SPOTLIGHT: Holly and Russ Derry
When Holly Derry started the masters program in HBHE in 1993, she never imagined that she would be meeting her future husband. Holly met Russ Derry in 1995 when they were both working on a telephone interviewing study about glaucoma treatment and self-management of heart disease. Russ was a trainer for research assistants making the phone calls when Holly started. Sparks did not fly until Holly and Russ spent some time together at an HBHE potluck. They got to chatting and quickly discovered that they saw things the same way and had a lot in common. “We just clicked” Holly explains. “It was a super easy conversation,” adds Russ. While at the potluck, Russ asked Holly to hang out, without any intentions of beginning a romance. Soon thereafter they got together to play pool and the rest, as they say, is history. Holly and Russ were married in 1998 and have two kids, Owen, 8 years, and Hazel, 5 years. They happily live in Ann Arbor, close to both the nature provided by the many parks in Ann Arbor, and the cultural buzz of downtown.
Both Russ and Holly have pursued careers in public health that are well suited to their interests and expertise. Holly has always had a strong interest in health communications and has worked at the Center for Health Communications Research on the Behavioral Science Team since 1996, during her second year in the program. She writes content for computer-based health communication programs that focus on a wide range of health topics from cancer prevention and smoking cessation, to vaccine and childhood obesity programs. Holly is also involved in planning and designing questionnaires and creating tailored content. In her words, she “helps the Principal Investigator’s vision of the program come to life.”Holly explains that her degree in HBHE has been critical in her job. Tailoring messages is all about applying theories of health behavior that she learned about in HBHE. She says that this is what she does all day and it’s really fun, explaining “Based on what you know about a person, what information do they need, according to the theory?” Holly also states that Motivational Interviewing is a huge part of developing content for health communication programs, again, a skill she gained in HBHE.
Russ’ interests in public health have always been broad, and he considers himself a generalist rather than a specialist. HBHE appealed to Russ because of its focus on health and education but also because HBHE allowed him to examine issues from a broader perspective. After completing the MPH program, Russ worked for a non-profit called the Kenny Foundation that provided services to people with mobility impairments. Due to sustainability issues, the Epilepsy Foundation took on the Kenny Foundation’s programs and brought Russ on board as well. He is now the Director of Education at the Epilepsy Foundation and is involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of the Foundation’s educational programs. He also does one-on-one counseling with people with epilepsy and their families.
Russ enjoys the variety that his job brings. He also recognizes that epilepsy is a very complex disease that affects so many aspects of people’s lives, from employment to transportation to negotiating the health care system. He credits HBHE for teaching him a way to look at chronic illnesses from multiple perspectives and consider the varied impacts illness can have on people’s lives.Coming full circle, Russ is back in the HBHE world as he has partnered with the Center for Managing Chronic Disease on an epilepsy self-management project, furthering his efforts to establish epilepsy as a public health priority. He says it’s nice to work with an institution that has so many experts and resources, whereas in the non-profit world you have to do the best with limited resources and time and you don’t necessarily have time for incorporating theory and rigorous evaluation. “It’s nice to spend some real time thinking about science and outcomes,” Russ explains.
Holly is originally from Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin. She graduated from SPH in 1995. Russ is from Rochester, New York and was a biology major at University of Michigan. He earned his MPH in 1996.
