I am passionate about the power of human connection and the process of communication that shapes it, teaching and learning, student success, and innovative pedagogy. I am committed to the idea that faculty-student interaction and the development of a supportive relationship in the context of rigorous learning is key to student development and achievement. Students need to see that their faculty care about them, believe in them, and want to see them succeed. This involves challenging students to achieve at a high level while providing them with the support they need to do so.My research is driven by a passion for improving the overall physical, mental, and relational health and well being and I have studied, researched, and published on this in the context of systemic lupus erythematosus as well as cancer. In these contexts, communication, narrative, and sense-making shape my approach to understanding identity (re)construction as patients, families, and medical providers communicate to make sense of and constitute the experience of chronic illness within a master narrative of restitution that fails to account for chronicity. In my teaching, I subscribe to the philosophy that the study of communication is the key to increasing personal agency and, as a result, demands personal responsibility in relating to others. The study of communication and development of advanced communicative competence has the power to change the world, one interaction at a time. I am committed to supporting my students' development of strategies to effectively learn and translate advanced communicative competencies toward their personal and professional lives to improve the quality of their lives and relationships across contexts.I am also invested in working with professionals across industries to promote the development of key communicative competencies in the workplace, having developed curriculum and/or presented short courses, workshops, and seminars across industries and populations. Some examples include: conflict management, public speaking, nonverbal communication, establishing and maintaining credibility through the use of "power" language, small group problem-solving, among others. If you have an interest in something along these lines for your organization, please feel free to reach out.