Bonnie Bermas, MD

Bonnie L. Bermas, MD is the Dr. Morris Ziff Distinguished Professor in Rheumatology and Clinical Director of the Rheumatics Diseases Division at UTSouthwestern Medical Center. Dr. Bermas attended Princeton University and received her medical degree from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City. She completed her internal medicine training at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and her rheumatology fellowship at both the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and the National Institutes of Health in Washington DC. Following her fellowship training, she joined the faculty of the Rheumatology Division of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. During Dr. Bermas’ tenure at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital she served as the Associate Director of Clinical Affairs for the Division of Women’s health, the Clinical Director of the Lupus Center, the Co-director of the Program in Pregnancy and Rheumatic Diseases and the Chair of the Medical Staff Credentialing Committee. Dr Bermas was recruited in 2016 to UTSouthwestern in Dallas where she holds academic appointments in both the departments of Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology. She practices and teaches at both the Clements University Hospital and Parkland Hospital. Over the course of her academic career, Dr. Bermas has established herself as an expert in the management of rheumatic disease, in particular SLE (lupus) during pregnancy and lactation.

Dr. Bermas thinks that being a rheumatologist is the best job she could imagine.  She loves the long-term relationships that she gets to have with patients. She particularly enjoys working with patients as they make decisions about family planning, whether they intend to be child-free or include parenting in their plans.   

Throughout her career, Dr. Bermas has been a mentor for medical students, residents, and rheumatology fellows both academically and as they navigate a work-life balance. She views her greatest career achievement as being the inaugural recipient of the “Life Mentor” award presented to her by fellows and colleagues that she has worked with through the years.