Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology - Alumna

Why did you choose graduate school at IUPUI?

The research focus of my mentor, Dr. Adam T. Hirsh, examining biopsychosocial aspects of pain and functioning in humans, as well as the collaborative atmosphere amongst both the clinical psychology faculty and clinical graduate students.

What has been your favorite academic accomplishment since you’ve been here?

My favorite academic accomplishment was defending my preliminary exam research project, having it accepted for publication in a top-tier journal in the field of pain research, and winning the Elite 50 Award over the course of several months.

What do you enjoy most about life in Indianapolis?

The variety of social events, excellent food, and local craft breweries.

Please provide some details about your work/research as a graduate student and/or any activities you are involved in.

My emerging program of research seeks to better understand: 1) psychosocial factors (e.g., pain-related injustice, coping strategies, and resilience) that influence pain and functioning in children/adolescents with pain, and 2) sociocultural factors that facilitate and impede the delivery of guideline-concordant care for children/adolescents with pain. My first line of research focuses on pain-related injustice perceptions and their relationship to functional outcomes in pediatric pain patients. I am also examining how caregiver factors, such as injustice perceptions and catastrophizing, influence the child’s pain experience. Regarding my second line of research, I am using virtual human patients to examine how provider bias, provider empathy, and pediatric patient and parent characteristics (e.g., race, gender, and SES) individually and interactively affect pain care for pediatric patients.