Eunjin Tracy

Eunjin Tracy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Development & Family Science at the University of Missouri's College of Education & Human Development. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2016) and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Utah (Developmental & Health Psychology) and the University of Pittsburgh (sleep & circadian rhythms as an NIH T32 scholar). Her research focuses on family systems perspectives applied to public health, examining how health-related stress (e.g., type 1 diabetes) and sleep patterns interact with couple/family relationships to influence aging and disease trajectories.

Key affiliations include the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, National Councils of Family Relations, and Society of Behavioral Medicine. Her work integrates interdisciplinary methods to study sleep-cognition relationships, chronic illness management in couples, and bidirectional health behaviors across the lifespan. Recent studies explore social jet lag in middle-aged adults, pain-sleep dynamics in veterans, and stress contagion in diabetes-affected dyads.

Her NIH-funded research bridges clinical and community-based interventions, emphasizing translational strategies for improving both individual health and relational functioning in families managing chronic conditions. Tracy's lab collaborates with healthcare systems to develop evidence-based tools for sleep health promotion and family-centered care models.