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Nancy Weinfield PhD

Nancy S. Weinfield, PhD

Director of Research Science
Lead Research Scientist III

Nancy.S.Weinfield@kp.org

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Education:

PhD, University of Minnesota, Institute of Child Development, Minneapolis, MN 1996
MA, Columbia University Teachers College, New York, NY 1991

Dr. Nancy Weinfield joined MAPRI as research scientist in February 2019. She is a developmental psychologist with expertise in family relationships, maternal and child health and wellness, and mental and behavioral health. Her research interests include postpartum parental depression, adverse childhood experiences, childhood nutrition, child behavioral and emotional health, and the influence of unmet social needs on health disparities.
Prior to joining MAPRI, Dr. Weinfield was a Senior Study Director at Westat, in Rockville, MD. She was previously on the faculty at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, VA.

Research Interests:

Depression, adverse childhood experiences, childhood nutrition, child behavioral and emotional health, social needs, health disparities

For a full list of publications, please see Dr. Weinfield’s Curriculum Vitae.

  1. Weinfield, N.S., Anderson, C. (2022). Postpartum Symptoms of Depression are Related to Infant Feeding Practices in a National WIC Sample. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 54(2), 118-124.
  2. Borger,C., Weinfield, N.S., Paolicelli, C., Sun, B., & May, L. (2022). Prenatal and Postnatal Experiences Predict Breastfeeding Patterns in the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2. Breastfeeding Medicine, 16(11), 869-877.
  3. Weinfield, N.S., Borger, C., Gola, A. (2021). Breastfeeding duration in a low-income sample is associated with child diet quality at age three. Journal of Human Lactation, 37 (1), 183-193. doi: 10.1177/0890334420903029.
  4. Weinfield, N.S., Borger, C., Au, L.E., Whaley, S.E., Berman, D., Ritchie, L. (2020). Longer participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is associated with better diet quality in 24-month-old children. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 120(6), 963-971.
  5. Whaley, S.E., Martinez, C., Paolicelli, C., Ritchie, L., Weinfield, N.S.. (2020). Predictors of WIC participation through 2 years of age. Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, 52(7), 672-679..
  6. Au, L.E., Paolicelli, C., Gurzo, K., Ritchie, L.D., Weinfield, N.S., Plank, K.R., Whaley, S.E. (2019). Contribution of WIC-Eligible Foods to the Overall Diet of 13-and 24-Month-Old Toddlers in the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 119(3), 435-448.
  1. Household Food and Nutrition Security
    Goal: The aim of this study is to understand the nutrition security circumstances households with minor children, and what types of assistance would be welcome in promoting nutrition security in two KP regions, Mid-Atlantic States and Hawaii. Data collection will include survey and focus groups with parent/guardians. Survey data will be matched with child electronic health record data to ascertain whether household nutrition security is associated with child health and anthropometry.
    Funder: KP Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation (SONNET)
    Role: Primary Investigator
  2. Understanding and Addressing Disparities in Vaccination Rates among Black Members
    Goal: The aim of this study is to identify factors contributing towards differences in vaccination rates among KP members in two KP regions, Georgia and Mid-Atlantic States. Patient-related factors will be identified from existing data in the electronic medical record and from new cross-sectional survey and semi-structured interviews with members. Information gleaned from this research project will help KP identify factors, beliefs and attitudes contributing towards racial disparities in vaccination rates and will lay the groundwork for developing interventions to improve vaccination rates.
    Funder: Garfield Memorial Fund
    Role: Site PI, co-investigator
  3. Preferences for Social Needs Screening During Pregnancy
    Goal: This study explores preferences for social needs screening among pregnant women including preferences for modality of screening, whether that differs by domain of screening or by personal circumstances and characteristics, and whether women are amenable to being screened and referred for social needs as a part of pregnancy care. The findings will be used to make recommendations for optimizing acceptability of social needs screening for pregnant women.
    Funder: KP Social Needs Network for Evaluation and Translation (SONNET)
    Role: Primary Investigator
  4. Understanding racial disparities in COVID-19 symptoms, infection, and outcomes in KPGA and KPMAS
    Goal: The overarching goal of this concurrent mixed methods study is to better understand why racial and ethnic minority adults are disproportionally affected by COVID-19.
    Funder: Garfield Memorial Fund
    Role: Co-Investigator, Site Primary Investigator
  5. Addressing Medication Safety from the Pediatric Primary Care Perspective
    Goal: The aim of this mixed-methods study is to better understand potential and realized medication exposure risks in households with children, as well as pediatric primary care clinicians’ frequency, comfort, skills and practices related to medication safety counseling. The findings will inform the development of an evidence-based intervention for primary care practices to promote and improve medication safety in households.
    Funder: Johns Hopkins Medicine/Kaiser Permanente Research Collaborative
    Role: Primary Investigator
  1. Poster: Medication Safety Counseling Practices of Pediatric Primary Care Clinicians. American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting, 2022. Boston, MA.
  2. Panel Presentation: Screening for Social Needs within Health Systems: Feasibility of Screening, Patient Preferences, and Prevalence of Needs. Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) Annual Conference, 2022. Pasadena, CA.
  3. Panel Presentation: Utilizing a Mixed Methods Approach and Community Engagement to Enhance COVID-19 Health Disparities Research. Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) Annual Conference, 2022. Pasadena, CA.
  4. Poster Presentation: Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Outcomes and the Utility of Imputation using Bayesian Improved Surname Geocoding. Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) Annual Conference, 2022. Pasadena, CA.
  5. Panel Presentation: Pre-COVID-19 Telehealth and Virtual Care at Three Kaiser Permanente Regions: Development and Use of a Common Data Model to Evaluate Patient Factors and Patterns of Care. Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN) Annual Conference, 2021. Virtual.
  6. Poster: Examining the feeding beliefs, rules, and practices of toddler caretakers: Findings from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, 2019. Philadelphia, PA.
  7. Poster: Longer Participation in WIC is Associated with Better Diet Quality in 24-Month Old Children (poster). American Society for Nutrition. Nutrition 2019 Meeting, 2019. Baltimore, MD.
  8. Paper (presenter): Now We Are Three! WIC Program Retention and other Important Findings from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study (WIC ITFPS-2). National WIC Association Annual Education and Training Conference & Exhibits, 2019. Baltimore, MD.
  9. Paper (presenter): New Perspectives on WIC: An Evidence-Based Examination of Early Childhood Dietary Behaviors. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo, 2018. Washington, DC.
  10. Paper (presenter): Results from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study – 2 (ITFPS-2): Findings through age 2. National WIC Association 2018 Annual Education and Training Conference & Exhibits, 2018. Chicago, IL.
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