Education & Affiliations
Biography
Jessica is an experienced drug developer and regulatory affairs professional with over 25 years of experience at large pharmaceutical and biotech companies and a third-year DrPH candidate at Celia Scott Weatherhead School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine at Tulane University. She began my career as a benchtop scientist, eventually transitioning to clinical research, where I lead the development of life-saving medicines for diseases with unmet medical needs. She received my MPH from Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, MS from Temple University School of Pharmacy, and BS in Biology from Drexel University.
Jessica is pursuing a DrPH to become a more effective advocate for those whose voices are often unheard in healthcare decisions, particularly people facing communication barriers that systematically exclude them from quality care. Her focus centers on Limited English Proficiency (LEP) populations, who navigate a healthcare system that was not designed with them in mind, and extends to elderly LEP immigrants who endure the compounded challenges of age-related vulnerabilities and cultural isolation. She is equally committed to advocating for children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), whose unique communication needs require coordinated, evidence-based interventions across healthcare, educational, and social systems.
Honors & Awards
Beta Omega Chapter - Delta Omega Drexel School of Public Health 2011
Academic Excellence Award - Drexel University 2011
Dissertation Info
Jessica Lee's DrPH ILE proposes REACH, a four-year community-based program to close colorectal cancer screening gaps among Chinese American adults with limited English proficiency in Philadelphia. Built on a review of the evidence, REACH pairs trilingual community health educators with a WeChat-based platform for scheduling, education, and home testing-kit tracking, plus a direct hand-off to care for abnormal results. The program aims to distribute and complete roughly 2,250 at-home screening kits and lift annual screening rates by 50%, offering a replicable model for other underserved Asian American communities.
Jessica Lee's DrPH APE addresses a critical gap in healthcare for autistic adults: most clinicians report little to no training in autism care, leaving patients to navigate a system not built for their needs. Partnering with the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, Reading Hospital's Family Health Care Center, and Drexel University's Student Health Center, Jessica engaged clinicians and autistic community members to adapt two evidence-based tools from the AASPIRE Healthcare Toolkit: a patient accommodations survey (AHAT) and a provider training curriculum (ACT). The project produced three stakeholder-informed deliverables, training recommendations, tool adaptation guidance, and a 12-month implementation protocol, including a plan to integrate patient accommodation data directly into clinic electronic health records, offering a practical roadmap for improving care quality for autistic adults in both university and community health settings.