My program of research focuses on identifying the biobehavioral mechanisms that give rise to symptoms and physical frailty among adults with heart failure, with a particular focus on older adults and sex/gender differences. In my pre-doctoral research (F31NR015936), I demonstrated that physical frailty is highly prevalent in heart failure and reflects worse functional, hemodynamic, cognitive, and symptomatic parameters. My post-doctoral research (T32HL094294) focused on studying dysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system in heart failure, specifically centered on changes surrounding beta-adrenergic receptors (i.e. beta-adrenergic receptor kinase-1) and catecholamines, and how this relates to quality-of-life. The focus of my career development award (K12HD043488) was to examine sex differences in physical frailty in heart failure, including sex differences in the presentation, mechanisms, and outcomes of physical frailty in heart failure. I'm currently funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research (R01NR019054) to identify how and why symptoms change after a heart failure hospitalization and to understand how physical frailty is associated with symptom monitoring and management behaviors in heart failure (R21NR020059). A parallel research interest involves examining novel biomarkers (i.e. sST2) and undiscovered biomarkers using proteomics to identify patients with heart failure who will have better or worse patient-oriented and clinical outcomes. The goal of my research is to identify, and eventually target, specific markers in guiding the clinical management of heart failure patients as a means of improving overall quality of life. As a former critical care nurse at OHSU, I am also passionate about leveraging the knowledge and skillsets of nurses to research innovative questions and accelerate the translation of findings from bench-to-bedside-to-community. 

On the personal side, I am a lifelong Oregonian. I live with my husband, 3 boys, and many animals (dog, cats, chickens) on our 7th generation hazelnut and walnut family farm. Outside of work, I enjoy running, reading, and traveling.