She earned her MS and PhD in Urban Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has extensive experience forming, sustaining and evaluating community-academic partnerships to improve health. She is a medical sociologist that uses qualitative methodology to investigate how health organizations and systems influence provider behaviors and health outcomes. Her research interests include health professions advocacy for vulnerable patients and populations, the organization of work among health professionals in traditional and community-based clinical settings, and the relationship between the urban environment, acute and chronic life stressors, and health status.