Meghan Gannon, PhD, MSPH

2020 Faculty Team Achievement Award, Thomas Jefferson University
2020 AMERSA National Conference Registration Award
2020 National Conference Study Scholarship Award, Mind Life Institute
2016 National Conference Student Scholarship Award, Mind Life Institute

I am an Assistant Professor at Thomas Jefferson University in the Department of OB/GYN. Most of my current research is directed at improving health outcomes and social support in pregnant and parenting women with substance use disorders. My experience and expertise is in experimental and mixed methods research, working with the population of parenting women with substance use disorder at Thomas Jefferson University’s Maternal Addiction Treatment Education and Research (MATER) Program for the past 7 years.

I am currently a PI for a City of Philadelphia Department of Public Health grant, “The Impact of Doula Care Services on Pregnant and Parenting Women in Treatment for Substance Use Disorders” where I lead an evaluation of doula engagement in a population of women with substance use disorder (SUD). I have a senior role in a current SAMHSA funded program “Supporting Women and Children in Drug Treatment: A Family Unity Approach”, as Maternal Health Lead and Co-Investigator examining mechanisms to foster social support to retain engagement in recovery.

I am also a Co-Investigator of an AHRQ R18 funded pediatric care intervention project, serving as a lead in implementation and qualitative methodologies. Previously, I served as a Co-Investigator of a large Department of Health Human Services funded study, which has generated several significant manuscripts in the field of substance use (Gannon 2019, Gannon 2017, Short 2017).

As a member of the City of Philadelphia ACE Policy Task Force, I also have experience doing advocacy and policy work around vicarious trauma. My academic duties also include leading the Health Policy and Systems track in the Scholarly Inquiry Program at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College, as its Director. Lastly, I also serve as a Mindfulness Based Parenting Instructor at the MATER Program.

1. Short VL, Hand DJ, Gannon M, Abatemarco DJ. Maternal Characteristics Associated With Preconception Marijuana Use. Am J Prev Med. 2020 Oct;59(4):555-561.

2. Alexander K, Short V, Gannon M, Goyal N, Naegle M, Abatemarco DJ. Maternal perceptions of the birth hospitalization among women in treatment for opioid use disorder. Substance Abuse. 2020 Aug 19;1-7.

3. Gannon M, Short V, LaNoue M, Abatemarco A. Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences of Parenting Women in Drug Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Community Ment Health J. 2020 Jun 16.

4. Short V, Alexander K, Gannon M, Goyal N. (In press). What do mothers in treatment for opioid use disorder think of their child’s primary care? Child Health Care Development. 2020.

5. Short V, Alexander K, Gannon M, Abatemarco D. A pilot study to assess breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of individuals who work in perinatal opioid use disorder treatment settings. Accepted for publication in Breastfeeding Medicine. 2019.

6. Gannon M., Mackenzie M., Short V., Hand D., Abatemarco D.: Application of a RE-AIM Evaluation Framework. Maternal and Child Health Journal In press, 2018.

7. Gannon M, Mackenzie M, Kaltenbach K, Abatemarco D.: Impact of mindfulness based parenting on women in treatment for opioid use disorder. Journal of Addiction Medicine11:368-376, 2017.

8. Short V, Gannon M, Weingarten W, LaNoue M, Kaltenbach K, Abatemarco D. Reducing stress among mothers in drug treatment: A description of a mindfulness based parenting intervention. Maternal and Child Health Journal 21:1377-1386, 2017.

9. Short V, Gannon M, Abatemarco A.: The association between breastfeeding and length of hospital stay among infants diagnosed with neonatal abstinence syndrome: a population-based study of in-hospital births. Breastfeeding Medicine11:1-7, 2016.

10. Gannon M, Qaseem A, Snow V, Egan Reynolds C.: Improving adult immunization practices in the primary care setting using practice teams. American Journal of Public Health 102:e46-52, 2012.

11. Gannon M, Qaseem A, Snow V.: Educating physicians to address effects of at-risk drinking on common diseases. Quality in Primary Care19:43-47, 2011.

12. Gannon M, Qaseem A, Snow V, Snooks Q.: Pain management and the primary care encounter: opportunities for quality improvement. Journal of Primary Care and Community Health 2:37-44, 2011.

13. Gannon M, Qaseem A, Snow V, Snooks Q.: Utilizing Online Learning Collaboratives to Facilitate Practice Improvement for COPD: An ACPNet® pilot study. American Journal of Medical Quality 26:212-219, 2011.

14. Gannon M, Qaseem A, Snow V.: Community Based Primary Care: Improving and Assessing Diabetes Management. American Journal of Medical Quality 25:6-12, 2010.

15. O'Brien TG, Guo Y, Visvanathan K, Sciulli J, McLaine M, Helzlsouer KJ, Watkins-Bruner D.: Differences in ornithine decarboxylase and androgen receptor allele frequencies among ethnic groups Molecular Carcinogenesis 41:120-123, 2004