I am a tenure track assistant professor and director of the Close Relationships and Health Lab at the University of Delaware. I received my PhD in social psychology from the University of California Santa Barbara and then completed my postdoctoral training at the Ohio State University. I utilize a social psychological approach to understand the effects of social disconnection on motivation, physiology, and health. My expertise lies at the interface between physiology and psychology with a specialization in psychoneuroimmunology and psychoneuroendocrinology. More recently, I became interested in interventions that could improve social connection between romantic partners. Because romantic relationship quality is so robustly linked to health outcomes, improving a person’s romantic relationship should thereby improve their health.
