Professor of Medicine and Rural Health
Director, Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy
Oklahoma State University

Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., is director of the Center for Indigenous Health Research and Policy and professor of medicine and rural health at the Center for Health Sciences at Oklahoma State University.

She has been a principal investigator for more than a dozen research studies focused on improving Indigenous food systems through policy and environmental interventions. She also directs the Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity, an academic-community partnership with Indigenous peoples to restore traditional foods and food practices to promote healthy diets and reduce chronic diseases.

Dr. Jernigan is an enrolled citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Go to Dr. Jernigan’s full bio.