She received a BS in Psychology; a MS in Kinesiology; and a Ph.D in Health Education and Health Promotion. She also completed NIH NRSA postdoctoral training in population studies and epidemiology. Her research interests lie in the area of maternal and child health, focusing on parental mental health and how it affects parenting practices and child health outcomes. She is currently working at designing ways to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of maternal depression. In particular, she is interested in testing the effects of non pharmacological treatments for depression during pregnancy. She has published several articles related to parental depression, parenting and health behaviors, and health services research.