Jessica M. Madrigal, MS, is a Disability and Health Promotion Research Specialist at the Center on Health Promotion Research for Persons with Disabilities. Her primary duties include coordinating the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Project (DRRP), which aims to reduce obesity and obesity-related secondary conditions in adolescents with disabilities. Jessica is responsible for assisting the Director in implementing a coordinated set of research projects that includes obesity surveillance and secondary data analyses; working with a national expert panel on obesity, nutrition, physical activity and policy guidance related to obesity prevention; and identifying and overseeing successful strategies for implementing a knowledge translation framework that promotes research findings on obesity prevention through a large network of national service providers.

Ms. Madrigal formerly operated as an Information Specialist at the National Center on Physical Activity and Disability. In this role she provided a wide range of informational, educational, and support resources that directly or indirectly impacted the health and wellness of people with disabilities. Additionally, Jessica coordinated the Inclusive Fitness Coalition (IFC) and established the infrastructure necessary to build a network of professionals and leaders who can address the pandemic rates of physical inactivity experienced by people with disabilities. Today, Jessica continues to contribute to the growth of the IFC.

Jessica earned her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2007, and her M.S, in Disability and Human Development from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2010. She is currently a student in the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health Maternal & Child Health Program.