1. What is your current role at the CMRI?

As a Senior Clinical Research Coordinator in the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles and Nutrition (CCHLN), I am working with several investigators on projects aiming to improve outcomes for children with obesity, and more generally, to increase healthy lifestyles around our communities. I help coordinate all aspects of research studies and QI projects throughout their lifecycles —from initial IRB submissions, through enrollment and data collection, to study closure. Currently, one of my big efforts is on Dr. Helena Laroche’s NIH-funded study, which aims to address social determinants of health in child obesity treatment and is partnering with community health workers from the Community Health Council of Wyandotte County and Co-Investigators at KUMC.

2. What drew you to a career in research at the CMRI? 

It was a winding road… My background and my master’s degree are in clinical psychology. I worked for several years as a therapist providing dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and community mental health services to adults with serious mental illness in the St. Louis area. As I followed my wife’s academic journey for her Ph.D. (she’s also a psychologist), I found there were varying licensure eligibility requirements in each state at the master’s level. Eventually I made the switch to research when we lived in Columbus, Ohio for a couple years. When my wife got an offer at KUMC, I was excited for the opportunity to return home to Kansas City. I also found that I liked the investigative and analytical aspects of research and decided to stay on that career path. I started as a research coordinator at CMH with the General Surgery team and worked there for about seven years before transferring to my current position with the Weight Management team and CCHLN in 2023.

3. What are your research/career goals? 

I hope to continue working with the CCHLN team for a long while. I am excited to see the results of the studies I helped to finish enrollment and data collection over the past year, and to eventually see the outcomes of our newer studies that are starting enrollment soon.

4. What is your favorite thing about working at the CMRI?

I enjoy working with the team in CCHLN. We have a great clinical team who really care about their patients. We also have several research teams within the center who have also been great to work with. I appreciate the multidisciplinary approach of our center —including physicians, nurses, dieticians, behavioral health professionals, and exercise and public health researchers. The social and psychological aspects of some of our studies also fit well with my background.

In addition to being a research coordinator, I am also a member of the hospital’s ethics committee. I completed our Bioethics Center’s world-renowned ethics certificate program in 2019, which was an amazing opportunity to learn from, and alongside, leaders in pediatric ethics from across the globe. I have been privileged to be invited back as one of the topic specialist faculty for the program the last few years, and I enjoy participating in the rich discussions facilitated by the diverse perspectives of the students each year.

5. What is on your bucket list? 

I would like to visit and hike in more of our national parks. I’ve been to a handful and doubt that I will ever make it to all of them but will definitely try for a few more. My wife and I like to travel and try to combine both some relaxation and some adventure on our trips. Sometimes we also take our 5-year-old son. He is enjoying going new places, especially when it involves flying on airplanes, and is getting ready to do his first international trip to Jamaica in October. Although it’s sometimes a lot to take him along, it is also so fun to see him experience new things and places for the first time, so I look forward to creating more of those memories.