I am currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Duke Aging Center in the Duke University School of Medicine. I received my PhD in sociology from UNC-Chapel Hill in 2023, where I was also a biosocial trainee at the Carolina Population Center.
I research the social origins and consequences of human illness, stress, and resiliency. My studies typically analyze large-scale, multilevel population datasets that incorporate self-reports, biomarkers, and contextual and administrative records. My work also addresses a variety of substantive topics in the sociology of stress, health, aging/life course, neighborhoods, structural racism, and religion/spirituality.
My studies have been published in peer-reviewed outlets such as Social Forces, Demography, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Society and Mental Health, Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, among others. My studies have also received multiple awards from the American Sociological Association, and have been featured in New York Times, Psychology Today, Christianity Today, and Newsweek.
When I'm not working, I'm cooking and writing music with my partner, Allison, and taking walks with our rescue mutt, Stewart. In past lives, I drummed and toured in punk bands, worked as a line cook in commercial kitchens, and studied philosophy.