J. Dustin Tracy

J. Dustin Tracy is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Management, Economics, & Policy at Augusta University's School of Public Health. His academic appointment focuses on health economics research and teaching, with particular emphasis on experimental methodologies to evaluate health policies.

His educational background includes a Ph.D. in Economics from Georgia State University (2018), an M.A. in Economics from Vanderbilt University (2012), and a B.A. in Psychology from Tufts University (1996). Prior to academia, he worked as a licensed mental health counselor.

Tracy's research centers on health economics and behavioral economics, investigating how market institutions shape healthcare decisions. His work employs laboratory experiments to test policy interventions, with focus areas including health insurance design, health disparities, credence goods markets, and the impact of disclosure requirements. He has developed virtual environments to simulate life-course health decisions and utilizes accelerometry data for health metrics research.

His publication trends reveal consistent contributions across health economics (45%), experimental methodology (30%), and behavioral economics (25%), with increasing focus on health disparities and policy evaluation in recent years.

• Reviewer for Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (2022, 2024)
• Reviewer for Journal for the Measurement of Physical Behaviour (2022)
• Committee Member for Department Search Committee (2025-present)
• Committee Chair for Research Grant Forum (2022-2023)
• Member of USA-Scotland Rural Health Converge Collaborative (2024-present)

Tracy directs laboratory research examining how behavioral principles affect health decisions, including projects on loss-framed incentives, reputation systems in healthcare markets, and physical activity measurement. His teaching portfolio includes Behavioral Economics and Research Methods courses, emphasizing critical analysis of scientific literature and classroom experiments to demonstrate economic principles.