She was once one of the original cast members on The Real Housewives of New York City, but now Alex McCord is living a very different life. The former Brooklynite moved to husband Simon van Kempen's home country of Australia back in late 2014 with Simon and their two sons, and Alex decided to head back to school to get a degree in psychology.

And now Alex has some exciting career news to share: She just had a peer-reviewed journal article published! The article is entitled, "Short video game play improves executive function in the oldest old living in residential care."

"Amidst the chaos, if looking for some other research to read, my 1st published peer-reviewed journal article is online," Alex tweeted, sharing a link to the article.

Amidst the chaos, if looking for some other research to read, my 1st published peer-reviewed journal article is online #videogames #olderadults #executivefunction https://t.co/a9nxLYapbP — Alex McCord (@mccordalex) March 27, 2020

After moving to Australia, Alex graduated summa cum laude with her bachelors degree. She previously shared her plans on specializing in geriatric psychology, which will include analyzing dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson's disease, and finding the differences between them. "There's some fascinating research coming out that may really move the needle. I sort of want to be a part of the research, which is why I'm gonna go ahead and try to get a doctorate," Alex said. "But I'm also really interested in helping the people who currently struggle with dementia and how they navigate their family, moving into long-term care, all of that. It's amazing."

She also shared that her new career isn't a total departure from her time on RHONY.

"I have always lived my life pushing myself out of my bubble. I think that if you stay in your comfort zone, you're not growing. If you're not moving, you're not growing. And so, kind of when I've been offered opportunities in my life or faced with decisions, I tend to go for the scariest one, because I think that that's probably what will help me grow. In a way, that's how we ended up on Housewives. And it's just been a long process to psychology and what makes people tick because I did try to figure that out a lot while I was doing RHONY," Alex said. "Ever since then, I've always been interested in how people age. But actually, getting in there and showing up for someone and listening to them and trying to help is terrifying. And so, I think that's probably the way to go."