I was the founding Director of the Community Engagement and Education (CEEd) Hub at the Masonic Institute for the Developing Brain (MIDB), an institute at the University of Minnesota. I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. I am a first-generation, underrepresented minority and neuroscientist whose research focuses on the intersection of addiction and mental health disorders.
Recently, I have been working on my clinical work specializing in co-occurring disorders. As a neuroscientist whose community efforts synergize my educational impacts, I have prioritized mentoring and engagement for over 15 years. I have extensive experience supporting and enhancing undergraduate and graduate education through community engagement, mentoring, research, academic advising, and curriculum development.
I have conducted engagement projects throughout the US and Africa in Ghana, Tanzania, and South Africa. I previously served as director of the Youth Engaged in Science (YES!) Initiative and I am the founder of Building Everyday Alliances by Delivering Support (BEADS), which aims to make STEM more accessible to underrepresented minorities in villages, hospitals, and orphanages around the world. I have served on several boards, including the Harambee Centre, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, Bybee Lakes Hope Center, and Don't Shoot PDX. I credit my growth in this space to my grandmother, who has worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Georgia Congressman John Lewis, and many other notable civil rights leaders.
