Associate Professor
University of Pittsburgh
My research interests focus on integrating environmental and individual factors that increase risk for heavy alcohol and substance use and related problems. A long-standing focus of my research has been to examine these factors to understand and ultimately decrease health inequities in alcohol and substance use outcomes. In the process of pursuing this line of research, I have sought out in-depth and ongoing training in protective cultural factors within the Black/African American community, the impact of discrimination and structural racism on health outcomes, the importance of placing acute events within the larger historical context both at individual and societal levels, and best practices for conducting community-engaged research and research equity and reciprocity.
