Dr. Banks takes a lifespan approach to understanding and preventing substance use among people who are marginalized based on race, drug use, age, and inequitable socioeconomic systems. Her approach considers individual and community-based strategies for improving behavioral health and mitigating the consequences of substance use from adolescent initiation to adult addiction and overdose. As a community-engaged researcher, Dr. Banks collaborates with people who have been excluded from traditional research and healthcare systems, including communities of color, people who use drugs, unhoused individuals, and at-risk youth. She is interested in integrating community engagement principles with innovative technology and digital research strategies to better translate research findings to community practice and to ensure new technologies do not exacerbate disparities.

Dr. Banks originally hails from Los Angeles but has lived in 8 cities and is finally starting to accept the Midwest after living in the region for almost 10 years. She received her PhD in clinical psychology from Purdue University in Indianapolis (previously, IUPUI), where her training was supported by a National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). She also received her MS from Purdue and her BA from the University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!). She misses home but loves St. Louis and is grateful to her native colleagues, students, partners and friends who have embraced this west coast transplant. Outside of the office, she can be found dying at CrossFit, teaching yoga, volunteering for local charities, and spending time with her growing family.