Kelly joined GIFFORDS Law Center in 2017 and serves as the organization’s research director. In her role, Kelly serves as an expert on the nature, dynamics, and epidemiology of gun violence in the United States. Her work helps to inform the organization’s policy agenda with evidence-based research and practices.

Kelly also oversees and authors research reports, including those which involve original data collection and analysis, to bolster efforts to advance national, state, and local firearm policy reform. Kelly has authored reports focusing on the use and implementation of extreme risk laws, trends in gun violence research publications, and the impact of school shootings and gun violence on American children. She has been quoted in a number of outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, GQ, US News and World Report, and CNN.

Kelly received her MHS from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her master’s thesis focused on media coverage of gun violence, and her BA from Rhodes College.