Hi all! I am a social and behavioral scientist, implementation scientist, and health services researcher. I work primarily as a principal investigator and qualitative methodologist at the Denver-Seattle Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value Driven Care at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Eastern Colorado Health Care System in Denver, Colorado. In the past 20 + years as a researcher I have designed and managed large national research, evaluation, and quality improvement projects in areas of aging, geriatrics and extended care, telehealth, access to care, health technology, disaster preparedness and recovery, using photography to manage Veterans’ health issues, and applying implementation science frameworks to national evaluations to improve Veterans’ quality of care and to assess implementation of nationwide VA initiatives. I have extensive experience mentoring and teaching colleagues to design and conduct research, evaluation, and quality improvement projects with a specific focus on teaching academic writing and qualitative methods and analysis, and have successfully secured independent and collaborative national and local grant funding through working with researchers and evaluators across the United States, inside and outside the VA system, to carry out qualitative and mixed methods projects. My BA is in journalism and Spanish from Buena Vista University, my MA is in communications and cognitive psychology from Indiana University, and my PhD is in health and behavioral sciences from University of Colorado Denver.
My research interests include aging and disasters, aging and technology, social isolation and loneliness, long-term care in home-based settings, caregiver support and respite, Veterans' access to care, creative ways to disseminate research and evaluation projects, implementation science, and qualitative methods. I'm looking forward to connecting with you!