Jessica Judd

Jessica Judd is a PhD Candidate in the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, supervised by Dr. Catherine Chittleborough, Dr. Catia Malvaso, and Dr. Rhiannon Pilkington. Her research examines mental health service utilization among children exposed to adversities such as homelessness and child protection system involvement. She also serves as a Tutor for 'Health and Illness in Populations' (2020–2023) and a Workshop Facilitator for 'Create. Communicate. Connect with Health and Medical Sciences' (2021–2022).

Research Interests:
Child and adolescent mental health, mental health service accessibility, childhood development trajectories, and the intersection of child protection systems with healthcare outcomes. Her work employs population-level data analysis to explore disparities in healthcare utilization among vulnerable youth.

Publications:
Recent studies include a 2024 Medical Journal of Australia paper analyzing mental health hospitalizations of adolescents with child protection service contact in South Australia. Her work highlights systemic gaps in supporting at-risk populations through descriptive epidemiological approaches.

Professional Activities:
Member of the BetterStart Child Health and Development Research Group. No grants or awards explicitly listed.