Research

I maintain an active research agenda. Broadly speaking, my work is centered around the social determinants of health. Much of my projects focus on understanding and minimizing health care disparities. A former T32 National Research Service Award (NRSA) recipient, I have worked on several independent and team-structured endeavors. My active lines of research include 1. A comparative cross-sectional analysis of the role family interactions play in the development of depressive symptoms, 2. An community health investigation of how sexual health knowledge is related to coital frequency and subsequently how this frequency is related to sexual practice decisions, and 3. An exploration of the interdisciplinary association between social standing, academic stressors and the psychological well-being of immigrant youth. 

At The University of North Carolina Asheville, I direct The C.I.H.O. Lab (Contextual Investigations of Health Outcomes)- where our projects explore the association between health outcomes and stress exposure. The research carried out is qualitative.

My recent published works on race, ethnicity and social characteristics in health care disparities can be read in Research in the Sociology of Health Care (Volume 38).