I am a medical sociologist with expertise in health disparities and vaccination.

I am an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Merced. Trained in medical sociology and public health, I study how social factors such as income, education, race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation influence health behaviors and health outcomes. 

Some of my recent funded research projects include: an examination of the social determinants of vaccination among California's agricultural workers, an empirical test of stigma as a fundamental cause of disease for sexual and gender minority populations, a population-based study of socioeconomic status and childhood vaccination in Denmark, and a survey experiment examining the relationship between prosocial attitudes and HPV vaccine acceptance.

My research is published in leading medical sociology and health journals, such as AIDS and Behavior, Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal of Health and Social Behavior,  LGBT Health, Preventive Medicine, Social Science & Medicine, SSM-Population Health, The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, Transgender Health, and Vaccine.

I regularly engage with the media, community stakeholders, and the public about my research and health-related topics, including health disparities and vaccine hesitancy and access.

I earned my PhD in Sociology from the University of British Columbia and MPH in Health Promotion from the University of Toronto. Additionally, I completed a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellowship in the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.