Commander Jia Cassidy

Born to Irish parents in Dublin, Jia Cassidy grew up in Ireland, where both parents were professors at the University of Dublin. A marvelously adept student, she breezed through the 2 private schools where she attended primary and secondary school. She was found to have an eidetic memory (visual photographic) at the age of 12. She was immediately provided with specialized training to develop the capacity. After which, she moved to live with her maternal grandmother on the Beara Peninsula in south western Ireland until leaving for University.

It was always her desire to be a physician and later she developed a distinct interest in alien species. With her eidetic memory, she was easily able to excel in school, college and medical school.

Personally, Jia is a soft-spoken woman with a courageous passion for healing. She is an extremely casual person, unpretentious and not impressed by status or influence. She was reluctant to join Starfleet because of the rank and chain of command structure, but her interest in exploration and further experience with inter-species medicine prevailed. She has found the structure to be less restrictive than she expected and has adapted well.

While on Denobula at the Tesora Foundation, she adopted the spiritual practices of a discipline known as Shimkara, which stresses non-violent co-existence and cooperation between species, humanoid and animal. The practice involves contemplation and meditation, the acknowledgement and pursuit of mental/emotional/spiritual unification with all life forms, sentient and non-sentient. In 2168, while again a student and adjunct professor at the Tessora Foundation, she became apprenticed to a master of the Shimkara practice, a shamanic drudix, focused upon physical, mental, emotional and spiritual healing.  She has completed the 4 years of training in such healing techniques. This does not replace her commitment to standard medicine, but serves as an augmentation and informs her treatment plans.

Jia has never married. She had a Denobulan boyfriend during her first time there, but it did not lead to a permanent commitment. While on Forrest Outpost, she met and made an seriousl commitment to LtCmdr Trevor Sloane, an engineer, just short of legal marriage. That relationship dissolved after Sloane’s repeated disappearances. While resigned to the end of that relationship, she is deeply wounded by the loss, though rarely if ever will discuss it with anyone.   

Yoga is now her outlet for stress, as well as blending well with her Shimkara beliefs and practices.

Strengths & Weaknesses:

She’s nervous in shuttles and a very poor pilot

She’s afraid of heights

Can be quite sassy when highly annoyed or angered

Committed to honesty, truthfulness and high ethical standards

Eidetic memory – exceptional visual photographic memory

Speaks multiple languages