Patricia Sime, M.D., Honored for Advancing Philanthropic Collaboration at VCU Health

Patricia Sime, M.D., chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at the VCU School of Medicine, arrived on the MCV Campus amid Richmond’s summer heat in 2019.   

She’s an amazing leader. She can visualize the impact of philanthropy and how it works for both the institution and the donor, and that’s the special and secret recipe that makes her so successful.

Stephen Kates, M.D., interim dean of the VCU School of Medicine and interim executive vice president for medical affairs at VCU Health 

She had barely settled in when COVID hit a mere six months later, upending life and sending health systems everywhere scrambling. The newest addition to the School of Medicine’s largest department quickly endeared her to her new colleagues by trusting and leaning into the expertise around her – a move that helped VCU Health to be among the first health systems on the east coast to treat COVID patients within a matter of days.

“We were able to do that because she let us physicians and providers do what we needed to do, and when we needed to get something done, she immediately asked us how she could help,” said Richard Sterling, M.D., chief clinical officer for the VCU Stravitz-Sanyal Institute for Liver Disease and Metabolic Health. “It was right after she got here, and I was really impressed how much she supported us.”

That spirit of collaboration became a mantra embraced by others within the department, which today encompasses 11 divisions and nearly 1,300 faculty and non-faculty team members.  

“Trish began to establish a research infrastructure that I don’t think we ever had,” said Alpha “Berry” Fowler III, M.D., the William Taliaferro Thompson Professor of Medicine and the former chair of the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine.  

“All along, her message was ‘team science,’ that we can do fabulous research if we team together and form multidisciplinary groups,” he said. 

Those who work with her say Dr. Sime is uniquely suited to build meaningful partnerships – including with philanthropic teams – that accelerate progress. Humble and soft-spoken, with a keen sense of the importance that philanthropy can have in advancing medical breakthroughs, Dr. Sime deftly maneuvers through the reality of funding world-class care.

And she does it all with the patient in mind.  

Dr. Sime is the 2026 recipient of the MCV Foundation’s Irby Award. Established in memory of Robert Irby, M.D., an MCV rheumatologist who was devoted to securing financial support for campus, this award is presented to a faculty member who has assisted with major fundraising efforts. 

Dr. Sime was instrumental in the facilitation of the largest publicly shared gift in VCU history, a $104 million donation in 2022 that established the Stravitz-Sanyal Institute. 

“She’s an amazing leader,” said Stephen Kates, M.D., interim dean of the VCU School of Medicine and interim executive vice president for medical affairs at VCU Health. “She can visualize the impact of philanthropy and how it works for both the institution and the donor, and that’s the special and secret recipe that makes her so successful.” 

“She builds great teams because she knows how to spot the talents in people and use those talents to help everyone be successful,” he added. “She’s extremely smart and she understands problems, and her approach to dealing with them is thoughtful, deliberate and kind.”

Dr. Sterling said part of Dr. Sime’s success stems from her willingness to listen. 

“She’s very collaborative and she has embraced philanthropy as a way to help her do her job, which in turn allows us to do our jobs,” he said. “She really does care about the division and about the faculty in all aspects of what they do, from teaching and research to clinical care.”

Dr. Fowler described her as a force – someone whose vision and collaborative spirit are reshaping what’s possible. 

“Through her vision for the Department of Internal Medicine and her emphasis on interdisciplinary research, she’s going to continue to elevate VCU to national and international levels,” he said. “She is a change maker, and she’s bringing all of the change makers together.”