Mental Health Researcher, Educator, Mentor & Advocate I grew up in Houston, TX and graduated at the top of my class from North Shore High School on the city's east side. I received my BA in Sociology (with honors) and Ethnic Studies from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001. After taking a few years off, I began my graduate education at the University of Michigan where I earned an MSW in mental health and interpersonal practice in 2008 and a PhD in Social Work & Sociology in 2012. After graduating from UM, I worked briefly as a post-doc with Dartmouth College's Psychiatric Research Center before accepting a tenure-track faculty position that fall in the University of Georgia's School of Social Work. I received tenure and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2020. I left UGA during the summer of 2022, taking a medical sabbatical. I have since returned to the academy working as a lecturer in the University of Michigan's School of Social Work and the University of Tennessee's College of Social Work.
