Julia F. Costich, J.D., Ph.D.

Julia F. Costich, J.D., Ph.D., is the Chair of the Department of Health Services Management at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health, and the Director of the Kentucky Injury Prevention & Research Center. Her teaching areas include public health law and international public health. Her research interests, in addition to injury and public health systems, include health care access for low-income populations, immigrants, and children; health policy; public health law; and comparative health systems.

Dr. Costich received her B.A. from Duke University, and then went on to receive a Ph.D., an M.P.A., and a J.D. from the University of Kentucky. Before joining the University of Kentucky public health faculty in 1998, she administered academic medical programs for twelve years and practiced health care law in the public and private sectors. She was the executive director and senior health policy specialist for the Kentucky Health Purchasing Alliance between 1994 and 1998. She has also taught in the University of Kentucky Colleges of Medicine, Law, and Health Sciences.

Currently, Dr. Costich is the principal investigator for a HCFO- sponsored study through the 2006 Special Topic Solicitation in Public Health Systems Research, with co-investigators Peggy A. Honoré, D.H.A., and F. Douglas Scutchfield, M.D. This study is examining competencies of financial managers in state and local public health departments. Public health finance officers and the senior public health officials to whom they report are being surveyed to gather information on their self-assessment of current knowledge and performance in relation to public health finance competencies, as well as their preference for educational formats. Using newly developed competencies in public health financial management as benchmarks, the researchers are identifying areas of need, mechanisms for delivering training, and potential funding sources. The objective of this project is to identify professional development needs for financial officers in state and local public health agencies. This research "will support the development of curriculum offerings that reflect public health officials' own priorities for training topics and delivery modes," says Costich.

For more information on Dr. Costich and a list of selected publications, see www.mc.uky.edu/publichealth/juliacostich.html.