I am a nurse scientist dedicated to the ethical and responsible conduct of research, education, and pediatric clinical practice. My passion is working with populations in need of special considerations. Person- and family-centered care that is individualized, empowering and respectful, forms the basis of my nursing practice, provides the framework for my research and is at the heart of how I teach nursing students about what it means to care for children and families.

My clinical work as a pediatric nurse practitioner has been caring for children and families impacted by chronic health conditions. Providing support and facilitating informed, collaborative decision-making around health care issues are critical practices I have successfully employed with patients and families. I have translated these same practices to the clinical research setting while supporting families considering participation in federally funded HIV clinical trials, and COVID and other vaccine related studies.

Being part of the Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) in the UMass Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS) has allowed me to combine my passion for research, ethics, and education. I currently serve as IRB chair. In this role, I collaborate with interdisciplinary colleagues within and across UMass campuses on matters of research integrity, research best-practices and a host of educational initiatives related to human subjects’ research.

My program of research stems from my clinical work and expertise in pediatric nursing, HIV care and prevention, and clinical research ethics. Using a nurse-derived, person-centered care framework, my current work seeks to understand the experiences of childbearing people with HIV and infant feeding, as well as clinician attitudes toward HIV and breastfeeding. Future research in this area will focus on issues related to HIV in childbearing people and intervention work aimed at improving nursing care for childbearing families impacted by HIV.