Her program of research is aimed at refining etiological models of substance use disorders in adolescents and young adults by integrating a developmental psychopathology perspective with genetically-informative designs. The identification of differences by gender and race/ethnicity in the contribution of various risk and protective factors to substance use behaviors is central to this pursuit. Dr. Sartor’s work focuses in particular on the progression through stages of alcohol, cigarette, and marijuana use (e.g., initiation, onset of symptoms) and the timing of stage transitions in relation to the onset of psychiatric disorders and trauma exposure. Fellows have access to data from multiple large-scale population based longitudinal studies as well as a large-scale cross-sectional study of college students to conduct secondary data analysis projects. They also have opportunities to develop new data collection projects.