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Julie May Croff (née Ketchie; born September 2, 1980) PhD, MPH is an American academic and public health researcher, known for her work in the field of health behavior. She is currently a professor of Rural Health at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS). She was the founding Director of the Master of Public Health program at Oklahoma State University and served as the founding Executive Director for the Center for Wellness and Recovery at Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences.

Early life and education
Julie May Ketchie was born on September 2, 1980, in Norman, Oklahoma. Her family moved to southern California and she attended schools in the La Mesa Spring Valley School District. She swam competitively for Helix High School, swimming for the varsity team all four years and as Capitan her senior year. She also played flute in concert and marching bands in high school. She continued her education at San Diego State University, majoring in Biology. Croff obtained her MPH degree in Social and Behavioral Science from the Boston University School of Public Health and PhD degree in Health Behavior from the joint doctoral program in public health from the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University. During her MPH program, Croff studied under William DeJong. In her doctoral program, Croff worked directly with John Clapp; and received additional mentoring from Mark Reed, James Lange, Tina Chambers, and Stephanie Strathdee. After completing her graduate studies, she began her academic career as a faculty member at OSU in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology.

Research and contributions
Croff's research focuses on the interaction of health behaviors, for the past decade with an emphasis on substance use behaviors in the periconceptional and perinatal time frame. She is particularly interested in prevention of adverse health outcomes through primary prevention programs with children and adolescents; harm reduction strategies, and improved implementation of evidence-based treatment approaches. Her work has been instrumental in identifying the unique challenges faced by rural communities and in developing strategies to improve health outcomes in these areas. Croff’s expertise on prevention and recovery from substance use disorders was leveraged by the state of Oklahoma in it’s abatement plan from the opioid epidemic; during this time she testified in the state’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson in 2019.

Croff’s NIH-funded research includes lead (contact) PI of the Oklahoma State University site of the NIH HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study, together with Amanda Sheffield Morris and Jennifer Hays-Grudo. She also serves on the leadership of the Center for Integrative Research on Childhood Adversity (CIRCA) funded by NIGMS.

In addition to her research, Croff has held several leadership positions in the field of public health. She is currently President Elect of the American Academy of Health Behavior. She previously served as the Executive Director for the Center for Wellness and Recovery and as the Director of the MPH program at OSU.

Awards
Coff has received several awards for her work, including the Graduate Faculty Excellence Award, the Research Excellence Award from the OSU College of Education. and 2018 President’s Fellows Faculty Research Award. She has also been honored as a Fellow of the Academy of Health Behavior.