Dr. Moore Simas is the Donna M. and Robert J. Manning Chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Professor of Ob/Gyn, Pediatrics, Psychiatry and Population & Quantitative Health Sciences at UMass Chan Medical School/UMassMemorial Health.
Dr. Moore Simas is an academic specialist in general Ob/Gyn, physician-scientist, educator, advocate, and leader. She is the founding Obstetric Engagement Liaison of the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program (MCPAP) for Moms, a first in nation state-wide program that enhances the capacity of obstetric care clinicians to address perinatal mental health and substance use disorders. MCPAP for Moms has impacted national policy and is the model on which other programs have been developed, including those funded by Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). There currently exists 31 Perinatal Psychiatry Access Programs – 29 state or regional, and 2 national programs – developed through a variety of funding mechanisms.
Dr. Moore Simas is obstetric director of Lifeline for Moms, a program founded to provide technical assistance for others developing Perinatal Psychiatry Access Programs, like MCPAP for Moms, and as a research home to further advance innovations in integrating obstetric and mental health care, and promoting perinatal mental health equity. She is MPI of the Lifeline for Moms National Network of Access Programs, in which all 31 Access Programs participate. The National Network was designed to facilitate peer-learning and sharing of resources with partners and collaborators, across the U.S., and to facilitate quality improvement and program evaluation within and across Access Programs. The Lifeline for Moms team and their collaborators have developed perinatal mental health toolkits, e-modules, and implementation guides that are now available to all obstetric care clinicians across the nation, through the American College of Ob/Gyn’s (ACOG).
Dr. Moore Simas has a long-standing federally funded research portfolio through CDC, NIH, PCORI, ACOG, Perigee and other foundations, and is an author on over 150 peer-reviewed publications. She partners with and advises professional, advocacy, and governmental organizations to advance the equitable care of all pregnant and postpartum individuals. She serves her profession nationally as the Society of Academic Specialists in General Ob/Gyn’s (SASGOG) President, on ACOG’s Maternal Mental Health Expert Work Group (Co-Chair) and Clinical Practice Guidelines OB Committee, and as an American Board of Ob/Gyn (ABOG) oral examiner. She has served on the Alliance in Innovation in Maternal Health’s (AIM) Perinatal Mental Health Conditions (PMHC) and Postpartum Discharge Transitions (PPDT) Safety Bundle Work Groups, developed the PMHC Change Package with the Institute of Healthcare Innovations (IHI) as lead faculty, and is leading her state’s perinatal quality collaborative (PQC) in implementing the AIM PMHC bundle.
Dr. Moore Simas is passionate about mentoring and developing the next generation of women leaders in academic medicine, as such, she developed UMass’ Empowering Mid-career PrOfessional Women for Executive Roles (EMPOWER) course which is in its 5th offering at UMass Chan/UMass Memorial Health.
