Her research examines social inequalities in environmental exposures and the combined impacts of environmental exposures and social stressors on health. Her work has investigated questions of environmental justice in the context of pollution sources and hazardous sites, prenatal exposures to harmful chemicals, and climate change. Lara holds a B.S. in Molecular Environmental Biology, an M.P.H in Epidemiology and a PhD in Energy & Resources from the University of California, Berkeley.