I am a research scientist at Boys Town National Research Hospital in the Center for Childhood Deafness, Language, & Learning. My research is focused on how adversity exposure (e.g., maltreatment, witnessing violence, household dysfunction) influences language acquisition and increases risk for developmental language disorder (DLD). I address this research intersection through an interdisciplinary, biopsychosocial, and genetically-informed framework. My long-term goals are: 1) to better understand the causal pathways between adversity and DLD, and 2) to improve diagnostic decision-making when speech-language pathologists are working with youth who have suspected adversity exposure co-occurring with DLD.