Sarah Tracy

Sarah Tracy is an Associate Professor of the History of Medicine and Food Studies at the University of Oklahoma, affiliated with the Honors College and collaborating with the College of Medicine through the Medical Humanities Program. She holds a A.B. from Harvard/Radcliffe and Ph.D./M.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Her research explores the intersection of nutrition, substance use, and health in American history, emphasizing chronic disease from 1800 to present. Tracy directs the OU Medical Humanities Program, a 23-year-old initiative promoting interdisciplinary education in science, medicine, and the humanities.

Her research interests include the history of medicine, alcohol/drug use, public health, food studies, and biography. She teaches courses on food culture, psychoactive substances, scientific biography, and medical humanities. Tracy’s current projects include a biography of Ancel Keys, a pivotal figure in dietary science whose work influenced WWII rations, postwar nutrition policies, and global heart disease research.

Her courses emphasize science’s societal influences and impacts, encouraging students to analyze health and healing through historical, cultural, and ethical lenses. The Medical Humanities Program she directs fosters collaboration between arts/humanities and biomedical fields, hosting interdisciplinary initiatives like music-and-medicine courses.

Tracy’s publications span monographs like *Alcoholism from Reconstruction to Prohibition* (2005) and *Conversations With Food* (2020), as well as articles analyzing Keys’ legacy, fermentation science in Japan, and transnational heart disease epidemiology. Her work bridges historical analysis with contemporary issues in public health and food policy.