Dr. Tracy’s research focuses on understanding the interrelations between violence, mental health, and substance use. She uses novel methods, like agent-based modeling, to identify optimal strategies to reduce violence and its consequences in the population. She is particularly interested in the transmission of violence, including gun violence, across different types of social relationships (e.g., from parent to child, between romantic partners, between peers), and the role of mental health, substance use, and economic opportunity in those transmission patterns. She is currently leading an NIH-funded study of the biological, behavioral, and social processes that contribute to violence transmission.