I am a feminist scholar specializing in the study of social stress, disability, and mental health across the life course. My work emphasizes the relevance of stigma, discrimination, and macro-level stressors for health and healthcare experiences. With the support of grant funding throughout my career, including most recently a Switzer Fellowship from the Department of Health and Human Services (NIDILRR), I have published more than 75 manuscripts examining mental health disparities and health outcomes using mixed research methodologies. My research portfolio spans investigations of gender differences in stress and health, collective trauma (including the Great Recession, 9/11 attacks, and COVID-19 pandemic), and disability-related experiences of stigma and discrimination. Recent projects focus on pandemic-related stress, stigmas associated with opioid use, and the long-term impact of economic downturns on employment trajectories and health among people with disabilities.

I teach at both graduate and undergraduate levels, with courses including statistics, programming and data analytics, research methods, sociology of health and disability, and social psychology. Through my teaching and mentoring, I work with students across multiple disciplines, maintaining strong affiliations with the Colleges of Medicine, Health Sciences, and Public Health alongside my home department in Sociology.

My scholarly impact extends to several editorial roles, including co-editorship of the Oxford Handbook on the Sociology of Disability (2023) and Research in Social Science and Disability (2024). I serve as Deputy Editor for both Society and Mental Health and Sociological Perspectives, and hold editorial board positions with the Journal of Aging and Health, Stigma and Health, and Gender & Society.

My academic leadership experience includes over a decade of chairing graduate and undergraduate programs, along with service on numerous university and professional committees focused on accessibility and inclusion in higher education. I am actively engaged in mentoring the next generation of scholars and practitioners through faculty advisory roles with various student organizations and co-founding the UK Employee Affinity Group on Disability.