Faculty | Public Health | SIU

Public Health

Professional Interests:

• Traditional college students/student athletes health
• Judging Coordinator for National Student Case Study Competition in Health Education
• Journal of Health Education Teaching Editor-in-Chief

Public Health

Professional Interests: 

• First Aid and CPR
• Health welfare

Public Health

Public Health

Professional Interests:

• Opioids, alcohol, tobacco, and prescription drugs
• Digital health and technology-based interventions
• Consumer preferences, behaviors, and attitudes
• Obesity epidemiology, causes, and consequences

SIU School of Medicine, Public Health Affiliated Faculty

My route to academia is somewhat unconventional. I graduated with a double major in chemistry and biology in 1991 and entered the laboratory workforce at Washington University School of Medicine. This was soon followed by 13 years in the Illinois Department of Public Health laboratories. There I began as an environmental chemist and eventually become both state laboratory bioterrorism coordinator and laboratory operations manager. During this time I also received a CDC scholarship for graduate studies at Tulane University. From 1999-2002 I completed coursework towards a MPH. I then began doctoral studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and received my PhD in 2007. This coincided with my joining the SIU Department of Family and Community Medicine as Research Director. My specific research interests (comprising the bulk of my publications) are in the areas of STD epidemiology and cancer disparities. STD research has examined, among other things, the integration of screening interventions in clinical settings, and large scale intervention evaluation at the university campus and regional scale. Cancer disparities explore rural/urban differences in risk, how they might be mitigated, and the influence of STDs (specifically chlamydia and HPV) in oral cancers. More recent work examines disease transmission among injection drug users in rural communities. In 2017, I became a fellow in the America College of Epidemiology.

Public Health

Current Research Projects:

• Principal Investigator; Source: National Science Foundation (NSF) #2321159; “Rural Veteran Personality, Delay Discounting, and the Interference Preservation Hypothesis,” Period: 9/1/23 – 8/31/26; Amount: $341,6172.
• Principal Investigator; Source (IPA): U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (US DVA), James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital; “Characterizing the VA’s Traumatic Brain Injury and Caregiving Initiatives for Veterans,” Period: 10/1/23 – 9/30/24; Amount: $81,109

SIU School of Medicine, Public Health Affiliated Faculty

Dr. Meredith Volle is an assistant professor of pediatrics at SIU School of Medicine in the primary care and newborn services division. She completed her medical degree, residency, and chief residency at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL. Dr. Volle also serves as the Education Director for the Department of Population Science and Policy at SIU. She also earned a Master's in Public Health degree from the University of Illinois at Springfield. She is a proponent of breastfeeding support for newborns and their families, and her research interests include safe sleep education and prevention of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome. She is also President of the Ann T. Havey Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides clothing and supplies to families of newborns.