1. When did you graduate?
May 2008
2. What do you do now?
I am a Certified Clinical Research Coordinator in the Brain Injury Research Program at The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) in Milwaukee, WI. My job duties entail coordinating research protocols, recruiting and consenting study subjects, assuring compliance with the Institutional Review Board (IRB), and collecting, analyzing and publishing research data. My research focuses on traumatic brain injuries in civilian and sport populations.
3. Why did you major in psychology?
I took a psychology class in high school and “fell in love”. I ended up doing a self-guided AP Psychology class while in high school. I originally wanted to be a high school teacher and teach AP Psychology but I did not enjoy the Education program. So, I switched to Psychology and Human Development. I went on to get my Master’s in Clinical Psychology thinking that I would be working with children with autism, but I met my now boss in graduate school and decided to switch to research once I learned what she did for a living (which is now what I do).
4. What do you do for fun?
Read. I am in a book club. I have a 20 month old daughter that I enjoy spending time with and taking to music class. Going out dancing with my friends. Going to the gym.
5. What academic experience or accomplishment are you most proud of?
In 2015 I published my first research paper as first-author: “Frequency of factors that complicate the identification of mild traumatic brain injury in level I trauma center patients” in a journal called “Concussion”. I put a lot of work into collecting the data and writing the paper so I was very happy to be made first-author.
6. What’s your favorite movie, book, and TV show, related to psychology?
Too many to choose just one! “When Rabbit Howls” by Truddi Chase. “Awakenings” by Oliver Sacks (or anything by Oliver Sacks!). “An Unquiet Mind” by Kay Redfield Jamison. The movie “Split” (2016) is one of my new favorites.
7. What’s an important goal or accomplishment you are currently working on?
Right now, my current goals are to increase subject enrollment in my studies. I am also the President of the WI Chapter of the Association of Clinical Research Professionals (ACRP). My goals within that organization are to increase chapter membership and provide quarterly educational events for our members.
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