Dr. Durante is a sociologist and criminologist who uses quantitative methods to study incarceration. Much of her research has focused on racial and ethnic disparities in sentencing and prison admissions. For example, one of her current projects focuses on how diverse racial identities among Latinx defendants correlate with sentencing severity. She argues that the reliance on administrative datasets, and the limited measures available that capture race and ethnicity, limits the ability of researchers to adequately study disparities in sentencing. Other ongoing research projects are related to incarceration, families, and health. One of the underlying themes of this research is that adverse familial health is a collateral consequence of mass incarceration. She links mass incarceration to driving racial disparities in population health. Finally, Dr. Durante is a city commissioner on the Salt Lake City Race and Equity in Policing Commission.