Dr. Rutkow works at the intersection of public policy, law, and health, using legal, qualitative, and quantitative methods to determine how law influences public health outcomes. She is particularly interested in sub-national natural experiments involving public health laws, and has led seminal evaluations of U.S. states’ legal efforts to promote emergency preparedness, address opioid use disorders, and mitigate childhood obesity. She has authored over 125 peer-reviewed publications on these and related topics in journals including JAMA, New England Journal of Medicine, and the American Journal of Public Health. Her work has been supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and American Heart Association