Hello, and thanks for stopping by my lab website! My students thought it would be helpful to give some information about how a clinical child psychologist is working in a division of neonatology and running a neonatal and pediatric biorepository, so here we are! At the outset, I would like to acknowledge that I have several privileged identities that have afforded me access to opportunities that many others do not have access to given systemic barriers, and I hope to reduce such barriers for future generations of clinicians and scientists.  Additionally, as you will read below, my journey is the product of many influences including lifestyle choices (I love the Midwest and being near family) and fantastic mentorship.

As an original Swiftie (her debut album came out when I was in high school), my journey is broken up into Eras, and each Era is named for one of her albums.

1989 - My interest in genetics began when I was in elementary school when I learned about Anastasia, the Romanov daughter who was thought to have survived her family’s murder. I saw the Pixar movie, read children’s historical fiction about her, and decided that one day, I would use genetic testing to help identify her and her offspring (oh to be in 3^rd grade and naïve to the ethical and logistical complexities!). However, my dreams were destroyed when genetic testing of the Romanov remains found that all the family members, including Anastasia, were in the mass grave. My genetic investigation goals had been completed by others, and for a bit, I wasn’t sure there was more in the genetic realm that I wanted to do. But then in 7^th grade, I attended College for Kids and took a class on genetics during which I was able to run gel electrophoresis, and my love of genetics was re-electrified (pun intended!). Learning about the Human Genome Project during 10^th grade Human Biology solidified my goal of integrating genetics in some capacity into my career.

 Speak Now- As I was a preparing to enter my senior year of high school at Clear Creek Amana High School (located about 15 mins from the University of Iowa), I had the opportunity to meet with Dr. Jeff Murray, a renowned pediatrician and genetic researcher. At the time, I had no idea how brilliant he was or how important his scientific contributions had been (and would continue to be). The lack of recognition on my part was likely a combination of his casual appearance (jeans, pocket T, and Teva sandals), because he was holding an injured (but un-assessed or treated) wrist that he had hurt that morning in a bicycling accident, and his very humble, un-assuming personality. After chatting for a bit, he offered me the opportunity to volunteer in his lab during my senior year as I had time, but he insisted I still experience all the fun of my last year of high school (aka work-life balance!). I spent 5-10 hours a week during my senior year in Dr. Murray’s lab, learning from individuals at all levels of training. I was ecstatic when Dr. Murray said I could continue in the lab as a paid hourly student the summer following high school graduation and throughout my undergraduate training at Iowa (oh minor detail – I decided to attend University of Iowa for undergrad). I would continue working on the Preterm Birth project, which would become the Neonatal and Pediatric Biorepository in 2014, and investigating genetic etiology of preterm birth and associated morbidities.

Fearless- During my undergraduate education, I continued to work with Dr. Murray, and through his lab, began working with Dr. John Dagle, a neonatologist, and Dr. Kelli Ryckman, a post-doc trained as a genetic epidemiologist. I also started working with a child clinical psychologist, Dr. Beth Troutman, and this led me to realize that I was interested in genetics of child mental and behavioral health. Later in my undergraduate education, I started learning about the developmental, behavioral, and social-emotional difficulties faced by many children who were born preterm. This further piqued my interest in the intersection of genetics and childhood mental health, particularly after being born preterm. However, I wasn’t sure how I wanted to pursue a career in this realm… MD? PhD? MD PhD? My uncertainty, combined with feeling like I had been on an educational treadmill with no breaks, led me to taking a gap year before starting some sort of graduate education. Fortunately, Dr. Murray had the ability to employ me as a temp research assistant, so I continued my role in his lab. Long story short, one year post-bac turned into three, and I ultimately decided to pursue a PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Iowa (fun story about how I “moved” to California for 24 hours for USC grad school but that story is better in person).

Midnights- In my graduate training, Dr. Molly Nikolas was my advisor, which was a good match given her expertise in behavioral genetics. I was fortunate to join the graduate program at Iowa at the same time that it was awarded a T32 grant from NIH on the Biomedical-Behavioral Interface. Given my interests, I applied to the T32 program and was selected for funding for my 2^nd and 3^rd year of graduate school. This allowed me opportunities to rotate for 8 weeks in the labs of other child mental health researchers, namely Drs. Hanna Stevens and Jake Michaelson. These rotations helped me gain exposure to animal models and computational programming. While I haven’t incorporate these methods into my own program of research, the experiences were foundational in broadening my understanding of what is possible in research and the importance of collaboration. I also used the protected time from the T32 to write a F31 proposal focused on school-aged follow-up of children born preterm, which was funded on resubmission. The timing worked out well for me, as I had my first child, Theo, the summer before my F31 funding began. And to increase my investment in preterm birth related research, Theo was born at 36 weeks gestational age, but did not require a NICU stay. My final two years of grad school (and first 2 years of being a mom) were focused on my dissertation and F31 research. Throughout this time, I stayed in contact and to some level involved in research with Drs. Murray, Troutman, Dagle, and Ryckman.

Folklore- The final year of a PhD in Clinical Psychology is Internship, and this is a year of clinical immersion. It’s a major pivot from the previous year of graduate school, when I was working primarily on analyzing and writing my dissertation. The process is similar to a medical residency, with applications, interviews, and match day. I was ecstatic to match with Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, and our family moved to Minneapolis in July 2020 (context: 4 months after COVID-19 shut down and 2 months after George Floyd’s murder). It was an interesting time to move with a 2-year old, but we found Minneapolis to be a wonderful city, especially during a pandemic. There were SO MANY big, beautiful parks to explore. While none of my clinical work on internship focused on preterm birth follow-up, I greatly valued all of my training experiences on internship. I conducted individual therapy, psychological testing, trauma consultation for PICU, burn, and Peds units, and gender-affirming care in a multidisciplinary clinic. More importantly, faculty and patients taught me so much and helped hone my cultural humility. Our family made many friends during that year, and we try to visit the city regularly to catch up and see all of them!

The Tortured Poet’s Department- Finally, in August 2021, I had my PhD! I returned to the University of Iowa to complete a psychology fellowship/post-doc in Pediatrics (one year of post-doc experience required for licensure in Iowa). During this year, I submitted a K99/R00 proposal to NICHD to examine physiology, epigenetics, and neurodevelopment in infants born preterm. I enjoyed learning from the psychologists in Pediatrics, especially about the neuropsychological testing some of them conducted. I also reconnected with Dr. Dagle and Dr. Ryckman, as well as other neonatologists whom I met when working with Dr. Murray. Toward the end of this first year of post-doc, I delivered our second son, Otto, preterm at 33 weeks GA. Our NICU stay ended up being 6 weeks because he developed late-onset GBS meningitis at 2.5 weeks, which required intensive care and 3 weeks of IV antibiotics. We were extremely fortunate to have been at U of I Stead Family Children’s Hospital with some of the best NICU care in the world, as the providers caught the infection extremely early and initiated treatment very quickly. At the time I am writing this, our second-born is a typically-developing, hilarious, loving 2.5 year old. While the NICU stay was terrifying at times, I learned a lot from being in the role of parent in the NICU, and this experience continues to impact my clinical and research interests. During this period, I found out that Dr. Ryckman, who had taken over Dr. Murray’s biorepository when he went to work for the Gates Foundation, was taking a job at Indiana University. It was at this time that Dr. Murray and Dr. Dagle approached me about leading the neonatal and pediatric biorepository. I was honored to be asked and immediately agreed. Shortly after discharging from the NICU, I received my summary statement for my K99, and my grant scored in the favorable range and was likely to be funded (yay!). But then Congress failed to pass a budget, which led to minimal funding available at NIH for new projects, which put my K99 in limbo. Lucky for me, congress passed a budget about 6 months later, and funding came down the pipeline as I finished a second year of post-doc. I was fortunate to have my 2^nd year of post-doc funded by a T32 program in the psychiatry department, although I remained officially in pediatrics. Again, the exposure to other methods and research expanded my knowledge and allowed me new collaborative opportunities. My third year as a post-doc was on the K99, as I was required to complete at least one year of post-doc transitioning to a faculty position.

Evermore- As you may have noticed, my involvement in neonatology increased during my three years of post-doc, and my clinical work and research continued to focus on former preterm infants. In retrospect, it makes sense that Dr. Patrick McNamara, the division director of neonatology, approached me about joining the division of neonatology as a faculty member. At the time, however, I experienced quite a bit (ok, a ton) of imposter syndrome. I am NOT a neonatologist, let alone a physician! Consultation with Drs. Murray and Dagle and conversations with Dr. McNamara and other neonatologists helped me feel more confident, and I officially became an Assistant Professor in neonatology in August 2024. And that is how I became a clinical child psychologist working in the division of neonatology and running a neonatal and pediatric biorepository!