About Me
I am a first-year doctoral student in the Social
and Health Psychology program at Carnegie Mellon University, under the advisement of Dr. Vicki Helgeson. My research questions
involve the relationships of psychosocial, behavioral, and cognitive factors with the abilities of individuals with chronic
diseases to adhere to their medical self-care regimens. I am also interested in the relationship between stress and successful
metabolic control. My overarching goal is to contribute to the body of science that assists in the prevention of chronic diseases
and in increasing successful health outcomes and quality of life. I am working toward a career as a university professor and researcher.
My interests outside of school and work include reading, writing, running, cycling, foreign language and linguistics, playing piano and flute, philosophy, hiking, the outdoors, talk radio, small venue live music, performing arts, theater, appreciating good and creating bad art, alternative medicine, history, exploring Pittsburgh, spirituality/new age, word/board games, and continuous education, to name only a few. I have two cats, and am a proud Phi Mu alumna. The next two hobbies I want to develop are playing the guitar and sewing.
Non-Academic Experience
Summary
I started out my post-college career as a Manufacturing Engineer for Texas Instruments in McKinney, TX. Through the years my career morphed into a computer programmer for both desktop applications and the web, and eventually I moved into project management. I have extensive programming and management experience, and have found that I use these skills no matter where my life and career take me. I also have experience as a book store manager - a job that I held to work my way through a new Bachelor's Degree as the first step toward achieving my dreams of a new career. I have worked for many of the top companies in the country, and have run my own independent consulting and service businesses throughout the years. I experienced the dot.com boom and bust of the late-90's/early 2000's first hand. My experiences are rich and varied, and provide me with a unique perspective on every project with which I am involved.
See my Professional Resume for more detail on my non-academic work experience.
Technical Skills
I am a database expert and am fully trained and experienced in relational database design and reporting. A close secondary specialty is web site and web application development. The following are some selected database, development, design, and analysis tools with which I feel competent.
Experiment Dev/Analysis Tools
Presentation, ePrime, SPSS, Director
Programming Languages
Visual Basic, (X)HTML, ASP, VBScript, JavaScript, SQL, XML, MatLab, Lingo, Python
Operating Systems
Windows (95/98, NT, 2000, XP), Mac OSX
Databases
Oracle, SQL Server, MS Access, Sybase, Paradox, MySQL
Design Tools
Fireworks, Flash, Photoshop, Director, Dreamweaver
Other
MS Office, MS Project, Visio, CSS, OOP, Endnote
Academics
Research Interests
My research interests are in Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine. Individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases like diabetes are faced with permanent lifestyle changes that are necessary to decrease symptom manifestation and to increase the quality and duration of their lives. Adherence to the health regimens prescribed by doctors including, but not limited to, diet, exercise, medications, stress management, and glucose monitoring are critical to the success of disease management. Unfortunately, these behaviors often are hindered by a long list of social, physical, emotional, psychological, and environmental factors. I am intersted in studying the psychosocial factors that are correlated with successful medical adherence, and the behaviors that are predictive of successful and unsuccessful health management for all chronic diseases.
Current Research
My advisor and I are currently finalizing my first-year projects and I will post them here after the semester begins.
Current Coursework
Coming Fall 2009
Professor
Carnegie Mellon University
Syllabus, Fall 09
Selected Relevant Completed Coursework
Transcripts of all previous coursework available upon request.
Other Research Experience
I have several years of additional experience in various areas of experimental research, including biopsychology, developmental psychology, engineering psychology, and social and decision sciences. Details
Education, Publications, CV
Select below for details:
What's New?
Coming Fall, 2009
Coming Fall, 2009