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Dr Kiersten Simmons

Dr Kiersten Simmons (MB BChir, MA, MRCP, DFSRH, DipGUM, DipHIV)

Medical Doctoral Fellow
E: kiersten.simmons@nhs.net

Area of expertise: Sexual Health and Sexual Wellbeing, HIV, Women’s Health, Health Inequity

Research areas: Healthcare inequity, Women's health, Sexual Health and HIV, Coastal Community Health, Implementation Science, Co-production.

Other faculty positions: Founder and Chair of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex Women’s Health Research Network Group. Founder and Chair of Coastal Communities Research Network Group (Sussex).

Biography

Kiersten obtained her Medical Degree from Cambridge University in 2008. After her Foundation (Junior Doctor) years, she was fortunate to work in infectious diseases in a rural Ugandan hospital, before volunteering as a doctor for the medical charity MSF (Medecins Sans Frontieres) in Gokwe, Zimbabwe, where she helped to establish a primary care HIV test and treat programme. After Internal Medicine training in Brighton, she specialised in HIV and Sexual Health, a career that she loves for the wonderful people that she meets, the brilliant and welcoming interdisciplinary teams she works with, and the forward-thinking, progressive, open, and ambitious attitudes in the clinical and research spheres. She is passionate about using her clinical experience and practice to contribute to advances in research and policy making, particularly with regards to the social determinants of health and health inequity. Access to healthcare for women is a much neglected and rapidly evolving area. As a Mother to three boys, she feels strongly that improving equity in healthcare for women will exert a very positive global impact.

Research

Kiersten is a mixed methods women's health inequities researcher and a HIV/ sexual health physician. Her research interests are healthcare inequity, women's health, HIV/ sexual health, coastal community health, and implementation science. Working together with a very strong Patient Participant Involvement group, she is currently completing a PhD exploring access to sexual health and sexual wellbeing services for women aged 40-65 years in the most under-served areas of East Sussex.

The POWER: East Sussex >

The POWER: Coastal Communities >

BACKGROUND IMAGE FOR PANEL

Teaching

Kiersten enjoys teaching undergraduate medical students, allied health care professionals, and postgraduate clinicians. She teaches annually on the BSMS Global Health Masters.

Selected publications

Peer-reviewed publications

Simmons K, Steedman N. The HPV Vaccination programme in the UK: The opinion of a body of consultants in a district general hospital. International Journal of STDs and AIDS. 2010 21: 786-789

Simmons K, Candfield S. An overview of the Release Study, misoprostol in the treatment of retained placenta in Uganda. 2008. Cambridge Medical School Journal.

Simmons K. My most significant experience of being a member of the profession of medicine. West Chesire postgraduate health education and research foundation pamphlet for patients. 2010. Learning in Clinical Practice4 Simmons K, Gillecce Y. Management of HIV in pregnancy. 2021. British HIV Association e-Learning for Health Module

Simmons K. National Draft Publication: Training the trainers in patient safety hospital practices. Ugandan Curriculum as part of WHO’s African partnership for patient safety programme

Oral/ Poster Research Presentations

Simmons K et al. Three cases of a HIV viral load blip following the Covid-2 vaccine. 2022. European Society of Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Conference

Simmons K et al. The opinions of Sexual Health and HIV Health Care Professionals in Brighton, UK, on whether cold water swimming can be recommended as a therapeutic intervention. 2022. European Society of Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Conference

Simmons K. Improving health and wellbeing across HIV/GUM departments in the UK. 2021. British Association for Sexual Health and HIV Conference

Simmons K, Stegmann K et al. Real-world comparative 48-week outcomes of switching to 2 nucleoside transcriptase inhibitors and an integrase inhibitor. 2017. 9th International AIDS Conference.

Liddle O, Simmons K. Cervical cytology in HIV-positive women under 25 and over 65 years in age: are we missing abnormalities? 2015. British HIV Association Conference

Research funding awards

An acceptable case finding pathway for frailty in older people living with HIV: a qualitative study. 2019. British HIV Association Implementation Science Scholarship Award (£2700)Projecting the voices of midlife women with a late diagnosis of HIV. 2024. British HIV Association Research Award (£7755)