I am a behavioral scientist with multidisciplinary training from the fields of public health, psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Broadly, my research seeks to understand and intervene upon health behaviors related to HIV/AIDS, alcohol consumption, mental health, and intimate partner violence within international and domestic settings. Specifically, I am interested in dyadic aspects of health within heterosexual and same-sex couples. My research is grounded in theory from the field of relationship science, and employs mixed-methods and innovative dyadic analysis techniques (qualitative and quantitative) to understand couple-level health behavior. My primary line of research takes place in southern Africa (Malawi and South Africa) and aims to understand how relationship factors and primary partners impact engagement in HIV care and treatment. We are currently in the process of translating the findings into an economic and relationship-strengthening intervention for HIV-affected couples who drink alcohol, to ultimately improve relationship functioning and mental/physical health. I am also involved in other global health projects including an RCT of a couple-based intervention to increase uptake of couples' testing for HIV in South Africa and the Adolescent Shamba Maisha study in Kenya, which examines the impact of an agricultural livelihood intervention on young adolescent girls' sexual and reproductive health, and parent-child relationships. Finally, my research leverages data from the Women's Interagency HIV/AIDS Study (now called the MACS/WIHS Combined Cohort Study) to examine how gender-based violence impacts food insecurity and HIV treatment outcomes in an effort to develop effective, trauma-informed health interventions for vulnerable U.S. women.