Ami Shah, MD

• Director, Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine
• Co-Director, Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center
• Deputy Director, Rheumatology Precision Medicine Centers of Excellence Clinical Programs

Dr. Ami Shah is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Rheumatology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She also serves as the Co-Director of the Johns Hopkins Scleroderma Center. Her areas of clinical expertise include rheumatology, particularly scleroderma and Raynaud's phenomenon. 

She is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. She completed her internal medicine residency training at Stanford University Hospital & Clinics and rheumatology post-doctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins.  During her fellowship training, she earned her Master of Health Science in Clinical Investigation at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Shah’s clinical practice is focused on the broad spectrum of patients with scleroderma and related disorders, and her expertise includes management of complications such as Raynaud’s phenomenon, digital ischemia, pulmonary hypertension, cardiac dysfunction, myopathy, aggressive skin disease and concomitant cancer. Dr. Shah teaches post-doctoral fellows in her clinic about the evaluation and management of scleroderma. 

Dr. Shah’s research program has focused on the interface between cancer and autoimmunity in scleroderma, myositis and the newly emerging area of immune-related adverse events due to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. In highly collaborative studies, her group has published seminal observations linking cancer with the development of autoimmunity in scleroderma, with implications for cancer screening strategies in this population and the potential to shed insight into the pathogenesis of paraneoplastic rheumatic disease. Dr. Shah also leads the Scleroderma Center's Research Registry and precision medicine initiatives. She has an active research program in developing personalized medicine strategies in scleroderma to improve prediction of disease course and treatment response, harnessing rich clinical data, novel biomarkers and at home monitoring strategies. Dr. Shah also conducts clinical trials studying new therapies for scleroderma and Raynaud's phenomenon.

In 2018, Dr. Shah's research contributions were recognized at the 5th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress with receipt of the Edith Busch Prize for Young Investigators. In 2020, she was honored to receive the prestigious Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award from the American College of Rheumatology.

View all trials by this principal investigator.

Investigating the link between cancer and autoimmunity in the rheumatic diseases, including novel cancer detection strategies

Developing personalized medicine strategies in scleroderma 

Testing novel therapeutics for scleroderma and Raynaud's phenomenon

Ami Shah Lab - Lab Website

Researchers in the Ami Shah Lab study scleroderma, Raynaud's phenomenon, and the link between cancer and autoimmunity in the rheumatic diseases using epidemiologic, computational, translational and clinical trial methods. Current areas of focus include examining novel cancer detection strategies in scleroderma and developing better ways to predict clinical course and treatment response in the disease. 

Dr. Shah has an active research program studying various aspects of scleroderma, Raynaud’s phenomenon, and the link between cancer and autoimmunity in the rheumatic diseases. 

• Kim JS, Scott J, Fisher L, Smith LN, Stewart W, Woods A, Smithwright R, Koher D, Aslanbeik P, Shah AB, Tibbils B, Pitts SI, Gurses AP, Yang Y, Orbai AM, Rosen A, Hummers LK, Zeger SL, Shah AA. Development of a personalized visualization and analysis tool to improve clinical care in complex multisystem diseases with application to scleroderma. Arthritis Care Res. 2026;78(2):197-207. doi: 10.1002/acr.25613. PMID: 40654109 

• Kim JS, Woods A, Gutierrez-Alamillo L, Laffoon M, Wigley FM, Hummers LK, Rosen A, Zeger S, Domsic RT, Casciola-Rosen L, Shah AA. Distinct scleroderma autoantibody profiles stratify patients for cancer risk at scleroderma onset and during the disease course. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2024;76(1):68-77. doi:10.1002/art.42663. PMID: 37488962 

• Hinze AM, Perin J, Woods A, Hummers LK, Wigley FM, Mukherjee M, Shah AA. Diastolic dysfunction in systemic sclerosis: risk factors and impact on mortality. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2022;74(5):849-859. doi: 10.1002/art.42054. PMID: 34927390 

• Mukherjee M, Mercurio V, Hsu S, Mayer SA, Mathai SC, Hummers LK, Kass DA, Hassoun PM, Wigley FM, Tedford RJ, Shah AA. Assessment of right ventricular reserve utilizing exercise provocation in systemic sclerosis. Int J Cardiovasc Imaging. 2021;37(7):2137-2147. doi: 10.1007/s10554-021-02237-9.  PMID: 33860914 

• Shah AA, Laiho M, Rosen A, Casciola-Rosen L. Protective Effect Against Cancer of Antibodies to the Large Subunits of Both RNA polymerases-I and -III in Scleroderma. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2019;71(9):1571-9. PMID: 30888702

• Igusa T, Hummers LK, Visvanathan K, Richardson C, Wigley FM, Casciola-Rosen L, Rosen A, Shah AA. Autoantibodies and scleroderma phenotype define subgroups at high-risk and low-risk for cancer. Ann Rheum Dis. 2018;77(8):1179-1186. doi: 10.1136/annrheumdis-2018-212999. PMID: 296788941

• Shah DJ, Hirpara R, Poelman CL, Woods A, Hummers LK, Wigley FM, Wright JL, Parekh A, Steen VD, Domsic RT, Shah AA. Impact of radiation therapy on scleroderma and cancer outcomes in scleroderma patients with breast cancer. Arthritis Care Res. 2018;70(10):1517-24. doi: 10.1002/acr.23505. PMID: 29316366 

• Mukherjee M, Chung SE, Ton VK, Tedford RJ, Hummers LK, Wigley FM, Abraham TP, Shah AA. Unique abnormalities in right ventricular longitudinal strain in systemic sclerosis patients. Circ Cardiovasc Imaging. 2016;9(6): e003792. PMID: 27266598 

• Shah AA, Casciola-Rosen L, Rosen A. Cancer-induced Autoimmunity in the Rheumatic Diseases. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2015 Feb;67(2):317-26. PMID: 25371098.

• Joseph CG, Darrah E, Shah AA, Skora AD, Casciola-Rosen LA, Wigley FM, Boin F, Fava A, Thoburn C, Kinde I, Jiao Y, Papadopoulos N, Kinzler KW, Vogelstein B, Rosen A. Association of the autoimmune disease scleroderma with an immunologic response to cancer. Science. 2014 Jan 10;343(6167):152-7. PMID: 24310608.

• Shah AA, Rosen A, Hummers L, Wigley F, Casciola-Rosen L. Close Temporal Relationship Between Onset of Cancer and Scleroderma in Patients with RNA Polymerase I/III Antibodies. Arthritis Rheum. 2010 Sep; 62(9): 2787-95. PMID: 20506513

American Society of Clinical Investigation (2026)

Henry Kunkel Young Investigator Award, American College of Rheumatology (2020)

Edith Busch Prize for Young Investigators, Edith Busch Foundation and 5th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress (2018)

Alpha Omega Alpha, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (2003)

Phi Beta Kappa, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1999)

American College of Rheumatology