Meghan Zimmer, MPH (“Meg”, she/her) is a PhD student in Population Health Sciences in the Department of Nutrition, Public Health Nutrition Area of Specialization. Meg’s research is focused on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
On Dr. Kenney’s ELK Research Team, Meg works on UPWARD – Understanding Pandemic WIC-Waivers: Access, Redemption, Disparities. UPWARD evaluates the impact of multiple waivers (e.g., spring 2020 physical presence waiver, June 2021 fruit and vegetable CVB increase, etc.) on WIC utilization (i.e., participant retention, benefit redemption, diet quality) in MA WIC.
Prior to joining Harvard, Meg spent several years working at the intersection of public health and public service. First at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and later at the Department of Health and Human Services, Meg worked on projects related to federal child nutrition programs like WIC and dietary assessment methods for young children. For this work, the NCI’s Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program awarded her a Special Service Recognition Award.
In her free time, Meg enjoys playing all racket sports, especially tennis and pickleball.
