Rate My Professor Jill Norris

Jill Norris, PhD, MPH, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Epidemiology in the Colorado School of Public Health at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. She received her BA in Biology, magna cum laude, from Colgate University in 1986, an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health in 1988, and a PhD in Epidemiology from the same institution in 1990. Norris joined the University of Colorado in 1990 as an Assistant Professor in the Section of Epidemiology and Community Health, Department of Preventive Medicine and Biometrics, University of Colorado School of Medicine. She advanced to Associate Professor with tenure in 1997, became Professor in 2004, and has served as Chair of the Department of Epidemiology since 2011. One of the original faculty members during the founding of the Colorado School of Public Health, she was named a University of Colorado Distinguished Professor in 2024. Her career includes roles such as Head of the Section of Epidemiology and Community Health from 2002 to 2005 and Director of the Genetic Epidemiology Program from 2000 to 2008.

Norris's research examines the role of environmental factors, particularly maternal, infant, childhood, and adult dietary influences, in the etiology of autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis in genetically susceptible individuals. She utilizes dietary assessment, metabolomic, and epigenomic methods in large prospective cohort studies such as the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young (DAISY), which she has co-led for nearly 30 years, and the Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young (TEDDY), where she co-chairs the Diet Committee. With expertise in epidemiology of autoimmune diseases, nutrition epidemiology, genetic epidemiology, nutrigenomics, and nutrigenetics, she has authored hundreds of peer-reviewed publications. Notable works include 'Vitamin D Intake and Risk of Incident Type 1 Diabetes' in JAMA (2007), 'Risk of Celiac Disease Autoimmunity and Timing of Gluten Introduction in the Diabetes Autoimmunity Study in the Young' in JAMA (2005), and studies on erythrocyte membrane fatty acids and islet autoimmunity in Diabetologia (2014). Her impact is evidenced by major awards: the American Diabetes Association Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology (2022), election to the American Epidemiological Society (2018), Noel Weiss and Tom Koepsell Excellence in Education Award from the Society for Epidemiologic Research (2019), and University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award for Research (2018). Norris has also established the Dr. Jill Norris and Dr. Michael Holers Endowed Scholarship in Autoimmune Disease Epidemiology.