Research Overview

I am an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland and an Adjunct Associate Professor at Brown University. I am also the director of the Lavender Lab. My research focuses on understanding the effects of social, psychological, and cultural determinants of health for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) individuals and racial/ethnic minorities as well as factors that promote their resilience. I have published scientific articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and presented my work at national and international conferences. My work has received several recognitions, including 4 NIH grants, 5 small grants, 6 honors, and 13 national and international conference travel awards from professional organizations, such as the American Psychological Association, National Institutes of Health, Association for Psychological Science, and Research Society on Alcoholism. I am currently working on three NIH-funded studies examining the effects of stigma and minority stress on mental health and substance use among sexual and gender minority youth and adults.

I received a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Boston College and a master's from the University of Maryland, College Park. I completed a clinical psychology residency at Harvard Medical School/Cambridge Hospital, and a NIH-funded T32 postdoctoral research fellowship at Brown University's Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.