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Dr. Anna M. Jilla is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communicative Disorders and a proud two-time Â鶹ҹÊÐ graduate and Honors Program alumna. In addition to being a licensed audiologist, she's also a Research Mentor with the Louisiana Center for Health Innovation and works with the Social Impact Lab in the Department of Economics at the University of Missouri.

Dr. Jilla is passionate about making hearing and balance care accessible to everyone, especially people who face barriers to getting the help they need. 

Her research tackles big questions: 

• What makes aspects of healthcare unaffordable or inaccessible? 
• How can we bring quality care to rural areas? 
• What policies need to change to help more people access healthcare providers?

She works on projects that blend health economics, public health, and policy—projects like analyzing Medicare coverage, developing community health programs in Southwest Louisiana, and advocating for better insurance policies at the state and national level. She's especially interested in how we can train the next generation of healthcare professionals to address health disparities.

If you're interested in public health, policy research, health economics, community outreach, or data analysis, Dr. Jilla welcomes curious students who want to make a real-world impact. Her projects offer hands-on experience with research that can create meaningful change—from local communities to national policy.

Research Interests: 

• Population Hearing and Balance Health
• Healthcare Policy and Accessibility
• Innovative Care Models
• Aging Topics in Audiology
• Aural Rehabilitation in Older Adults
• Vestibular Diagnostics and Rehabilitation