(In the above photo: Dr. Siber (left) is shown with Dr. Laura Hammitt, CIH Director of Infectious Disease Prevention, Dr. Raymond Reid, the Center’s first Indigenous faculty member and lead Navajo researcher, and Dr. Mathuram Santosham, founder and director emeritus of CIH.)
Most team members and friends of the Center for Indigenous Health (CIH) are familiar with the origin story: The founders, Dr. Mathu Santosham and Dr. Raymond Reid (Diné) collaborated with the White Mountain Apache Tribe in the early ‘80s to prevent infant deaths from diarrhea and demonstrate the effectiveness of Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT), now known throughout the world as Pedialyte.
However, fewer people know the crucial played role by Dr. George Siber, an infectious diseases physician and vaccine development expert. Recently, Dr. Siber visited the Shiprock (Navajo Nation) team to celebrate Dr. Reid’s Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins Alumni Association. Dr. Laura Hammitt, JHCIH’s Director of Infectious Disease Prevention, remarked, “Dr. Reid, Dr. Santosham, and Dr. Siber are public health heroes. Seeing their genuine friendship, born of decades of working together to combat infectious diseases, made this celebration of Dr. Reid even more special.”
This powerful friendship began over 40 years ago. While caring for children with diarrhea and working on ways to prevent dehydration, Dr. Reid and Dr. Santosham saw many infants in the White Mountain Apache community with a terrible brain infection (meningitis) caused by the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). At the time, there was no Hib vaccine for infants. Meanwhile in Boston, Dr. Siber had developed a method to protect cancer patients from infections like Hib, by using antibodies from vaccinated people.
The pivotal connection occurred when Dr. Santosham reached out to Dr. Siber after an outbreak of Hib meningitis among White Mountain Apache children. Desperate to find a preventive solution, Dr. Santosham invited Dr. Siber to collaborate. Together with Dr. Reid and the White Mountain Apache community, they initiated a pilot study to maintain high antibody levels during infancy, the period when Hib cases occurred.
Their initial collaboration proved that antibodies could protect infants from Hib disease. They later worked together to demonstrate a highly effective and safe new Hib vaccine for infants. This vaccine is now saving lives worldwide. Throughout their work, Dr. Siber spent many hours traveling across the Navajo Nation and White Mountain Apache Tribal lands, engaging with families, health workers, clinicians, and tribal officials. He developed a profound respect for Indigenous Peoples and their knowledge.
Dr. Siber reflected on his experience, saying, “The culture of Indigenous peoples is different from Westerners, it’s quite profound. I loved, over time, gaining a better understanding of the culture and the art it produces. Ray Reid was my guide in that. He taught me all about Navajo rugs, which I now collect. He took us to a Hopi Kachina dance and a powwow; we had Navajo fry bread and so forth. We would always rent a four-wheel drive and attach a tour to each site visit, whether Canyon de Chelly or Shiprock or the time we hiked to Havasupai. I got so much back, not just in terms of learnings for my career, but in gaining a much broader perspective on life.”
Dr. Siber went on to become an internationally recognized vaccine expert, developing numerous innovative vaccines, therapeutic antibodies, and diagnostic agents for infectious diseases. He has held prestigious positions, including as a former Harvard professor, current adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University and professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He also serves on advisory committee for the World Health Organization, US National Institutes of Health, Gates Foundation, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Throughout his illustrious career, he has never wavered in his support of the Center, contributing significantly to its mission and success. Most recently, Dr. Siber helped to establish the JHCIH Willow Fund, a special fundraising initiative that supports resources for growing Indigenous leadership, pilot public health projects, and CIH’s program sites within reservations.
Dr. Siber’s philanthropy is deeply rooted in his gratitude for the relationships he built with the Apache and Navajo communities through the Center. He established the Willow Fund to support innovative projects that benefit these communities. “I wanted to give money in a way that would plant seeds for new projects, allowing them to grow and potentially attract larger support from organizations like the Gates Foundation or the Indian Health Service,” he explained. Dr. Siber emphasized the importance of giving back, viewing it as a universal goal to make the world a better place.
While his focus has been on Infectious Disease Prevention, Siber is enthusiastic about the range of Indigenous-led public health work the Center is championing. “I’m certainly proud of the impact of the pneumococcal vaccines, but I’m even more impressed that the Center has broadened its scope to address the other equally important issues that tribes are facing in terms of behavioral and mental health. I particularly admire the work on parenting for both mothers and fathers.”
His recent trip to the Southwest, joined by his daughter Kate, was filled with heartfelt reunions and reminders of the meaning of this work for Dr. Siber. “I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with the Center, to learn from the Apache and Navajo cultures, and from the relationships I have to this day,” he reflected. “The Center is such a great embodiment of people working to make a world a better place, and it’s been a wonderful thing for me to be a part of.”