Overview
Beth Gifford is a research professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy, a core faculty member of the Center for Child and Family Policy and the Margolis Institute for Health Policy. She leads a multidisciplinary research team that examines the health and social services engagement of children and families. Motivating her research is the need to understand how social policies and practices can better support children and families. Her work spans many public institutions including education, social services, criminal justice, and health care systems. She is the Director of the Undergraduate Health Policy Certificate Program and the Health Policy and Innovation Theme Leader for Bass Connections.
Current Appointments & Affiliations
Research Professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy
·
2024 - Present
Sanford School of Public Policy
Faculty Director, Health Policy Undergraduate Certificate of the Margolis Institute for Health Policy
·
2024 - Present
Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy,
University Institutes and Centers
Professor of Pediatrics
·
2024 - Present
Pediatrics, Children's Health Discovery Institute,
Pediatrics
Affiliate of the Center for Child and Family Policy
·
2023 - Present
Center for Child and Family Policy,
Sanford School of Public Policy
Core Faculty Member, Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy
·
2024 - Present
Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy,
University Institutes and Centers
Recent Publications
Unraveling the genetics of gulf war illness in diverse participants enrolled in the million veteran program.
Journal Article Hum Mol Genet · May 11, 2026 Gulf War Illness (GWI) is a multi-symptom chronic condition that affects Veterans who served in the 1990-1991 Gulf War (GW). To generate novel information about GWI pathogenesis, we used genome-wide data available from 33 523 Veterans of diverse ancestral ... Full text Link to item CiteGenomic interplay between deployment exposures and Gulf War illness in Million Veteran Program participants.
Journal Article Hum Genomics · March 27, 2026 UNLABELLED: Veterans of the 1990–1991 Gulf War (GW) experienced an elevated burden of chronic health conditions, most notably Gulf War Illness (GWI). While the disease etiology remains unclear, it is hypothesized that both genetic susceptibility and deploy ... Full text Link to item CiteJuvenile Records and Adult Gun Violence: Evidence From Three States With Divergent Firearm Age Policies.
Journal Article J Interpers Violence · January 31, 2026 Young adults with a history of juvenile justice involvement are more likely than their peers to be arrested for a violent gun crime, but unlike felony convictions, juvenile adjudications are typically expunged and do not convey a federal firearm prohibitio ... Full text Link to item CiteRecent Grants
Collaborative cross-agency practices for improving child well-being
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Duke Endowment · 2024 - 2027Accelerated Aging in Gulf War Illness: Phenotypes, Epigenetic Biomarkers and Associations with Gulf War Exposures
ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Department of Defense · 2023 - 2027Improving Resource Parent Recruitment and Retention
ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by NC Policy Collaboratory · 2025 - 2026View All Grants
Education
Pennsylvania State University ·
2005
Ph.D.
Pennsylvania State University ·
2000
M.S.
Cornell University ·
1997
B.S.