Jesenia Pizarro-Terrill studies situational factors around gun violence, specifically, what combination of circumstances might lead to gun violence prevention.As a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, her research focuses on violence, particularly lethal violence committed with firearms, the processing of violent crime in the criminal justice system, and transdisciplinary research approaches.

While her research focus centers on violence, she also studies the politics of punishment. With a surge in funding for gun violence studies, she is helping to set the national agenda on pediatric firearm injury and death research.