As a member of the Cancer Control Program at the OSUCCC – James, I focus my research on building and optimizing cessation interventions for highly vulnerable populations (e.g., homeless youth and domestic violence survivors), recognizing the chaotic circumstances in which they live and helping them to recover, heal and make behavioral changes.

Because smoking is highly prevalent within these populations and is the leading cause of premature morbidity and mortality, I have increasingly focused my scholarship on understanding smoking behavior and cessation. Informed by nearly two decades of community work in violence prevention and crisis response, and trained as a feminist theorist, I also bring gender, culture, justice and community practice lenses to the study of health behavior and the promotion of health equity.

I am the co-founder of the Ohio Alliance to End Sexual Violence, a 501(c)3 organization recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by the Office on Violence Against Women as Ohio’s coalition for addressing sexual violence response and its prevention. I was also awarded a K07 Career Development Grant (2017-2022) from the National Cancer Institute to develop a smoking-cessation intervention for homeless youth using novel optimization methodology.

My research has been published in such peer-reviewed journals as Substance Use & Misuse, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Women’s Health and Nicotine & Tobacco Research.