Chad J. Abresch, PhD
Weitz Family Chair of Health Promotion College of Public Health
Chair, Department of Health Promotion, College of Public Health, University of Nebraska Medical Center
Chad Abresch, PhD, is the Weitz Family Chair of Health Promotion and Chair of the Department of Health Promotion at the UNMC College of Public Health. For more than two decades, Dr. Abresch has worked at the intersection of maternal and child health research and local public health practice, partnering with communities, city and county health departments and federal agencies. His work responds to a persistent problem: the United States continues to trail comparable nations on maternal mortality, infant mortality and life expectancy.
His research focuses on the prevention of vertical disease transmission, including perinatal HIV elimination and congenital syphilis prevention. Related areas of focus include novel surveillance methodologies such as fetal and infant mortality review, life course health development, infant mortality and birth equity and the prevention of substance-exposed pregnancies. He works primarily in qualitative and mixed methods research grounded in community and practice partnerships.
Dr. Abresch is principal investigator on federally funded projects supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the HHS Office of Minority Health, and he is a co-investigator on National Institutes of Health research testing long-acting antiretroviral formulations for pediatric populations. This portfolio is housed within CityMatCH, the national membership organization at UNMC that supports city and county health departments in maternal and child health. In 2008, he facilitated the national planning process that led the CDC to adopt elimination of perinatal HIV transmission as a formal goal.
Dr. Abresch is lead author of Data-Informed Decision Making: Using data to build consensus and align priorities (APHA Press, 2025) and of a 2025 American Journal of Public Health article on the resurgence of congenital syphilis. He serves on the editorial board of the Maternal and Child Health Journal and on the steering committee of the CDC and HRSA Maternal and Child Health Epidemiology Program.
At UNMC, he leads a department offering graduate certificate, MPH, DrPH and PhD programs in health promotion and maternal and child health. He teaches Knowledge Frameworks and the doctoral seminar, chairs several PhD dissertation committees, and has mentored graduate students, medical residents and summer interns for more than a decade. He serves on the board of Voices for Children in Nebraska and has testified before the Nebraska Legislature on maternal and child health policy.
Dr. Abresch earned his PhD in public administration from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, where his dissertation examined governance practice in maternal and child health. He lives in Omaha with his wife Kimberley, where they enjoy a large, blended family including nine children and three grandchildren.
- 1996 | B.A., Psychology, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- 2000 | M.Ed., Health Education, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
- 2018 | Ph.D., Public Administration, University of Nebraska at Omaha
- Niebur, H., Rookwood, A., Karki, B., & Abresch, C. (2023). Towards a New Model of Childhood Asthma Care: Community Needs Assessment in an Underserved Urban Population. Journal of Asthma, (just-accepted), 1-15.
- Abresch, C., Gilbert, C., Johnson, M., Karki, B., Lyons, K., Meyer, K., ... & Toure, D. (2022). Understanding the Emotional Labor of Public Health Equity Work: a Mixed Methods Study. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities, 1-11.
- Grimm, B., Ramos, A. K., Maloney, S., Abresch, C., Tibbits, M., Lyons, K., & Palm, D. (2021). The Most Important Skills Required by Local Public Health Departments for Responding to Community Needs and Improving Health Outcomes. Journal of Community Health, 1-8.
- Abresch, C., Grimm, B., Lyons, K., Maloney, S. & Tibbits, M. (2021) Who gets included in Collective Impact: A mixed methods study of 10 CI initiatives. Community Development, DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2021.1941161
- Collie-Akers, V., Landry, S., Ehule, N. J., Pecha, D., Beltran, M. M., Gilbert, C., & Abresch, C. (2021). Enhancing the Capacity of Local Health Departments to Address Birth Equity: The Institute for Equity in Birth Outcomes. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 1-9.
- 2021 – Present | UNMC Interprofessional Academy of Educators
- 2011 – Present | National Association of County and City Health Officials
- 2010 – 2015 | American Society of Association Executives
- 2010 – Present | American Public Health Association, subcommittee member Maternal and Child Health Section
- 2008 – Present | Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
- 2006 – Present | National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health