“The miracle is that the universe created a part of itself, to study itself, and that this part in studying itself finds the rest of the universe in its own natural inner realities.”
I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Delaware. My research, teaching, and service focus on understanding how to help individuals, especially those within marginalized or historically underrepresented communities build resilience to cope with the stress associated with difficult and discriminatory life experiences. My research has focused on disclosure, forgiveness, and social support. Examination of the reciprocal relationships between interpersonal communication and biology, however, is the foundation of all of my work. I am a member of a small cohort of communication scholars working to pioneer the study of the physiology of interpersonal communication, particularly in the use of biosocial models to understand the effects of coping for recipients of hurtful and discriminatory communication (both covert and overt), and am actively training graduate students in the use of these methods.
My work has appeared in flagship communication journals (e.g., Human Communication Research, Communication Monographs) and in top journals specializing in health (e.g., Health Communication) and relationships (e.g., Personal Relationships). I am also the 2020 recipient of the Early Career Award from the interpersonal communication division of the National Communication Association.
Our current research projects are funded by both the Villanova University's Waterhouse Family Institute for the Study of Communication and Society (WFI) and the National Institute on Aging from the National Institute of Health (NIH). You can read more about these under the current funded projects tab. Lastly, I am the proud recipient of the Center for the Study of Diversity at the University of Delaware’s 2020 Faculty Diversity Fellowship grant.