Prior to joining the University at Albany in 2012, she was at the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) where she received her doctorate from the Maternal and Child Health Program in 2010 and then held an Adjunct Assistant Professor appointment. As a student, she was a recipient of the Alan W. Donaldson Award as well as the Paul Q. Peterson Public Health Doctoral Award, the UIC School of Public Health’s two most prestigious student awards.