2):307-316. PMID: 34533286.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 108 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Member, Arthritis & Autoimmune Diseases Research Center
    Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research
    Boston University

Websites

Education

  • University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, MD
  • Bucknell University, BA

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