Investigator, Instructor (M) Psychiatry, Mass General Research Institute

PhD, Biological Anthropology Emory University 2020

adolescent development; adversity; anxiety disorders; biomarkers; childhood trauma; depression; digital health; global mental health; health disparities; hiv; perinatal psychiatry; ptsd

I earned a Ph.D. in Biological Anthropology at Emory University and recently completed postdoctoral training in developmental science at New York University and psychiatric epidemiology at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. What has unified my research to date has been a singular interest in understanding (with the eventual goal of intervening in) the psychiatric sequelae of trauma within and across generations in low-resourced settings.Over the past ten years, I have conducted extensive research on global mental health among high-risk populations in the United States, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and Peru. Through these experiences, I have developed a repertoire of skills in mixed method research and a deep desire to leverage the best theories and methods we have from psychiatric epidemiology, biological anthropology, and developmental science to elucidate the biosocial mechanisms that underlie the etiology, phenomenology, and maintenance of trauma-related psychopathology within and across generations in low-resourced settings. My research has specifically traced three primary lines of inquiry: (i) tracing the mechanisms through which traumatic stress shapes physical and mental health disparities throughout the life course; (ii) elucidating the reverberations of trauma intergenerationally; and (iii) promoting global mental health research and clinical excellence worldwide. Reflecting my interdisciplinary training, I take a multi-method, multi-level approach towards these questions, integrating sustained community engagement with qualitative research, surveys, field-friendly biomarkers, and emerging mobile and wearable technologies.