As a clinician-sociologist hybrid, Jessica's work in the field consistently inspires her research questions; and sociology has given her a language and framework to address the large questions evoked by her therapeutic work with individuals. She is motivated to contribute to sociological insights that may inform health care practice and propel solutions to address inequalities in medicine and throughout society. Her research direction includes the sociology of health and medicine, specifically focused in reproductive health, mental health, and qualitative methods.
RESEARCH PROJECTS
Dissertation Research
University of California, San Francisco
Jessica's ethnographic research investigates how mental health care is operationalized in obstetric settings, particularly regarding the organization of medicine and health professionals and the use of technologies, including pharmaceuticals, in the perinatal period. This project lies at the intersection of integrated medicine, reproductive health, and bioethics.
Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi)
University of California, San Francisco
As a graduate student researcher, Jessica currently contributes to community-based research about obstetrics care providers' perspectives about the impact of racism on maternal health outcomes for Black women.
University of California, San Francisco
As a graduate student researcher, Jessica currently contributes to community-based research about obstetrics care providers' perspectives about the impact of racism on maternal health outcomes for Black women.
Social Interventions Research & Evaluation Network (SIREN)
University of California, San Francisco
As a graduate student researcher on a multi-disciplinary team of physicians and public health researchers, Jessica currently contributes to research about the impact on health care providers of addressing patients' social and economic needs in clinical care.
University of California, San Francisco
As a graduate student researcher on a multi-disciplinary team of physicians and public health researchers, Jessica currently contributes to research about the impact on health care providers of addressing patients' social and economic needs in clinical care.
Master's Thesis, Columbia University
Family Matters: Secrecy, Belonging, and the Heteronormative Ideal in Adoption and Sperm Donor Conception
Families have long been diverse and changing, and globalization and technological advancements are continuing to expand opportunities for family formation. Many families in the United States do not represent the traditional nuclear family ideology. However, it remains a prominent cultural fixture and the model against which we compare or construct families. Our social, medical, and legal structures of practice, such as two-parent-only birth certificates and the use of anonymously donated genetic material, reflect a normative family ideology, yet the actual structure of these families is much more complex and variable. Adopted and donor-conceived people are ideally situated to illuminate complexities of the social and biological dimensions of the family and the effects of various practices in adoption and third party reproduction. By drawing from in-depth interviews with adopted and donor-conceived adults, Jessica's research highlights the ways adopted and donor-conceived people negotiate normativity of the family in society, showing the impacts of secrecy, anonymity, or openness. This research aims to add to scholarly and clinical conversations about reproduction and the family, helping to answer challenging questions about what matters when we embrace technology, make parents, and grow families.
Family Matters: Secrecy, Belonging, and the Heteronormative Ideal in Adoption and Sperm Donor Conception
Families have long been diverse and changing, and globalization and technological advancements are continuing to expand opportunities for family formation. Many families in the United States do not represent the traditional nuclear family ideology. However, it remains a prominent cultural fixture and the model against which we compare or construct families. Our social, medical, and legal structures of practice, such as two-parent-only birth certificates and the use of anonymously donated genetic material, reflect a normative family ideology, yet the actual structure of these families is much more complex and variable. Adopted and donor-conceived people are ideally situated to illuminate complexities of the social and biological dimensions of the family and the effects of various practices in adoption and third party reproduction. By drawing from in-depth interviews with adopted and donor-conceived adults, Jessica's research highlights the ways adopted and donor-conceived people negotiate normativity of the family in society, showing the impacts of secrecy, anonymity, or openness. This research aims to add to scholarly and clinical conversations about reproduction and the family, helping to answer challenging questions about what matters when we embrace technology, make parents, and grow families.