I joined Penn State New Kensington in the fall of 2016 as the program coordinator and faculty member in the biobehavioral health program. I am excited to be a part of this dynamic, multidisciplinary program, and all it has to offer Penn State’s students.

Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina, I moved to Pittsburgh in the fall of 2003 to pursue my PhD in medical anthropology and a master’s in public health. After graduating in 2010, I completed a three year post-doctoral fellowship in health services research at the RAND-University of Pittsburgh Health Institute. I then went on to work at Magee-Womens Research Institute as a co-investigator and research coordinator until spring of 2016 when I arrived at Penn State. For the past 15+ years, I have worked extensively on research addressing health disparities for under served populations of women and children.  My most recent research utilizes traditional ethnographic methods to investigate what intervention practices work best for promoting long term behavioral change among men who perpetrate violence against women, and how to best stem the epidemic of intimate partner violence in the United States.  I also currently serve as a consultant and co-investigator on research which examines the issues of sexual coercion and Hepatitis C knowledge among opioid dependent pregnant patients.

In addition, I have worked both domestically and abroad on research related to sexual risk taking and substance use behaviors among vulnerable populations of youth. I have also served as a qualitative methodological expert on projects related to veteran’s health, PTSD, informed consent, maternal to child transmission of HIV/AIDS, LGBTQ youth and substance use, telemedicine, and patient-provider substance use communication. When I am not teaching or working on research, I like to bake, run, cross-stitch, fish and spend time with my husband Paul and our two cats. I also volunteer for the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh as a facilitator for their Men Embracing Non-violence and Safety program.