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I am currently an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I also direct UNC’s Developmental Disabilities Training Institute, which conducts research and training across North Carolina.
Research
My research is related to the impact of public policy on people with disabilities and their families. I am particularly interested in how health and poverty policy affects people with disabilities and their families, and the intersections between health policy, poverty policy and disability policy in the United States. I am also interested in feminist analyses of the distribution and impact of caregiving in families raising children with disabilities. You can download copies of my published manuscripts here. You can view selected conference presentations here.
Teaching
I have taught masters and doctoral classes in policy, research methods and disability studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Wisconsin and the University of North Carolina.
I currently teach two graduate social work courses at UNC’s School of Social Work:
Service
In addition to my service to the UNC School of Social Work, I also serve on UNC’s Behavioral Institutional Review Board. I am a member of the board of directors, and immediate past president, of the Arc of Orange County (North Carolina). I am an associate editor for Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (formerly Mental Retardation) and a consulting editor for Health & Social Work. I also serve on the advisory board of the North Carolina Office on Disability and Health.
I’ve served as an expert witness in three federal class-action lawsuits concerned with the rights of people with developmental disabilities and their families. Prior to returning to school to complete my doctorate, I administered residential and family support services for people with developmental disabilities and their families in New York and New Jersey.
Education
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in English from Rutgers College, an MSW from Rutgers University, and a PhD in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago. I held a post-doctoral research fellowship funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.