Siobhan Wescott

Siobhan Wescott is an American educator who is Professor of American Indian Health at the Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. She was previously Director of the Indians into Medicine program at the University of North Dakota, where she trained hundreds of Native American physicians. In 2022, she was included by Stat News on their definitive list of leaders in the life sciences.

Early life and education Wescott is Alaskan Athabaskan. She grew up in a 400 square foot cabin near Fairbanks, Alaska. She was inspired to become a physician after attending a public health conference in Anchorage, Alaska. She believed that the representation of Native Americans would strengthen medical research and practice. Wescott studied government at Dartmouth College. After completing her undergraduate degree, she started working for Tom Daschle, senator for South Dakota. She was appointed a Henry M. Jackson Leadership Fellow in the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. She joined the faculty there and established the Four Directions Summer Research Program. She became concerned above the shortage of Native American physicians. At the time it was estimated that medical faculty members who identify as Native American or Alaska Natives made up 0.1% of those nationwide. She trained Native American physicians. She worked with the American Medical Association and the Association of American Indian Physicians to organize an annual summit that looks to diversify those who consider careers in medicine. The professorship is named after two La Flesche sisters from the Omaha Tribe who were public health advocates.

Selected publications