Dr. Riis earned her Ph.D. in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her research examines the etiology of health disparities and the processes by which environmental factors and social experience affect child development and life-long health. Dr. Riis’ research uses salivary biomarkers to examine the interplay between the biological and environmental processes underlying health. This work includes a focus on advancing the field of salivary bioscience by expanding the range of analytes measured in saliva and increasing the application of salivary bioscience to new fields, including a broader integration into clinical, public health, and social science research. Through the use and validation of novel biomarkers, her research aims to expand our understanding of the response to stress and adversity to include changes in multiple physiologic systems, including those underlying inflammatory and metabolic conditions, and to inform effective prevention and intervention strategies.