Care

To schedule an appointment with one of our lupus specialists, contact us at 617-732-5515 or visit our Lupus Center to learn more about our clinical services.

Multidisciplinary Care

Our dedicated BWH Lupus Center lupus rheumatologists and multiple affiliated specialists, in cardiology, neurology, nephrology, dermatology, and obstetrics and gynecology, provide comprehensive and thoughtful clinical care to over 1000 actively-followed patients. Our clinicians are highly trained and have vast experience with the serious and enigmatic nature of this complicated disease, as well as many related connective tissue diseases and conditions, such as mixed connective tissue disease, antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and Sjogren’s syndrome. The BWH Lupus Center is located in the BWH Arthritis Center within the new Hale Building for Transformative Medicine, 60 Fenwood Road 2nd floor.

The Multidisciplinary Care Team

Karen H. Costenbader, MD, MPH

Karen H. Costenbader, MD, MPH

Director, Lupus Program

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Karen Costenbader is a rheumatologist and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she is Director of the BWH Lupus Program, the inaugural incumbent of the Michael E. Weinblatt, MD, Distinguished Chair in Clinical Rheumatology, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and related connective tissue diseases.

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Dr. Costenbader received her medical degree from Harvard Medical School, a Master’s degree from Cambridge University in England, and a Master's in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her internal medicine internship and medical residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, as well as training in rheumatology at both the Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Her clinical and translational research, investigates risk factors associated with the development of systemic lupus erythematosus and outcomes among those with lupus. In 2009, Dr. Costenbader received the inaugural Mary Betty Stevens, MD, Young Investigator Award from the Lupus Foundation of America, and, in 2011, the Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology. She also was selected for the 2016 Edmund Dubois Memorial Lectureship on Lupus at the American College of Rheumatology, and the 2018 Ira Goldstein Memorial Award from New York University for excellence in rheumatology research. Dr. Costenbader is an Associate Editor for Arthritis and Rheumatology and the International Journal of Clinical Practice. She sits on several grant review committees and acts as a reviewer for multiple journals. She has served as a research mentor for over 30 past and current trainees. Dr. Costenbader is the current Chair of Medical-Scientific Advisory Council at Lupus Foundation of America.

Laura Tarter, MD

Laura Tarter, MD

Director, Pregnancy and Reproductive Health

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

 As the majority of lupus patients are of child-bearing age, family planning and reproductive health are often affected by the disease. Lupus can complicate pregnancy and contraception choices. Dr. Tarter is an expert in both the care of lupus and in guiding people with lupus and their families though the sometimes-complicated decisions regarding reproductive health and pregnancy. She works closely with the renowned Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialists at BWH.

 

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Elena Massarotti, MD

Elena Massarotti, MD

Director, Clinical Trials Program

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Elena Massarotti is a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she is the Clinical Director of the BWH Lupus Center, and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She specializes in the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus and related connective tissue diseases. She received her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.

Paul Dellaripa, MD

Paul Dellaripa, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Paul Dellaripa is Co-Director of the BWH Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Clinic. His areas of interest include pulmonary manifestations of rheumatic diseases and clinical trials in ILD in the rheumatic diseases.

Patricia Fraser, MD

Patricia Fraser, MD

BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Pat Fraser cares for patients with lupus and lupus-related diseases.  She has a particular interest in the epidemiology of lupus in different racial and ethnic groups, and also in  environmental risk factors for lupus.

Paul Hoover, MD, PhD

Paul Hoover, MD, PhD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Paul Hoover received his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford University School of Medicine, followed by medical residency and rheumatology fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. 

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He is drawn to systemic lupus and lupus kidney disease because of its complex medical presentation, disproportionate impact on minority patients, and dire need for new therapeutic targets. During his rheumatology training, Dr. Hoover began working with his research mentor, Dr. Nir Hacohen, at Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. Dr. Hoover is applying leading edge technologies to identify new immune cells and understand which molecular pathways drive systemic and kidney disease for new drugs based on precision medicine.

Angela Gupta, MD

Angela Gupta, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Angela Gupta is a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her rheumatology fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. 

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Dr. Gupta has a clinical interest in the care of complex patients with lupus, in particular navigating lupus during high-risk pregnancies. She also hopes to provide preventative care for her patients, so they can avoid long-term sequela of renal and cardiac disease. Lupus is a challenging disease to navigate, and Dr. Gupta aims to educate and empower her patients as much as possible.

Deepak Rao, MD, PhD

Deepak Rao, MD, PhD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Deepak Rao is an Instructor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and co-Director of the BWH Human Immunology Center. His research focuses on understanding the immune cells that cause inflammation in lupus and rheumatoid arthritis using cutting-edge technologies such as CyTOF and RNA sequencing.

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His recent work, published in the journal Nature, revealed a new T cell population that is expanded in the joints of patients with rheumatoid arthritis and in the blood of patients with lupus. He has received the Hearst Young Investigator Award from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Distinguished Fellow Award from the American College of Rheumatology. His overall goal is to develop new methods to shut off the damaging immune response that underlies lupus and other autoimmune diseases.

Nancy Shadick, MD

Nancy Shadick, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile
BRASS Study 

Dr. Nancy Shadick is an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of Translational Research Development in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology and Allergy and co-founder and principal investigator of the BRASS study, one of the largest single center cohorts of RA in the nation.

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Her experience is with leading and conducting research in RA cohort studies and RA outcomes, and biomarker studies. As a clinical researcher and epidemiologist, she has published over 90 articles on RA clinical and genetic outcomes and other rheumatic diseases. Dr. Shadick also runs the patient-centered outcomes initiative in the Orthpaedic and Arthritis Center at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and has spent years working with patients through BRASS, facilitating their involvement with research and has developed extensive contacts in the rheumatic disease community with patients and their representatives to bring relevant parties together for research engagement.

Candace Feldman, MD, MPH, ScD

Candace Feldman, MD, MPH, ScD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Candace Feldman is a rheumatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Within the Lupus Center, she currently serves as the Director of Community Outreach and Patient Engagement. Clinically, she maintains a specific focus on the care of patients with lupus as well as patients with complex medical and social needs. Her NIH-funded research focuses on racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic health disparities in rheumatic diseases and intervention design to reduce disparities in avoidable outcomes.

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Dr. Feldman received her MD from the Yale School of Medicine, her MPH from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and her ScD in Social and Behavioral Sciences from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She completed both her residency and fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
Ruth Ann Vleugels, MD

Ruth Ann Vleugels, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Ruth Ann Vleugels, serves as Director of the Autoimmune Skin Disease Program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Co-Director of the Rheumatology-Dermatology Clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital.

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Her clinical research, which focuses on rare autoimmune skin diseases and emerging medical therapies, has been supported by a Medical Dermatology Career Development Award from the Dermatology Foundation. Dr. Vleugels developed and serves as the Program Director of the Brigham and Women’s Dermatology-Rheumatology Fellowship, which is the only formal training opportunity of its kind nationwide, and is the Vice Chair of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Department of Dermatology. She is passionate about teaching and medical education and has received numerous teaching and mentoring awards from both Harvard Medical School and Harvard Dermatology.

 

Mary-Beth Son, MD

Mary-Beth Son, MD

Children’s Hospital Physician Profile

Dr. Mary-Beth Son attended the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed internship, residency and chief residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital (BCH). She then completed a fellowship in pediatric rheumatology at BCH.

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She is the Director of Pediatric Rheumatology at BCH, where she purses clinical research and provides clinical care on the outpatient and inpatient services. Her research interests comprise outcomes in pediatric rheumatic disease, including childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus. She collaborates with physicians in the Lupus Center to study the transition of care between pediatric and adult providers of patients with lupus.
Shamik Bhattacharyya, MD

Shamik Bhattacharyya, MD

Joyce Chang, MD, MSCE

Joyce Chang, MD, MSCE

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BCH Physician Profile

Dr. Joyce Chang is a pediatric rheumatologist at Boston Children’s Hospital, where she currently serves as Director of Research for the BCH Lupus Program.

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Her clinical and research focus is in improving long-term outcomes of childhood-onset lupus, including cardiovascular disease and transition to adult care.

 

Gearoid McMahon, MB BCh FASN

Gearoid McMahon, MB BCh FASN

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

I am a Nephrologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a member of the faculty of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. 

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My research areas of interest include the epidemiology of chronic kidney disease, investigating novel biomarkers of kidney disease and improving the quality of care in patients with kidney disease.. I am on the editorial board of the ASN’s Kidney Disease Self-Assessment Program and I am co-director of both the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Intensive Review of Nephrology course and the Harvard/MIT Health Science Technology Renal Course. I am director of ambulatory services in the Renal Division of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

 

 

Brittany Weber, MD, PhD

Brittany Weber, MD, PhD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Brittany Weber is an advanced cardiovascular fellow at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She completed her M.D. and her Ph.D. in immunology at the University of Pennsylvania and then trained in internal medicine and cardiology at BWH, where she served as chief medical resident.

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  Her clinical and scientific interests lay at the intersection of her two passions -immunology and cardiology. Here, she specializes in cardio-rheumatology, focusing on the role systemic inflammation plays in vascular health, cardiac structure and function. She is interested in the relationship between the systemic inflammation in lupus and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, and what can be done to lower the risk of heart disease. In her free time, she loves to spend time with her family, travel, and be outdoors!
Rosemary Reiss, MD

Rosemary Reiss, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Rosemary Reiss is a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School.

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After residency at Yale, she completed a fellowship at the Ohio State University, and joined their MFM faculty before moving to Boston in 2000. She currently is co-director of Obstetric Ultrasound at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Because of their implications for both mother and fetus, maternal autoimmune disorders have long been a clinical and research interest. Her research investigations have included the use of Doppler ultrasound in the diagnosis and management of placental insufficiency, particularly in patients with renal disease or lupus. Dr. Reiss has long enjoyed collaborating clinically with rheumatologists and nephrologists in caring for women with lupus, to provide preconception assessment and optimal prenatal and intrapartum care.
Emily Robinson, MD

Emily Robinson, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Emily Robinson is a clinical nephrologist at BWH and serves as the Director of Community Nephrology. 

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She received her MD from University of Connecticut School of Medicine, did her internal medicine residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by a nephrology fellowship in the Brigham and Womens’/Mass General Hospital program as well as an MPH at Harvard School of Public Health.Dr. Robinson currently sees patients in Boston, Foxboro, and Chestnut Hill. She has a strong interest in improving patient care by collaboration with other specialists, including co-management of lupus patients with rheumatology and other involved subspecialties.  She is also interested in patients transitioning care from pediatric to adult specialists.

 

Alice Sheridan, MD

Alice Sheridan, MD

Nicole Smith, MD

Nicole Smith, MD

Harvard Catalyst Profile
BWH Physician Profile

Dr. Nicole Smith is a Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she is the Clinical Director of the Maternal Fetal Medicine practice, and an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Harvard Medical School.

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She specializes in high risk pregnancy care, particularly for women with lupus and other autoimmune or rheumatologic conditions. Pregnancy can be a difficult time; she aims to provide family-centered care, optimizing outcomes for mothers and babies.

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