Research Expertise

I utilize mixed-methods, community-based, and trauma-informed approaches to study human health and behavior. My research has received national recognition, National Institutes of Health Funding, and other notable awards. Papers are publicly available on Research Gate or by email.

Improving healthcare quality & access to care

Society — including our healthcare system – is rampant with inequities. These inequities disproportionally impact the health outcomes of minoritized and marginalized individuals and communities. The first aspect of my scholarship seeks to understand barriers to quality care and improve cultural humility as critical factors in achieving health equity. Current work focuses on improving patient experiences as a key indicator for promoting patient safety, satisfaction, and clinical health outcomes.

two queer individuals, one holding the pregnant partner on a couch

Understanding LGBTQ+ health needs during pregnancy & postpartum

LGBTQ+ populations, in particular, experience myriad health disparities due to discrimination, stigma, ignorance, and violations of their basic human rights. Pregnancy and the postpartum period represent experiences of significant vulnerability, yet little is known about LGBTQ+ people’s perinatal needs, experiences, and health outcomes. A second facet of my scholarship seeks to document these knowledge gaps and disparities and deeply understand the needs and behaviors of LGBTQ+ childbearing people and their partners or co-parents.

So far, we see disparities in neonatal outcomes, gestational diabetes and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, and perinatal mental health. However, many pregnancy and childbirth complications are still largely unexplored, and hardly any clinical outcomes include gender-minoritized individuals and individuals experiencing multiple axes of marginalization (e.g., racialized LGBTQ+ individuals).

Case study

I developed and conducted the first national, longitudinal study on LGBTQ+ childbearing experiences in a cutting-edge methodological study that utilized community-informed and visual ethnographic methodologies, as well as 64 in-depth interviews and surveys.

I found lack of perinatal social support and structural resources is ubiquitous and contributes to adverse mental health during an already emotionally burdensome time.

A queer couple hugging joyfully looking at a pregnancy stick

Identifying new trends in assistive reproductive technology (ART) usage

Even in 2024, parenthood is gatekept and parents’ rights are denied for LGBTQ+ people in the US. An emerging facet of my research is to understand how LGBTQ+ people are forming families, the motivations behind and outcomes of different family-building pathways, and the ethical considerations around the right to reproductive access and the utilization of emerging reproductive technologies.

  • "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane."

    – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

    American minister and civil rights activist

  • "Telling our stories, first to ourselves and then to one another and the world, is a revolutionary act."

    – Janet Mock

    American writer, television host, director, producer, and transgender rights activist

  • "Without community, there is no liberation."

    – Audre Lorde

    American writer, womanist, radical feminist, professor, philosopher, and civil rights activist

  • "If you have come to help me you are wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.

    – Lilla Watson

    Indigenous Australian artist, activist, and academic