Presenters

Melissa Andersen, PhD

Dr. Melissa Andersen is a clinical psychologist specializing in pediatric feeding disorders and Co-Director of Michigan Medicine’s Interdisciplinary Pediatric Feeding Program. She has over a decade of experience working with high-risk neonates and medically complex infants. Dr. Andersen co-developed the Foundations Model, a cue-based, interdisciplinary approach promoting safe oral feeding, developmental progression, and reduced tube dependency. She is recognized for her expertise in prevention, early intervention, and family-centered care, with a focus on supporting vulnerable infant populations and advancing interdisciplinary feeding practices.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Ayala Ben-Tall, PhD

Ayala Ben-Tall, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist at Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego with over 25 years of expertise in developmental and behavioral issues and pediatric feeding disorders. She earned her doctorate in counseling/clinical/school psychology from UC Santa Barbara, completed her predoctoral internship at Johns Hopkins/Kennedy Krieger Institute, and her postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University Medical School. At Rady, she specializes in evaluating developmental and behavioral challenges and treating pediatric feeding disorders.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Natalie Berriz, PhD, BCBA

Dr. Natalie Berriz is a clinical psychologist and board-certified behavior analyst specializing in pediatric feeding disorders. As Co-Director of Michigan Medicine’s Interdisciplinary Pediatric Feeding Program, she leads a unique clinical model serving hundreds of children annually. Dr. Berriz co-developed the Foundations Model, a cue-based, infant-driven framework that emphasizes physiological comfort and developmental progression to promote feeding milestones, prevent oral aversion, and reduce long-term tube dependency. She is recognized for her expertise in early intervention, interdisciplinary care, family-centered approaches, and advancing evidence-based feeding practices for medically and developmentally complex patients.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Christine E. Cooper-Vince, PhD

Christine Cooper-Vince, PhD is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Fribourg and a psychotherapist at the Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève in Switzerland. Her research and clinical work focus on the etiology and treatment of Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder in early childhood. She earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Boston University and completed her postdoctoral clinical and research fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Marsha Dunn Klein, OTR/L,MEd, FAOTA

Marsha is a nationally and internationally known pediatric occupational therapist who has specialized in supporting children and families who struggle with eating and feeding issues for over 5 decades. She approaches these struggles with empathy and compassion knowing parents and children do the best they can, given their life experiences. She believes it is our job to be curious as we help families find enjoyment and we strive to understand each individual mealtime experience.

Financial Disclosures: Co founder and paid presenter for Get Permission Institute; EZPZ associate and is a paid consultant for Nestle/Gerbers.
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Maddie Duzyk OTR/L, OTD

Maddie Duzyk OTR/L, OTD is a pediatric occupational therapist who specializes in pelvic floor and adolescent mental health at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Ohio. She has served as a member of the Kentucky Eating Disorder Council and is currently a member of Cincinnati Children’s Feeding, Eating, and Swallowing Translating and Research and Clinical Knowledge Team. Maddie has presented at local and national conferences on occupational therapy’s role in treating eating disorders.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Valerie Gent BSpPath, MMedRes, PhD candidate

Valerie Gent is a SLP with 23 years’ experience as a practicing clinician. She is a PhD candidate at The University of Queensland, researching Responsive Feeding Therapy for children with PFD. She received the Award of Excellence in a Research Thesis for her Master of Medical Research and currently works in private practice.

Financial Disclosures:Valerie Gent is the owner of Let’s Eat! Feeding Therapy, a private practice, and co-director of Feeding Therapy Australia, a teaching company for health professionals. She also receives royalties from a children’s book and is supported by a University PhD scholarship.
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Olivia Hsin, PhD

Olivia Hsin, Ph.D., is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in assessing and treating youths with medical, psychiatric, and developmental disorders, emphasizing health behaviors and family dynamics. A Wellesley and University of Miami alumna, she completed her internship at Harvard Medical School and her postdoctoral fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Olivia serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at USC’s Keck School of Medicine/CHLA and is a member of CHLA’s Pediatric Psychology Feeding Team.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Melissa Hutchinson, Family

Melissa A. Knight, Family

Melissa is a mother of two with fifteen years of experiences navigating the medical field, advocating, researching, and caring for the needs of my children to provide the best quality of life for them. I have experience in pediatric feeding disorders, gastroparesis, cyclic vomiting, dysphagia, laryngomalacia, tube feeding, sleep feeding, and advocating.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Jeanne Marshall, PhD

Dr. Jeanne Marshall is a SLP and Conjoint Senior Research Fellow at The University of Queensland and Queensland Children’s Hospital. Dr Marshall leads the Tuckerbox Feeding Research lab, which is focused on advancing preventative care in PFD, which themes addressing diagnostics, early intervention and advocacy and awareness.

Financial Disclosures: Jeanne is a paid writer and audio artist for The Informed SLP, a company that provides a research translation service intended for speech pathologists.
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Kaitlin B. Proctor, PhD, ABPP

Dr. Proctor is an Assistant Professor at Emory School of Medicine and a practicing pediatric psychologist in the Children’s Multidisciplinary Feeding and Emory+Children’s Food Allergy Programs at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Her clinical and research efforts focus on the intersection of avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) and pediatric food allergy, with particular emphasis on advancing identification and treatment for food allergic children who experience serious feeding problems as a serious complication of food allergy.

Financial Disclosures: Dr. Proctor has received speaking honorarium from Food Allergy Research and Education (FARE), a non-profit patient advocacy organization.
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Cuyler Romeo, MOT, OTR/L, SCFES, IBCLC

Occupational Therapist and Pediatric Feeding Specialist Cuyler Romeo’s extensive leadership and clinical experience are instrumental in the execution and management of Feeding Matters’ strategic initiatives. In partnership with the CEO, Jaclyn Pederson, Cuyler collaborates with constituents to identify, track, and assess innovative approaches to the PFD system of care. Cuyler also facilitates strategic partnerships with select professional associations including the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). Prior to joining Feeding Matters, Cuyler served as a founding partner of Mealtime Connections, LLC, and gained valuable insight on funding trends and industry implications as the director of clinical innovations at Therapy 2000. She is currently a treating clinician in Banner-University Medical Center’s NICU and works to advance the feeding skill domain by facilitating AOTA’s mealtime Occupations: Feeding, Eating, and Swallowing Community of Practice.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Meg Simione, PhD CCC-SLP

Dr. Meg Simione is a clinician-scientist with a focus on infant and child feeding and growth, digital health innovations, and implementing evidence-based practices to improve care delivery. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders at the University of Rhode Island.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: Serves as the Feeding Matters Research Pillar Chair and is a member of the Feeding Matters Research Initiative Task Force.

Vincent C. Smith MD, MPH

Vincent C. Smith, MD, MPH is Division Chief of Newborn Medicine at Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Professor of Pediatrics at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Smith is a graduate of Texas A&M University, Stanford University School of Medicine, and the Harvard School of Public Health. He trained in pediatrics at Children’s Hospital and Boston Medical Center in the Boston Combined Pediatric Residency Program. He then completed a fellowship in neonatal-perinatal medicine through the Harvard wide program, a collaboration of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Boston Children’s Hospital. He also completed a fellowship in health services research at Children’s Hospital. He is an active member of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Society for Pediatric Research. Dr. Smith served as the medical director for the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Program from 2015-2024. He is also a former member of the National Perinatal Association and the Fenway Community Health Boards of Directors. In addition to parental NICU discharge readiness, his professional interests also include families affected by substance use and medical care for LGBTQIA+-headed families.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Amy Talbot, DClinPsy, MSc

Dr Amy Talbot (she/her) is a multi-award-winning clinical psychologist and director of The Talbot Centre, a multidisciplinary service in Sydney. Her work focuses on eating, feeding, and body image concerns, with an emphasis on neurodiversity-affirming, family-centred care. Amy is a sought-after presenter, supervisor, and researcher, known for advancing interdisciplinary approaches to complex case formulation and integrating lived experience perspectives to improve outcomes for individuals with ARFID and related feeding presentations.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None

Krystin Turner DHSc, OTR/L, SCFES

Krystin Turner is an experienced pediatric occupational therapist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, specializing in feeding, eating, and swallowing disorders. With over two decades of clinical experience, she provides comprehensive care to children with conditions such as pediatric feeding disorders, ARFID, celiac disease, and developmental delays. She is actively involved in the Interdisciplinary Feeding Team and Multidisciplinary Feeding Treatment Team.

Financial Disclosures: None
Non-Financial Disclosures: None