Jill Dehlin has been attending Headache on the Hill since 2016. Headache on the Hill is one of the most empowering advocacy events she’s ever done.
Jill is a registered nurse with a bachelor’s degree in school health education and master’s degrees in public health and educational technology. While working as an adjunct professor at Central Michigan and Michigan State Universities, she decided to pursue a PhD in educational psychology with the goal of working in MSU’s School of Public Health. She became disabled by chronic migraine while doing her PhD dissertation research in 2006.
She realized she needed to become a patient advocate after an uncomfortable conversation with her headache specialist in 2010. She realized that if SHE – a nurse and former manager of a physician’s office – felt anxious talking to her doctor, that others probably were too. In 2011, Jill began attending headache conferences to learn more about migraine, and became involved in migraine patient advocacy. She is proud to serve on the executive board of the National
Headache Foundation, where she is secretary. She represents the NHF on the AHDA board.
Jill is also the supervisor of her local school district’s reproductive health education program, a job she’s held for over 20 years. She lives in Michigan with her husband and Portuguese Water Dog.
