She received her B.A. in Psychology from the State University of New York in 1981, and her M.S. in Psychology from Tulane University in 1986 working with Dr. Arnold Gerall. In 2000 she accepted a position at the Center for Gene Therapy at Tulane University Health Science Center, working with Dr. Darwin Prockop. She joined the faculty at Texas A&M University System Health Science Center in July 2008.