Kristen Roessler

Title: Sr. Research Associate

Location: Navajo NationShiprock, NM

Biography

Dr. Roessler was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, the traditional homeland of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. She joined the Center for Indigenous Health in June of 2015 as the Study Physician for the Infectious Disease team on the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, NM working on projects including vaccine clinical trials and active bacterial surveillance, as well as collaborating with Indian Health Services to combine public health services to the Shiprock service unit through community outreach.

Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Roessler served as Chief Resident at the University of Chicago Comer Childrens Hospital in addition to serving as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Pritzker School of Medicine in Chicago, IL. Dr. Roessler then served as a Staff Physician with the Indian Health Service in Chinle, AZ. She then founded, and served as acting Medical Director of the Durango 9R School District School Based Health Centers in Durango, CO.

Always passionate about public health, Dr. Roessler went on to found pediatric programs in the underserved neighboring communities of Cortez, CO and Pagosa Springs, CO. Dr. Roessler received her M.D. from the Jacobs School of Medicine in Buffalo, NY and completed her Pediatric residency at the University of Chicago Comer Childrens Hospital in Chicago, IL. She lives in Durango, CO with her partner and 3 sons. She is an avid outdoor enthusiast and enjoys snowboarding, Nordic skiing, backcountry splitboarding, trail running, backpacking and camping with her family and dogs.