My clinical specialties are newborn care, fetal care, complex/high-risk deliveries and caring for patients in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I am the first person in my family to practice medicine. Growing up, I cannot remember a time when I didn't want to be a doctor, except once in third grade, when I thought about being an astronaut after doing a project on Sally Ride.

I was fortunate to have many strong female role models in science and math while growing up, and I enjoyed problem-solving and puzzles. I volunteered at a children's hospital all four of my summers in high school, which is when my interest in pediatrics blossomed. I had my first daughter early in medical school and developed a passion for maternal and infant health, which ultimately led me to neonatology and fetal care.

I’m also a health policy advocate and disparities researcher interested in the effects of local, state and national policy on health outcomes. I work with Cradle Cincinnati, a local collaborative committed to reducing infant mortality in Hamilton County. I also work with policymakers and legislators across the state. Physicians, especially pediatricians, are uniquely positioned to advocate for their patients by developing and leveraging policies that promote community health.

In the NICU, the families I care for are heavily affected by these policies, such as woefully inadequate parental leave, breastfeeding support, and care for the chronic medical conditions that lead to preterm birth and adverse birth outcomes. Social determinants of health account for 80 percent of all health disparities, and those must be addressed through system changes. Our healthcare system has created discriminatory practices that prioritize white and high socioeconomic class individuals. We cannot truly have health equity for all of our patients without removing those barriers and intentionally creating equitable policy.

I was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society while attending medical school. I am honored to have received the Chairman's Achievement Award with Highest Honors from the University of Louisville during my residency and fellowship (2017, 2020), and First Place, Original Research Award by a Fellow, University of Louisville Department of Pediatrics (2020). I am board certified in Pediatrics by the American Board of Pediatrics (2017) and board eligible in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine.