Research interests
After obtaining my doctorate in clinical psychology at East Tennessee State University and completing my predoctoral residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center – Munroe Meyer Institute, I pursued the T32 Primary Care Research Fellowship. At this fellowship, I aim to expand my training on healthcare policy, system-wide interventions, and implementation science to better understand feasible and sustainable approaches in integrating behavioral health services into primary care settings. My research and clinical background in family medicine and pediatrics provided instrumental experiences working with rural dwellings populations and the unique barriers they face to receiving quality whole-person healthcare.
My research interests aim to address barriers to care by increasing accessibility to behavioral health services in patient-centered medical homes using an equity and trauma-informed lens. The opportunities provided at Dartmouth Health will increase my understanding of patient and provider needs, and barriers and facilitators of integrated behavioral health practices to determine points of system-wide interventions to improve service delivery of behavioral health in primary care. Specifically, determining key ingredients that support an integrated clinical infrastructure that includes universal behavioral health screening and team-based care coordination of medical and behavioral consulting staff.
Under the mentorship of Erin Barnett, PhD, Daisy Goodman, DNP, MPH, and Julie Frew, MD, I am conducting a three-part pilot study that includes methodologies such as the analysis of electronic medical record data, quantitative data via survey collection, and qualitative interviewing of stakeholders (e.g., clinical staff, patients, policymakers, administrative leadership). This project is to help improve systems of identification of behavioral health needs, timely referrals, equitable behavioral health service utilization, and increase team-based care coordination for perinatal patients at Dartmouth Health Ob/Gyn.
My career goals include expanding on this line of research by collaborating in multidisciplinary teams and working in spaces that include policymaking, public health, advocacy, primary care, and perinatal health. In my spare time, I enjoy spending time with friends, family, and my cat, reading novels, exploring the outdoors, and cooking Mexican food.