Jen Jen Chang, Ph.D., M.P.H., Named New Program Director of Master of Public Health

Jen Jen Chang, Ph.D., M.P.H., has been named the Program Director of the Master of Public Health program. Dr. Chang has been with the College for Public Health & Social Justice for 15 years after earning her M.P.H. in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Saint Louis University in 2002 and a Ph.D. of Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2005.

While at SLU Dr. Chang has developed a robust research portfolio in maternal and child health and also sleep research with a strong record of scholarly publications and grant funding.

Her research extends to global collaboration with China CDC, Seoul National University in South Korea, and Taiwan NIH. She has served on a task force for the 2030 Taiwan Medical Services and public health policy white paper for child health. Her most recent funded research focuses on building community partnerships to address racial and ethnic disparity in health outcomes.

Aside from her research, Dr. Chang is also a devoted instructor and mentor to undergraduate and graduate public health students and her commitment to high quality of teaching was recognized with the 2017 Terry Leet Teaching Award.

She has been actively involved in the MPH program admission and curriculum development over the years by serving on a number of college committees, including Graduate Curriculum Committee, Graduate Admission Committee, and Practice Experience Faculty Advisor Committee. She also took on a leadership role in serving as the President of CPHSJ Faculty Council from 2015-2017, working with faculty and helping leadership to guide the College toward stability during the University-wide reorganization.

In the past year, Dr. Chang has led a team of college epidemiology and biostatistics faculty and students to support the COVID-19 outbreak case investigation for St. Louis County Department of Public Health.

In her role serving as a faculty member and internship advisor, Dr. Chang has gained a deep appreciation and interest in MPH curriculum development, addressing the needs of students, community partners, and the public health professional workforce.

College for Public Health and Social Justice

The Saint Louis University College for Public Health and Social Justice is the only academic unit of its kind, studying social, environmental and physical influences that together determine the health and well-being of people and communities. It also is the only accredited school or college of public health among nearly 250 Catholic institutions of higher education in the United States.

Guided by a mission of social justice and focus on finding innovative and collaborative solutions for complex health problems, the College offers nationally recognized programs in public health, social work, health administration, applied behavior analysis, and criminology and criminal justice.