FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Association of American Indian Physicians Installs Allison Kelliher, MD, as President

Koyukon Athabascan physician, traditional healer, educator and researcher assumes leadership of national organization representing American Indian and Alaska Native physicians

OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, September 25, 2025. The Association of American Indian Physicians (AAIP) is pleased to announce the installation of Allison Kelliher, MD, as President of its Board of Directors. Dr. Kelliher assumed the presidency during AAIP’s 54th Annual Meeting and Health Conference, continuing a longstanding commitment to the organization and its mission to improve the health of American Indian and Alaska Native communities and advance Native physicians and health professionals.

Dr. Kelliher is a Koyukon Athabascan (Dena) physician, traditional healer, educator and researcher from Alaska whose career has centered on bringing Indigenous knowledge and healing practices into relationship with clinical medicine, medical education, research and health policy.

“AAIP was created by Native physicians who understood that improving the health of our people requires more than increasing our numbers in medicine—it requires Native physicians who remain connected and accountable to our communities, cultures and ways of knowing,” said Dr. Kelliher. “I am honored to follow in the footsteps of AAIP’s founders and the generations of Native physicians who have carried this organization forward. I look forward to working with our members, students, Tribal Nations and partners to strengthen those connections and help create a future in which Native people have greater agency in shaping health, healing and medical education.”

Dr. Kelliher has been active with AAIP for nearly two decades, participating in its Annual Meeting and Cross Cultural Medicine Workshop since 2006. She has served as an AAIP Director-at-Large and Chair of its Rites & Ceremonies Committee, helping plan and facilitate the organization’s Cross Cultural Medicine Workshop and ceremonies associated with AAIP gatherings.

A board-certified family physician and integrative medicine physician, Dr. Kelliher completed her medical degree at the University of Washington School of Medicine and her residency at the Alaska Family Medicine Residency. She subsequently completed an apprenticeship in traditional healing at Southcentral Foundation, where she earned Tribal Doctor certification in 2014. Her career has included clinical practice with the Indian Health Service and Tribal health organizations as well as extensive work in medical education, Indigenous health research and traditional healing.

Dr. Kelliher currently serves as Director of the Indigenous Healing Program at Tanana Chiefs Conference’s Chief Andrew Isaac Health Center in Fairbanks, Alaska. She is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Indigenous Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a Clinical Instructor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. Her scholarship has addressed Indigenous determinants of health, traditional healing, health workforce development, Tribal health, research partnerships and the integration of Indigenous knowledge into health professions education.

Her work extends nationally and internationally. Dr. Kelliher has contributed to efforts involving the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, federal agencies, academic institutions and Tribal communities and has served in advisory and leadership roles addressing Indigenous health, research and policy.

“Dr. Kelliher represents so much of what AAIP has stood for since its founding—excellence in medicine, service to Native communities, mentorship of future generations, and respect for the knowledge and healing traditions that have sustained our people for generations,” said Joaquin Baca, Executive Director of AAIP. “Her presidency comes at an important moment for our organization and for Native health. Her leadership challenges us not simply to increase Native representation within existing systems, but to ask how Native physicians, communities and Tribal Nations can help shape the future of medicine itself.”

Dr. Kelliher succeeds Thomas “Blair” Matheson, MD, as President. AAIP recognizes Dr. Matheson for his leadership and service to the organization and its members and looks forward to his continued involvement in advancing AAIP’s mission.

About the Association of American Indian Physicians

Founded in 1971, the Association of American Indian Physicians is a national organization dedicated to improving the health of American Indian and Alaska Native communities and increasing the representation and influence of Native physicians and health professionals. AAIP works to strengthen pathways into medicine and the health professions, support Native medical students and physicians, advance Indigenous approaches to health and healing, advocate for policies that improve Native health, and create opportunities for Native physicians to connect, lead and serve their communities.

For more information about AAIP, visit AAIP.org.

MEDIA CONTACT
Joaquin Baca
Executive Director
Association of American Indian Physicians
jbaca@aaip.org
(405) 946-7072