She received her PhD from Claremont Graduate School in 1990 and is a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, where she has been on faculty since 1994. She is the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Psychiatry Consultation Liaison service, overseeing child psychiatry consultations for pediatric medical inpatients. She has presented lectures at professional conferences within the United States and abroad, and has published numerous scientific articles and book chapters.