A portrait of Dr. Tracy.

Eunjin Tracy  , PhD

  • Assistant Professor Human Development & Family Science

Eunjin Tracy, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Science and Director of the Sleep, Health, and Relationships (SHARE) Lab. Through her affiliation with the Center for Family Policy and Research, she studies how couple and family relationships shape sleep and circadian rhythms, and how these shared daily processes influence health, cognition, and well-being across the lifespan.

Dr. Tracy’s research applies a family systems perspective to questions traditionally treated as individual health behaviors. Her work examines relationship quality and behavioral-social rhythms as pathways to chronic disease risk, insomnia and cognitive aging in later life, and sleep health among spousal caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. She uses intensive longitudinal and dyadic methods, including ecological momentary assessment, actigraphy, continuous glucose monitoring, and nationally representative couple data, alongside randomized trials of behavioral interventions.

The SHARE Lab’s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, including a K01 career development award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, an R01 from the National Institute on Aging, and a subaward through the NIA-funded EMBRACE AD/ADRD Roybal Center.

Consistent with CFPR’s mission of connecting research, policy, and practice, Dr. Tracy’s findings speak to family-centered approaches to sleep health, chronic disease management, and dementia caregiving. In each of these areas, policy and program supports directed at couples and families, rather than individuals alone, may yield broader health benefits. She mentors graduate and undergraduate students in the SHARE Lab and collaborates with CFPR-affiliated faculty on interdisciplinary research addressing the health of families across the life course.

Research

Areas of expertise

  • Advancing Family Relationships, Health, and Aging

Research Summary

Advancing health across the lifespan through a family systems perspective on relationships, sleep, and circadian rhythms.