Sara Selig

Sara Selig, MD, MPH serves as an Associate Physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Lecturer of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. As Associate Director of the Community Outreach and Patient Empowerment (COPE) Program—the domestic affiliate of Partners in Health—she collaborates with tribal nations including the Navajo Nation and Sicangu Nation (Rosebud Sioux Tribe) and the Indian Health Service to advance health equity for American Indian/Alaska Native communities through systemic health delivery reforms.

Her academic foundation includes:

• BA from Oberlin College
• MD from University of Colorado School of Medicine
• MPH from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

She completed the Doris and Howard Hiatt Residency in Global Health Equity and Internal Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Dr. Selig’s research employs a social justice framework to dismantle health disparities, centering Indigenous community leadership. She pioneered COPE’s cancer initiative integrating oncology into primary care systems and developed curricula bridging clinical and community health providers through interdisciplinary teams. Her work spans health systems strengthening, culturally responsive cancer care, and community health representative integration—all targeting historical inequities in tribal healthcare.

Her recognition includes:

• Inaugural Leaders for Health Equity Fellowship at George Washington University

As Faculty Advisor for the Catalyst Project (a Primary Care Progress partnership), she cultivates student leadership addressing community health priorities. COPE’s funding stems from partnerships with tribal nations and federal agencies to co-design sustainable health interventions, though specific grants aren’t detailed in source materials.

She operates within COPE’s community-centered framework, building interdisciplinary health teams that embed community health representatives into clinical workflows. Current initiatives focus on scaling patient-led cancer support systems and strengthening tribal health sovereignty through systems transformation.