Archives: Committee Members

Theresa is seasoned a Board-Certified Behavior Analyst with over 25 years of experience, specializing in aiding children diagnosed with autism, down syndrome, sensory processing disorder, anxiety, Gastrostomy Tubes, chewing difficulties, pill swallowing and ADHD/ADD. Employing the principles of applied behavior analysis, she has dedicated 15 years to enhancing children’s eating habits. Theresa underscores the profound, lasting impact of feeding on both the child and their family, advocating for early intervention to counteract the misconception that “picky eating” naturally resolves. Her expertise, dawn from professional practice and personal encounters, includes successfully addressing her own son’s feeding challenges by applying the same principles she employs professionally. This perspective equips her to comprehend the unique hurdles families encounter and to devise tailored, research-grounded programs for enduring success. Rooted in applied behavior analysis, her approach emphasizes creating observable change through strategic techniques and procedures. Collaborating closely with treatment team, Theresa crafts comprehensive programs that offers a personalized approach to each client, ensuring that children
receive dedicated attention aligned with their needs.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Meredith currently lives in New Jersey with her husband (Gary), 1 year old son (Owen), and another son on the way in November, 2024. Owen began his journey with PFD at 6 months old and after going through his journey, wanted to give back and help other families have a better experience. In the beginning of 2024, she began volunteering with Feeding Matters as a Power of Two coach. Outside of being a mom, Meredith works for a small engineering firm as a consultant. She enjoys going on new adventures with her family, and their favorite places to visit are anywhere in the New England states.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Riley has worked as a speech-language pathologist at the Down Syndrome Resource Foundation in Burnaby, B.C. since 2012. She is passionate about supporting individuals of all ages with Down syndrome and their families.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Tovah is a pediatric speech-language pathologist specializing in Pediatric Feeding Disorder. Tovah is well recognized in her profession for her commitment to collaborative feeding support that honors the whole child and family. She is passionate about empowering caregivers as the experts on their own children. After working at a pediatric hospital for the majority of her career, she founded her practice, Pediatric Feeding Partners, where she offers clinical assessment, instrumental evaluation, and dynamic intervention of feeding and swallowing for infants and children. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor of Dysphagia and health literacy. Tovah can be found @PediatricFeedingPartners where she provides resources to support families navigating feeding challenges.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Nikita is a Site Advisor and Speech-Language Pathologist at Associates in Pediatric Therapy in Nashville, Tennessee. Her clinical expertise is centered on assessing and treating pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders. Nikita is deeply committed to empowering families, understanding that their involvement is crucial in the therapeutic process. She is dedicated to ensuring families have access to necessary resources and advocates for equitable and accessible care where resources are scarce. She spends her free time traveling with family and friends, cooking a variety of cuisines and spending time outdoors.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Margaryta is a bilingual pediatric speech-language pathologist and child educator who specializes in feeding and swallowing disorders, as well as augmentative and alternative communication. With over 10 years of experience, she has serviced hundreds of linguistically diverse, mild to severely delayed and medically complex children within early intervention and school settings . Margaryta is also an author of a children’s book titled ‘Baby Zoo’ and has contributed to various publications. She has received multiple awards throughout her career.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Lauren Thompson is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Certified Lactation Counselor with over 10 years of clinical experience helping families navigate through the stressors of pediatric feeding disorder and feeding difficulties with families. She is also a mom of 2 girls, both of whom struggled with feeding in infancy. Lauren has a passion for providing trauma-sensitive care and family-centered care that prioritizes evidence-based practice and neurodiversity affirming care. Lauren’s goal is to pass along her knowledge know to families so that they can feel supported and confident when entering into mealtimes. It doesn’t matter if your child is 100% fed orally or is 100% tube fed, Lauren can help your family navigate feeding so that mealtimes are full of opportunity, connection, motivation, and no pressure.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Shannon Goldwater Summit for Change committee volunteer

Dr. Amy L. Delaney joined Marquette University in 2018 following 20 years at Children’s Wisconsin. She is the Director of the Neurodevelopmental Feeding and Swallowing Lab. Her research program focuses on the identification of a norm-reference for feeding development to establish diagnostic markers and assessment tools for the earliest and most accurate diagnosis of Pediatric Feeding Disorder (PFD).

Dr. Delaney is a Medical Professional Council Founding Member for Feeding Matters, an international organization dedicated to accelerating identification, igniting research, and promoting collaborative care for children and families with feeding disorders. She is Education Pillar Chair for Feeding Matters’ PFD Alliance Executive Council. She co-authored the consensus paper creating pediatric feeding disorder (PFD) as a stand-along diagnosis and the Infant and Child Feeding Questionnaire, an on-line survey developed by Feeding Matters, to identify red flags for pediatric feeding disorder.

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Conference Committee volunteer; Feeding Matters Education Pillar (outgoing)

Jinhee Park, Ph.D., RN, is an associate professor at the Connell School of Nursing. Dr. Park’s research focuses on improving the understanding of feeding problems among infants and young children with vulnerable states of health, with an overall goal of supporting their health and developmental outcomes while also helping the families manage their complex feeding needs. Dr. Park has conducted a series of studies to advance science in the healthcare of infants and young children with feeding problems utilizing a multi-method approach, which includes biobehavioral methods, advanced quantitative analytic methods, mixed methods, symptom science, and the development of measures. She is currently focusing on developing and testing interventions to reduce feeding difficulties in infants with complex medical conditions, including an ongoing NIH funded clinical trial testing the biobehavioral efficacy of the semi-elevated side-lying position for feeding preterm infants (R21NR019874). Dr. Park’s clinical background is in neonatal nursing. She is a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing, the National Association of Neonatal Nurses (NANN), and the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN). Dr. Park is also a founding member of Feeding Flock, an interdisciplinary research team with a mission to improving the lives of infants and young children with pediatric feeding disorders (https://feedingflockteam.org).

DISCLOSURES
Financial: None
Non-financial: Feeding Matters 2025 Conference Committee member

Pamela is a mom of five children. Her daughter, third child, has a pediatric feeding disorder. She had a ng then g tube placed as an infant. Pamela has a background in sciences, maintains her emergency medical technician license, and holds a masters in public health. Pamela is passionate about helping others understand pediatric feeding disorders, and encouraging them to build networks to empower their families. In her free time, she loves to run and volunteer at her children’s school.