Tracy Frech, MD, MSCI, is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology and Immunology, Department of Medicine, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Her primary goal in research and clinical care is early diagnosis and effective health care delivery to the systemic sclerosis (SSc) patient population.
She trained at the University of Utah for internal medicine and pediatrics residency, adult rheumatology fellowship, and a master of science in clinical investigation.
Dr. Frech's dedicated research program aims to better understand the natural history of symptomatic vasculopathy in SSc. To that end, through collaborations with Prospective Registry of Early Systemic Sclerosis (PRESS), the INception SYstemic Sclerosis Cohort (INSYNC), the Collaborative Quality and Efficacy National Registry (CONQUER) for SSc, and the Utah Vascular Research Laboratory (UVRL), Dr. Frech's academic career is focused on improvements in diagnosis and treatment of SSc through meticulous patient phenotyping. As a result of her work with interdisciplinary investigative teams, SSc is now being more effectively investigated as vascular leak and endothelial dysfunction with resultant fibrosis.
Dr. Frech's previous 15-year experience as director of the University of Utah SSc Clinic, principal investigator of multiple clinical trials, and participation in several international collaborative efforts has identified the importance of outcome definitions and data standardization for effectively monitoring and treating SSc patients.
She presents her research at national and international scientific meetings as well as at patient outreach conferences. She is passionate about clinical and translational research in SSc, and believes precision medicine techniques hold promise for discovery in SSc. Dr. Frech is dedicated to teaching medical students, residents, and fellows in clinic, as well as through their research projects, with an aim to develop the next generation of academic rheumatologists dedicated to clinical and research excellence and compassionate health care delivery.