I am a PhD Candidate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Toronto.

My dissertation focuses on understanding and modelling how social networks and the contexts in which they are enacted shape, and are shaped by, health across the life course. I am particularly interested in examining how our health changes when our relationships change, how our relationships change as our health changes, and how network change contributes to inequality. For example, in my recent article we discovered that young adults (aged 21 to 30) in California who experience even just one or two new negative personal ties tend to engage in less physical activity, like walking, sports, or gardening. This finding was independent of these young adults’ genders, race-ethnicity, and how active they were before these new difficult or demanding relationships.

I have broad substantive research interests and enjoy scientific collaboration. My research agenda integrates quantitative, computational, and survey methodology to study social network dynamics, health and stress processes, culture, and life course development. I have also collaboratively investigated research questions across multiple subject areas, including network science, epidemiology, demography, and bibliometrics. My research has been funded in part by the University of Toronto; the Province of Ontario; and the Government of Canada’s SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Doctoral Graduate Scholarship.

My scholarly agenda is dedicated to producing research that (1) can help people make evidence-based decisions about their health and their community members’; (2) holds practical implications for policy design and targeted interventions; and (3) clearly presents results in ways which are publicly accessible, can inform future research design, and facilitate meta-analyses.

I strongly value open science principles and transparent research practices. By doing so, I aim to both make people aware of the possible effects of their personal ties to influence their health, behaviour, and well-being (and vice versa); and, to allow readers to reach their own decisions as to how I came to these results and their consequences. This is why, when possible, I choose open-access publishing or publicly provide my research on the Open Science Foundation.

Outside of my academic pursuits, I enjoy cycling, bouldering, powerlifting, sailing, and cooking. Generally, this is because I enjoy problem solving, ‘type 2’ fun, and teamwork. As a former professional cook, I had the honour of being trained by Susur Lee. Now, I enjoy social eating, and entertaining friends and family with fresh produce and in-season ingredients.