Hi there.

I’m kodiak, like the bear.

I’m a solutions-oriented researcher with 8+ years of experience improving the lives and well-being of marginalized communities and building inclusive strategies and experiences through actionable data-driven user insights.

Currently, I design and conduct research studies identifying the needs, behaviors, and health outcomes of marginalized communities during pregnancy, postpartum, and while forming their families (e.g., utilization of reproductive technology). I work on a large, interdisciplinary team in the Department of Population Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute. Learn more about my research here.

Lesbian Health Fund's logo: a billowing pride flag the the tagline below "improving health & wellbeing for LGBTQ+ women & girls through research"

My alter ego

I moonlight as the Vice President of the only research fund in the world dedicated to improving the health and well-being of LGBTQ+ women and girls — where I’ve learned to deliver outcomes that exceed expectations with scrappy resources, effectively influence executive-level stakeholders, and build coalitions with community partners. I additionally serve on the Executive Board of a national LGBTQ+ healthcare nonprofit, where I translate my subject matter expertise into actionable policies and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community.

Prior to research

I bootstrapped two small businesses in the health and wellness industry (Maternity Maven and Ambrosia Healing), where I gained my business acumen, customer relations expertise, user experience research and design skills, and other random knacks like building websites.

Then I trained as a labor and delivery nurse, where I honed my ability to communicate emphatically, deliver exceptional patient-centered care, and solve complex problems at a system level.

Rooted in a desire to solve the upstream, persistent problems my patients faced, I found my passion for research as a tool to improve lives and societal well-being at scale.

Life outside work

Things that make me happiest include:

  • Slow cooking on a Sunday

  • Challenging and meaningful conversations

  • Being in the mountains, amongst the pine trees

  • Traveling to remote places of the world

  • Running outside in the fall

I transplanted to the West Coast during the pandemic with my spouse and several plant babies.