Nicole Brandt, PharmD | Amy Davidoff  |  Thomas Shaffer, MHS
Linda Simoni-Wastila, BSPharm, PhD
Bruce Stuart, PhD | Lirong Zhao 
Ilene Zuckerman, PharmD, PhD

Linda Simoni-Wastila, BSPharm, PhD

Linda Simoni-Wastila, BSPharm, PhD is an Associate  Professor at the University of Maryland-Baltimore, 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, Massachusetts. 

Dr. Simoni-Wastila has been involved in research focusing on prescription drugs 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 impacts 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. Her current research portfolio includes Quality of Pharmacologic Treatment of Mental Illness in Long-term Care Recipients, Prescription Drug Issues Under the New Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit and the Prescription Drug Use, Abuse, and Outcomes.  She has received grants and contracts from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (formerly the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and various states, foundations and proprietary firms. 

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.

Linda Simoni-Wastila can be reached at 410-706-4352 or emailed at lsimoniw@rx.umaryland.edu.

Recent Publications: 

Simoni-Wastila L and Yang, H-W K. Psychoactive Drug Use in Older Adults. American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy. December 2006; (494): 380-394

Simoni-Wastila L, Stuart B, and Shaffer T. Over-the-Counter drug use by Medicare beneficiaries in nursing homes: implications for practice and policy. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. 2006; (54): 1543-1549

Zerzan JT, Morden N, Soumerai SB, Ross-Degnan D, Roughead E, Zhang F, Simoni-Wastila L, and Sullivan SD. Trends and geographic variation of opiate medication use in state Medicaid fee-for-service programs. Medical Care. November 2006; 44(11): 1005-1010

Zuckerman I, Langenberg P, Orwig D, Baumgarten M, Byrns P, Simoni-Wastila L, Magaziner J. Inappropriate drug use and risk of transition to nursing homes among community-dwelling older adults. Medical Care. August 2006; 44(98):722-30.

Simoni-Wastila L, Zuckerman I, Singhal PK, Briesacher B, Hsu VD. National estimates of exposure to prescription drugs with addiction potential in the Medicare population. Substance Abuse. 2006;26(1): 33-42.

Pearson S-A, Soumerai S, Mah C, Zhang F, Simoni-Wastila L,  Salzman C, Cosler LE, Fanning T, Gallagher P, Ross-Degnan D. Racial disparities in access following regulatory surveillance of benzodiazepines. Archives of Internal Medicine. March 13, 2006; 166:572-579.

Stuart B, Simoni-Wastila L, Shaffer T, Baysac F, Shea D. Coverage and Use of Prescription Drugs in Nursing Homes: Implications for the Medicare Modernization Act. Medical Care. March 2006; 44(3):243-249.

Briesacher, B. A., Limcangco, M. R., Simoni-Wastila, L., Doshi, J. A., Levens, S. R., Shea, D. G., et al. (2005). The quality of antipsychotic drug prescribing in nursing homes. Arch Intern Med, June 2005; 165:1280-1285.

Briesacher, B., Limcangco, R., Simoni-Wastila, L., Doshi, J., & Gurwitz, J. (2005). Evaluation of nationally mandated drug use reviews to improve patient safety in nursing homes: a natural experiment. J Am Geriatr Soc, 53(6), 991-996.

Stuart, B., Simoni-Wastila, L., & Chauncey, D. (2005). Assessing The Impact Of Coverage Gaps In The Medicare Part D Drug Benefit. Health Aff (Millwood).