Kathleen Simpson is a St. Louis native who grew up in University City as one of five children. She has fond memories of spending family free time in Forest Park on the bike trail and in the museums as a child. Her grandmother, in particular, was known for camping out pre-show in the Muny “free seats” with her grandchildren during the summer months. Her parents’ own interest in science as well as her mother’s insistence on volunteering at a local hospital during Kathleen’s teenage years fostered an interest in the medical field.

For undergraduate and medical school she attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She completed her pediatric residency in Kansas City at Children’s Mercy Hospital. After developing an interest in pediatric cardiology, she returned to St. Louis for her fellowship in pediatric cardiology and subsequent advanced training in pediatric heart failure and heart transplantation. She is one of four pediatric heart transplant attendings at SLCH, which is recognized as a large volume transplant center nationally. Her clinical interests include advance mechanical circulatory support with ventricular assist devices and complex congenital heart disease. She recently started the Comprehensive Fontan Clinic at St. Louis Children’s Hospital to address multi-organ complications associated with long-term Fontan physiology in children and young adults. Kathleen has written extensively and spoken at national meetings regarding this challenging patient population.

Despite living most of her life in the state of Missouri, Kathleen enjoys traveling and experiencing different cultures. She was able to study abroad in London during undergraduate studies and spent a summer immersed in Shakespeare and English literature. During medical school, she joined with two friends and started doing medical mission trips with an emphasis on community education and sustainability. Although, she has been fortunate to travel throughout North America and Europe, she hopes to expand travel to other continents in the future.

When not working, Kathleen enjoys spending time with her family, which includes her husband, Mark, and two young children. She and her husband have started indoctrinating their children to baseball early during Cardinals’ spring training and she enjoys a peaceful vacation on the beach when she can get away.