Growing up, I loved books so much I would keep reading after I was supposed to be asleep using the light filtering under the door. I also liked to talk (a lot) and ask questions (also a lot). Now, I get to read, talk and ask questions about the world for a living.
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          I am currently an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Population Health Sciences and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I am a Philly girl, born and raised, but traveled all the way to Northern Florida to earn my BA in economics from Florida A&M University. Attending FAMU, the best of the HBCUs (historically black colleges and universities) was a transformative experience that helped me to fully appreciate the diversity and richness of black people and our contributions to the United States and the rest of the world. I went on to earn my Ph.D. in economics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (go Heels!), where I gained an empirical toolkit and a set of frameworks that give me a starting point for tackling tough problems. But. . .I realized that like Jon Snow, I knew nothing about health, even though I was and am a health economist!
          To fix this problem, I completed two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Wisconsin-Madison: the Robert Wood Johnson Health and Society Scholars Fellowship in population health, and the Health Disparities Research Scholars Program in health disparities. My interactions with scholars from a variety of disciplines—including psychology, demography and health services research led me to pursue new areas of research and stretch my thinking in new ways. I left Wisconsin in 2011 to become an assistant professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, but returned in 2019 as part of a cluster hire in reproductive equity.
          As an economist and population health scientist, my mission is to understand the causes and consequences of racial/ethnic disparities in reproductive health. The biggest problem that keeps me up at night? The fact that black women, regardless of how much income or education they have, are more likely than any other racial/ethnic group to become sick and/or die from pregnancy-related complications. Similarly, black infants are more likely to be born too light, too soon and die before they can celebrate their first birthdays. I believe strongly in tackling these problems from an evidence-based perspective and following the data wherever they lead—even if it makes me uncomfortable along the way. I apply methods from economics, demography, psychology and health services research to document and unpack the sources of these disparities, and have published in a wide variety of peer-reviewed journals (see some of my writing here). I am also committed to training the next generation of researchers to become better critical thinkers, better scientists, and more informed, engaged citizens.
          When I’m not thinking about a new dataset or research study, I enjoy reading fantasy, historical romance, and steampunk novels. I also adore Afro-Latin dance, and trying out new restaurants with my husband locally or in faraway locations. I also adore spending time with my children, one of whom asks me lots of questions. I wonder where that comes from?