She received her PhD in developmental psychology from the University of Chicago in 2006. Afterward, she was the Senior Research Associate at the Ounce of Prevention Fund, integrating research and advocacy to provide high-quality early childhood programs for children living in poverty. In 2009, she completed a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellowship in social and cultural foundations of child development at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Shimpi has taught courses on the role of play in cognitive and linguistic development, and has published on the topic of adult and children's play, with a focus on cross-cultural and intergenerational perspectives. Other current research focuses on the role of cultural and environmental experiences in young children’s language development