Dr. Kunkel completed her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Texas at Austin, where she also earned a Portfolio in Advanced Applied Statistics. Her doctoral research focused on the impact of environmental pollutants on reproductive and mental health. Her projects received funding from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and Libra Group, for which she acted as Principal Investigator on three of these grants. As a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar, Dr. Kunkel received four years of doctoral fellowship training in evidence-based policy development and advocacy to advance health equity. She also holds a BSc in Behavioral Neuroscience from St. Edward’s University, where she previously served as an Adjunct Instructor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences.