She received her B.A. and M.Sc. from the University of Toronto and her Ph.D. from the same institution, working in both the Department of Anthropology and the Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute of Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. Her research interests are focused broadly upon the age, sex, and gender-related changes in bone quantity and quality, particularly the application of life course approaches to the study of bone maintenance and fragility and its application to dialogues of social identity and embodiment in bioarchaeology. She has authored several related scholarly articles and edited volumes, most recently the volume (with Bonnie Glencross) Social Bioarchaeology (Wiley-Blackwell). She is interested in the philosophies of teaching, and is actively involved in the pedagogical training of current and future college instructors.