Shandee Dixon
Biography
Dr. Shandee Dixon (Apache) is an Assistant Professor at the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health and the Director of Didactic Learning for the Northwest Native American Center of Excellence (NNACoE) at OHSU. As a first-generation college graduate and scientist, Dr. Dixon brings experience in culturally responsive teaching, program leadership, and student mentorship, particularly for Indigenous, BIPOC, and first-generation students.
Dr. Dixon holds leadership roles across several programs for students early in their research, medicine, or public health careers, including the Wy’east Medicine Pathway Research Thread, the Tilikum Summer Health Experience, the FORWARD PSU Program, and the Tribal Health Scholars Program. In this capacity, she designs curricula that integrate Indigenous knowledge systems, health equity, and rigorous research skill development, as well as oversees program development, implementation, evaluation, and student mentorship. By working closely with cross-institutional and national partners to expand opportunities for learners, she has found that meaningful change happens through listening, collaboration, and co-creation with communities. She is driven by a passion to support students in transforming the systems they enter.
Dr. Dixon’s career spans biomedical research, educational program management, and equity-focused leadership, including prior work as a staff scientist at the Knight Cancer Institute and as an OHSU Fellow for Diversity and Inclusion in Research (OFDIR). Guided by a One Health perspective that honors the interconnection between human, environmental, and community health, she is passionate about fostering inclusive learning environments that honor Indigenous ways of knowing alongside Western scientific and medical traditions, advancing holistic, justice-driven approaches to public health that serve people, communities, and ecosystems.
Education, Degrees
- B.S., 2006, Microbiology and Immunology, California State University Los Angeles
- M.S., 2008, Biology/Genetic Engineering, California State University Los Angeles
- Ph.D., 2012, Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan School of Medicine
Fellowship
- Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
- U.C. Presidents Postdoctoral Fellow
- U.C. Chancellor’s ADVANCE Postdoctoral Fellow
- OHSU Office of Research & Innovation, Fellowship for Diversity and Inclusion in Research (OFDIR)
Honors & Awards
- Northwest Native American Center of Excellence (NNACoE) TedMed Indigenous Health Scholar
¹ CEPH Primary Instructional Faculty
² CEPH Non-Primary Instructional Faculty
Experienced Faculty With Diverse Backgrounds
More than 150 faculty members work within the OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. They have a wide range of expertise, from monitoring and assessing health risks and opportunities in populations, to helping build health-supporting social environments through policy, advocacy, and programs. They are educators, advisors, researchers, practitioners and community leaders. They come from backgrounds in quantitative, behavioral, environmental and social sciences, policy and government, exercise and health sciences and anthropology, among many other areas. They all work in collaboration with each other and with community partners, and are especially focused on the training and education of future leaders and practitioners in the public health fields.
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