I am a proud daughter of immigrants, a first-generation college graduate, and a mental health researcher committed to advancing equity and justice in care. Born and raised in the Inland Empire of Southern California, I carry with me the values of community, resilience, and rootedness. Before entering academia, I spent eight years working in community mental health, walking alongside individuals and families navigating the complex terrain of serious mental illness — experiences that continue to shape the questions I ask and the commitments that guide me.

I earned my BA in Psychology from California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB), and my MSW and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work. I now serve as an Assistant Professor at the NYU Silver School of Social Work, where I lead research and teach with the belief that scholarship can be both rigorous and radically healing.

My research focuses on improving mental health services and outcomes for Latine individuals with serious mental illness, particularly schizophrenia. I investigate how social cognition — the ability to interpret and respond to social information — intersects with culture, identity, and structural inequity. My work critically evaluates existing measures of social cognition, asking whether they truly capture the experiences of Latine populations or reproduce biased assumptions. Through this lens, I aim to identify more culturally responsive pathways to care.

As a mixed-methods researcher, I draw from psychometrics, community-engaged research, and critical social theory. I believe in working with communities, not just studying them — honoring lived experience, uplifting cultural knowledge, and co-creating research that can be used in real-world settings. Whether it's collaborating on NIH-funded studies, mentoring students of color, or developing culturally grounded interventions, I approach this work with humility, curiosity, and an unwavering belief in collective healing.