Born and raised in Missouri, I attended Vanderbilt University and majored in Child Development and Cognitive Studies. Afterwards, I completed a master's degree in Risk and Prevention at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
I was a Psychology Technician at the Boston VA Healthcare System in the National Center for PTSD with Dr. Brian Marx. After which I attended the University of California, Los Angeles for a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, working with Dr. Steve S. Lee in the ADHD and Development Lab and later with Dr. Nim Tottenham in the Developmental Affective Neuroscience Lab. This co-mentorship in developmental psychopathology and developmental neuroscience forged my interest in trying to understand how early experiences get "under the skin" and affect risk for later difficulties. My predoctoral and postdoctoral clinical psychology training was in Infant Mental Health at the Tulane School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. While at Tulane I joined the Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Genetics Lab under Dr. Stacy S. Drury. I also continue to collaborate on the Bucharest Early Intervention Project, with primary mentorship from Dr. Charles H. Zeanah. I completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Psychology at Stanford University working in the Stanford Neurodevelopment, Affect, and Psychopathology Lab under the mentorship of Dr. Ian H. Gotlib. Click here to learn more about our research. In August 2018, I started as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology and Human Development at Peabody College within Vanderbilt University. I direct the SEA (Stress and Early Adversity) Lab, and am a member of the Clinical Sciences and Educational Neuroscience faculty. When not in the lab I enjoy spending time with (and getting research ideas from) my kids (Alice and Winslow). |