Meg Simione

Biography

Dr. Meg Simione is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Rhode Island (URI). Prior to joining URI, she served as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Simione is a speech-language pathologist with extensive clinical experience across Early Intervention programs, private practice, and hospital settings, specializing in care for infants and children with pediatric feeding disorder. Her work with families from low-income communities heightened her awareness of differences in health outcomes and access to services, fostering her interest in implementation science and the need to bridge the gap between research and clinical practice.

Research

Dr. Simione earned her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences from the MGH Institute of Health Professions, where her research focused on the typical development of feeding skills and innovative approaches to assessing feeding and speech using technological and physiological tools.

Her current research centers on child growth and feeding, family-centered care outcomes, digital health innovation, and the implementation of evidence-based practices into clinical care. She collaborates across disciplines to study early feeding development, early-life health determinants, national implementation of healthy lifestyle programs, and the impacts of pediatric feeding disorders. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health and private foundations.

Dr. Simione is passionate about mentoring students and welcomes collaborations with researchers, clinicians, and trainees interested in pediatric feeding, health equity, and implementation science.

Education

  • PhD, Rehabilitation Sciences, MGH Institute of Health Professions, Boston, MA, 2017
  • MA, Speech-language pathology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, 2000
  • BS, Communication Disorders, Boston University, Boston, MA 1998

Selected Publications

  1. Simione, M., Loret, C., Moser, M., Richburg, B., Del Valle, M. Adler, M., Le Révérend, B.J.D., & Green, J.R. Differing structural properties of foods affect the development of mandibular control and muscle coordination in infants and young children. Physiology & Behavior. 186. 62-72.
  2. Simione, M., Dartley, Cooper-Vince, C., Martin, V., A.N., Hartnick, C., E.M., & Fiechtner, L. (2020). Family-centered outcomes that matter most to parents: A pediatric feeding disorders qualitative study. Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. 71(2). 270-275.
  3. Simione, M., Harshman, S., Cooper-Vince, C. E., Daigle, K., Sorbo, J., Kuhlthau, K., & Fiechtner, L., (2022). Examining health condition, impairments, and quality of life for pediatric feeding disorders. Dysphagia. 1-7.
  4. Okada, J., Wilson, E.M., Wong, J., Luo, M., Fiechtner,L., & Simione, M. (2022). Financial Impacts and Community Resources Utilization of Children with Feeding Difficulties. BMC Pediatrics. (22)1.
  5. Persaud, A., Smith, N.R., Lindros, J., Salmon, J., Ventura, G., Perkins, M., Taveras, E.M., Fiechtner, L., Simione, M. (2023). Assessing the Market Viability of a Packaged Intensive Health Behavior and Lifestyle Treatment. TBM, 13(12), 903-908
  6. Simione, M., Frost, H, Farrar-Muir, H., Luo, M., Granadeno, J., Torres, C., Boudreau, A. A., Moreland, J., Wallace, J., Young, J., Orav, E. J., Sease, K., Hambidge, S., Taveras, E. M. (2024). Evaluating the implementation of the Connect for Health pediatric weight management program. JAMA Network Open, 7(1).
  7. Simione M., Ferreira P., Luo M., Hoover C., Perkins M., Fiechtner L., & Taveras E.M. (2024). Psychometrics of the modified Family-Centered Care Assessment short version for childhood obesity. Journal of Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, 22(1): 71.