 Attending the newly opened University of California, Riverside, she earned straight As to obtain her B.A.in Psychology and completed two publications by the time she entered graduate school at the University of Iowa, eventually obtaining her Ph.D. from UCLA.To support biomedical research for American Indian students and faculty she collaborated and help develop funding for the Bridges to the Baccalaureate programs, Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD), Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE), Post Baccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP), and the Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Award (IRACDA).