Research
As a researcher, my work is squarely focused on conducting studies that will enhance our understanding of mental health, the factors that influence (both positively and negatively) our mental health and strategies to address these factors.
Prevention Research in Substance Use and Minority Health (PRISM) Lab
My lab is the Prevention Research in Substance Use and Minority Health (PRISM). Our work examines developmental risk and protection for substance use and mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, suicide) primarily among youth and young adults. There are also important and culturally unique factors that influence substance use and mental health outcomes among individuals from historically underserved and underrepresented communities. Thus, our lab focuses on culturally-relevant factors relevant for youth and young adults from those communities.
A separate, and complementary line of research within the PRISM lab aims to implement interventions and programming to address empirically supported risk and protective factors for substance use and mental health outcomes among youth, particularly among youth from underserved and underrepresented backgrounds, within school, community, and clinical settings.
I have received multiple awards and national grants for my research, with projects and publications that you can learn more about below.
Adolescent Behavioral Health Research Program
Outside of PRISM, I am also a core faculty member of the Indiana University School of Medicine Adolescent Behavioral Health Research Program (BHP). The Adolescent Behavioral Health Research Program is at the forefront of conducting research with adolescents and their families to improve health outcomes for young people, to understand the etiology of adolescent behavioral health and to develop and implement evidence-based interventions. The program was established in 2018 to connect investigators and institutional resources at Indiana University School of Medicine for local, state and nationwide collaborative research.
Indiana Alcohol Research Center
The Indiana Alcohol Research Center is an interdisciplinary specialized research center at Indiana University School of Medicine where experts study the behavioral, genetic and central nervous system factors that contribute to alcohol use disorders. The center was established in 1987 by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) of the National Institutes of Health, which supports research in the etiology, pathogenesis, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism.
I am the Co-PI of the Information and Dissemination Core of the Indiana Alcohol Research Center with Dr. Melissa Cyders. Our core aims to
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Provide resources to the community on alcohol use and related health outcomes.
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Provide education opportunities on alcohol use for health providers through Indiana University's Project ECHO.
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Implement and disseminate brief interventions to schools to prevent and intervene on adolescent alcohol use.