Her primary teaching areas include research, substance abuse, health care and mental health, gerontology and international social work. She has been actively involved with community coalitions in substance abuse and mental health and the recent chronic disease self-management initiative. She has also garnered extensive experience in distance education (ITV and online). She earned an MSW from the University of Madras, Chennai, India, an M. Phil in psychiatric social work from The National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences, Bangalore, India, and a Ph.D in Social Work from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India.