She previously served as a research scientist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the Department of Epidemiology and Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics and as a visiting Assistant Professor at Williams College’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics. She uses mathematical models with a focus on dynamical systems to examine biologically motivated questions. Her research includes mathematical and computational models with such applications as the immune system, infectious disease, bacteriophage-host interactions, fish schools, and coupled oscillators. Dr. Childs earned a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Chemistry from Duke University in 2004, and master’s and doctoral degrees in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University.