S. Sam Lim, MD, MPH

Dr. Lim is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Emory University School of Medicine and Professor of Epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He is also the Chief of Rheumatology for Grady Health Systems, the only safety net hospital in Atlanta, where he founded and directs the Grady Lupus Clinic. His primary clinical interest is in the improvement in the diagnosis and management of lupus, particularly as it relates to racial health disparities. 

His research interests are in the epidemiology, outcomes, and contributions of social determinants of health in lupus disparities. Dr. Lim was a Principal Investigator for The Georgia Lupus Registry (GLR), one of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-funded population-based lupus registries from which he helped create the Georgians Organized Against Lupus (GOAL) research cohort that now has over 1,100 consented individuals with a validated diagnosis of lupus from the Atlanta metropolitan area. He is currently funded by the NIH and the CDC to study the role of psychosocial stressors and other social determinants of health on racial health disparities in lupus. Dr. Lim has been involved in over 40 lupus clinical trials since 2004 and is currently the site principal investigator for 9 clinical trials studying the safety and efficacy of new treatments for lupus. He is also part of the Lupus Clinical Investigators Network (LuCIN) and serves on its Steering Committee. 

Dr. Lim is very active nationally and internationally in lupus. He is a member of the Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics, an international lupus research group representing 43 centers from 16 different countries, and serves on its Executive Committee as Treasurer. He also serves on both the Georgia chapter and national Lupus Foundation of America Medical Advisory Boards and is currently a Governor appointed member of the Georgia Council on Lupus Education and Awareness. He is a past president of the Georgia Society of Rheumatology.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Award and Clinical Investigator Fellowship Award by the American College of Rheumatology and has held multiple volunteer positions, including the current Chair of the Collaborative Initiatives Department that oversees The Lupus Initiative and past Chair of the clinical study section for the Rheumatology Research Foundation grants.