Professor Carr studies family roles and relationships over the life course, and their implications for health and well-being. Specific projects include the mental health consequences of spousal bereavement; the impact of marital trajectories on health, well-being, and financial security in later life; and an examination of the ways that Social Security benefits structure disadvantages older adults with ‘non-traditional’ work and family trajectories. She has published widely on marital quality and social support among older adults, linkages between family ties and health, and economic disparities in health and well-being among retirement-age adults. She also has published on disability and obesity, and their impacts on workforce experiences. Dr. Carr is principal investigator of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and recently completed a five-year term as editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences.