Her research focuses on the health consequences of welfare policy, with an emphasis on reproductive health issues and racial/ethnic minorities. For more than five years she has been director and co-investigator of a project titled "Finding Common Ground," which is analyzing the effect of the 1996 welfare reform legislation on the health of poor mothers and children. She received her Ph.D. in Sociomedical Sciences from Columbia University in 2002. She visited IRP during the week of April 19, 2004.