My program of research revolves around the active engagement of children both in health care research and practice through the development of child-sensitive approaches to data collection and assessment. To date, much of my work has centered on the integration of children's drawings into the interview process, or what I refer to as the Draw-and-Tell Conversation (DTC). This journey has taken me into conversations with children about fear, disease causation, risk, and/or inheritance, and health-related literacy. I am currently focused on how we engage children in the assessment and management of their pain experiences, both acute and chronic, and how current approaches impact children's life and future pain experiences. I am always in awe of the degree to which children are able to communicate and the nuanced insights they provide. To learn more about my work and focus:

Listen to my talk, entitled Understanding Genetics: With a little help from Harry Potter and friends, at The University of Florida's Health Science Center Library who was hosting "Harry Potter's World: Renaissance Science, Magic, and Medicine," a traveling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine. The talk uses characters and stories from the Harry Potter series to explain complex genetic concepts, including patterns of inheritance, variable expressivity, incomplete penetrance, epigenetics and eugenics.