About Me

My professional path

My first experience as a research assistant during my first year of college involved lots of routine administrative tasks, like cleaning kits and downloading heart rate data. One of the project leads, a senior research assistant, often talked about her experiences as an assessment administrator, working directly with caregivers of children with neurogenetic syndromes to collect biobehavioral data. I realized that beyond collecting data, research is a way to understand children’s behavior through systematic assessment and observation meaningfully. I later trained in that same role, continuing to pursue research and clinical experiences with children with developmental disabilities.

My clinical experiences helped me see that behavioral supports should aim to serve the needs of both children and families. Conversations with caregivers as a Direct Support Professional helped me understand the barriers families face to accessing services and the importance of considering families’ needs in service decisions. I realized that caregivers’ perspectives provide important information that structured assessments or research measures may not fully capture.

Where I am now

As a Clinical Research Coordinator for a challenging behavior intervention RCT, I have continued to build on my prior experiences supporting caregivers and children with neurogenetic syndromes and co-occurring intellectual disability. My current research projects are focused on understanding how different measures capture distinct aspects of behavior, including behavior frequency and caregivers’ priorities. I am particularly interested in exploring how measurement approaches can be integrated and understanding the role of caregivers’ perspectives in understanding behavior. I plan to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology to build on these research and clinical interests.

Outside of work

Outside of work, I enjoy crafting, reading, and hiking with friends. I especially enjoy creative projects, like painting and crochet, where patience turns into something fun and rewarding. I also enjoy reading, whether as a paperback on the train to work to discuss later with my friends, or as an audiobook while crafting. Hiking is one of my favorite ways to explore new places, especially when it leads to a new national park.