Chris Kaunas grew up in Wisconsin and received her bachelor's degree in Sociology from DePaul University in Chicago. She worked as a Survey Director on various health-related studies for the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. She moved to San Diego in 1998 where she completed her Master's Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. While in graduate school, she also served as a Project Director for an HIV medication adherence intervention study at the San Diego VA Hospital. Chris relocated with her family to College Station in August. Her husband, Roland Kaunas, is a new faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at A&M. Her 9 year old son, Rustam, attends Forest Ridge Elementary. Chris is excited about contributing to the Health Maintenance Consortium and facilitating synergy in the field of behavioral health research.