About Me
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Thanks for visiting my website! I am an assistant professor in the Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behavior at the University of Washington - School of Medicine. I completed my PhD at Penn State where I studied psychology of health behavior as a dual-major in Kinesiology and Clinical/ Translational Science.
My research focuses on how groups and social influences shape individuals’ health behaviors in both constructive (e.g., physical activity) and pernicious ways (e.g., alcohol use, gambling behaviors).
I take a translational approach to my research, in that I aim to understand how social and group processes relate to behavior so that we can leverage these influences to reduce harm and improve health. I am particularly interested in studying these social influences within proximal peer networks such as sport teams and other clubs. ​
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My team is also working to identify novel paradigms for how we leverage social norms. Recently, we published early-stage evidence that showing recent trends for a given norm (i.e., dynamic norms) may have salient motivational value to be used within brief interventions and even broader social marketing strategies.
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See our recent paper on teammate interactions, athletic identity, and mental health / wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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