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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![Screenshot 2022-01-20 162444.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/14c544_7557986fa76a44b2a7a199c69d981039~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_116,h_100,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/Screenshot%202022-01-20%20162444.png)
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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![Screenshot 2022-01-20 161713.png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/14c544_de4adde532f4416eb197bc5c6025ee7b~mv2.png/v1/fill/w_398,h_467,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_auto/Screenshot%202022-01-20%20161713.png)
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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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![Capture COVID.PNG](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/14c544_9a027e3f97284dd38860ffd3336feccb~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_2,y_0,w_786,h_792/fill/w_104,h_105,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_auto/Capture%20COVID_PNG.png)