Anna Simonson

Anna Simonson serves as Associate Dean for Teaching, Learning, and Research Services at University Libraries and Assistant Professor in Ethics and Humanities at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. Her interdisciplinary work bridges library science, medical education, and historical research, with emphasis on health humanities and information access.

Her educational background includes:

• MA in Library and Information Science, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2022
• PhD in History, The Graduate Center, CUNY, 2017
• MA, Pepperdine University, 2005
• BA in History, Summa Cum Laude, University of Minnesota, 2003

Dr. Simonson's research explores information seeking behavior, bibliometrics, and digital curation within health humanities contexts. She pioneers graphic medicine applications and autoethnographic methodologies to examine health literacy and U.S. historical narratives, creating innovative pathways between library services and medical education.

Her recent publications analyze visual storytelling in healthcare through book reviews, demonstrating how graphic narratives advance medical understanding and patient communication within the health humanities landscape.

Her accolades include:

• Outstanding Student Of The Year Award nominee, Beta Phi Mu (2022)
• Phi Kappa Phi recognition (2021)
• James Krikelas Award for Information Technology innovation (2021)

She directs significant grants including the NIH All of Us Data Training Program (NLM, 2023-2024) and USD Health Affairs Technology Grant (2023-Present), while mentoring researchers through workshops on literature reviews, ORCID implementation, and NIH data management. Her Certified Data Carpentries instruction expands research data literacy across campus.

Dr. Simonson leads University Libraries' digital scholarship initiatives and coordinates USD's participation in the NIH All of Us Researcher Workbench, building infrastructure for community health data analysis.