Jessica L. Adler

Jessica L. Adler is Associate Professor and Chair of History at Florida International University's Steven J. Green School of International & Public Affairs. Her scholarship examines public health systems, war society, and incarceration, with particular focus on U.S. veterans' healthcare and prison medicine.

Research explores systemic inequities in health access, including NIH-funded work on prison mortality (2022-2025) and NEH-supported studies on veterans' community care. Key themes include:

• Historical development of carceral healthcare
• Veterans' health policy evolution
• Race/class disparities in medical access

Publications analyze trends from World War I-era institutionalization to contemporary prison privatization, emphasizing policy impacts on vulnerable populations. Recent articles quantify mortality in correctional facilities and document activist patient movements.

Awards include FIU's Top Scholar Award (2019) and Bancroft Dissertation Award (2013). Grants from NIH, NEH, and Rockefeller Archive Center support ongoing book projects on U.S. prison health systems.

Community engagement includes public history initiatives on veterans' experiences and op-eds in The Washington Post on incarceration and public health.