Can we determine the impact of maternal rheumatic disease on children?

The Children's Health & Discovery Initiative (CHDI) works to foster multidisciplinary and innovative research that will positively impact childhood and lifelong health. "Great Minds Think for Kids" seminars include a 40-minute research-in-progress talk from a guest speaker, followed by a brainstorming/group discussion session led by the guest speaker and a member of the CHDI scientific leadership.

Dr. Megan Clowse is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology and Immunology. Her clinical research focuses on the management of rheumatologic diseases in pregnancy. She has cared for over 600 pregnancies in women with rheumatic diseases, collecting information on these pregnancies initially in the Duke Autoimmunity in Pregnancy Registry and Repository. She served on the Core Leadership Team for the inaugural American College of Rheumatology's Reproductive Health Guidelines, due in 2019. Dr. Clowse has created www.LupusPregnancy.org, a website dedicated to improving lupus pregnancy planning and management for patients and rheumatologists.

Dr. Clowse was the founding director of the Duke Lupus Clinic, where she continues to see patients each week and mentor junior faculty researchers. The team has developed a new approach to lupus classification and management and is currently collecting and analyzing patient- and physician-reported measures to better clarify this construct.