About Me
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).
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.
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.
See our recent paper on teammate interactions, athletic identity, and mental health / wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
