I have a great passion for interdisciplinary research with an emphasis on minority health disparities, stress and coping, emotion, genomics, autism spectrum disorders, and cancer prevention. I am currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology and the Psychology Graduate Program Head at the University of Texas Permian Basin (UTPB). I received my B.S. (summa cum laude) and M.A. in Psychology from San José State University. I completed my Ph.D. in Psychology with focuses in Health Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2017. After obtaining my doctoral degree, I conducted multidisciplinary research and managed a cancer genomics training program as a postdoctoral research associate for 2 years at Texas A&M University before joining UTPB in 2019 with a Rising STAR faculty grant awarded by the University of Texas System.