Linda Simoni-Wastila

Linda Simoni-Wastila, Ph.D., is an associate research professor at the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy and director of the Long-Term Care Initiative at the Lamy Center. She also holds a faculty appointment at the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine in Worcester. Dr. Simoni-Wastila has been involved in research focusing on prescription drug issues for over 15 years. As a health services researcher, she has examined issues including access to prescription drugs, outcomes related to reduced prescription drug access, cost and financing of prescription drug benefits and programs, appropriateness of drug prescribing, outcomes associated with inappropriate prescribing, and prescription drug misuse and abuse. She is particularly interested in the impact of limited prescription drug use and inappropriate drug use in vulnerable populations, including elders, racial and ethnic minorities, and those at risk due to impaired physical and mental health. She has received grants and contracts from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAA), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and various states and foundations. Dr. Simoni-Wastila received her undergraduate pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina, where she also completed a master's in public health policy. In 1993, she received her doctorate in health policy from Brandeis University. Most recently, she was a senior scientist at the Schneider Institute for Health Policy at Brandeis University where, in addition to her research, she was co-director of a doctoral training program sponsored by NIAAA.