Dr. Jill Diana Chasse

Tell us about yourself!

I am a mom, a professor, and a maternal/perinatal health and psychology specialist. I have had my DrPH since 2016 and an IMD (Doctor of Indigenous Medicine) since 2020. My clinical concentrations are in Perinatal Epidemiology and Psychology and my interests are in preventive medicine, tropical medicine and global maternal & infant health including neuropsychology and psychopathology and psychiatric epidemiology. I currently work in Functional Diagnostic Medicine and clinical trauma with new and expecting moms. My passion is to identify and reduce risk factors (both physical and psychological) for adverse outcomes from pre-pregnancy through infancy.

Why did you pursue a DrPH?

I grew up with a strong desire to prevent, promote and protect. I have always been interested in the scientific and clinically applied aspects of diseases and public health issues. After working in both midwifery and behavioral health, I was excited to take on my DrPH and eventually applying epidemiological principles to the development and implementation of psychology and health protocols and health literacy education to reduce maternal and perinatal morbidity and mortality.

What are you currently excited about in your job?

I am an adjunct professor in the public health department and I absolutely love seeing students that are excited to understand diseases and desire to help protect the community’s health. I also work with women at a wellness center and enjoy promoting preventive medicine and healthy lifestyles. I love when they show an interest in the factors that affect health and take an interest in how to protect themselves and their families.

If you could write a book about your life, what would the title be and why?

Adventures in Perinatal Epidemiology and Neurobiology... Because that's my life- full of adventures in mental health, disease, risk reduction and education during the childbearing period

What is something interesting about you that we should know?

The movie Outbreak came out when I was in college- already studying medicine - but I dreamed of working with the CDC. Years later I ended up working for both the CDC and Ft Detrick, and surprised myself that I liked Detrick and military medicine even more, because I learned of all the humanitarian public health initiatives we had. Next up, the WHO!