About Me

From the very start of my research career, one question has motivated me: How does the social world get under the skin to sculpt the brain and body and influence health? Integrating theories and methods from experimental social psychology, cognitive and affective neuroscience, psychoneuroimmunology, and population health, my work brings an interdisciplinary approach to investigating how social inequities lead to illness.

I was introduced to research as an undergraduate at Washington University of St. Louis, where I worked with Dr. Deanna Barch, studying reward processing among children at risk for depression. After graduating in 2015 with an A.B. in Psychology and Anthropology, I transitioned to the National Institute of Mental Health to work as a Post-baccalaureate researcher. There, I worked with Drs. Christian Grillon and Monique Ernst disentangling the physiological and cognitive effects of state versus clinical anxiety. Most recently, I received my Ph.D. in Psychology & Neuroscience from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with concentrations in Social and Quantitative Psychology. At UNC, my primary mentor was Dr. Keely Muscatell, and I also worked closely with Drs. Kristen Lindquist and Margaret Sheridan.

Notably, my trajectory has not only been shaped by academic mentorship but also by my life experiences and values. As a Black Latina passionate about health equity, I apply a social justice perspective to my work. In identifying the pathways by which interpersonal and structural systems may alter neurobiology, I aim for my work to have implications for policy-level interventions that promote health equity. These academic and life experiences have led me to the University of Pittsburgh, where I can continue to pursue rigorous health neuroscience research within a department also committed to equity.