Assistant professor
Licensed psychologist
Coordinator, Lávvuo - Research and Education for Sámi Health
I am Pikku-Nilsá Ánde Biehtár, a Sámi and Swedish licensed clinical psychologist in Norway and Sweden (2014) and researcher (PhD, 2020) born and raised in Giron/Kiruna and Laeváš Sámi reindeer herding community in Arctic Sweden. I serve as Assistant Professor in Indigenous Public Health at Umeå University since July 2025. My work bridges social and medical sciences with a strong focus on Sámi health in Sweden and Norway.
My doctoral dissertation focused on suicide and suicide prevention in Sápmi, and I recently completed a postdoctoral project on youth health and wellbeing among Sámi in Sweden. I have founded the Lávvuo research group together with Miguel San Sebastián, and we conduct the SámiHET population-based national Sámi public health surveys in Sweden. My research portfolio includes several commissioned and externally funded projects including public health of Sámi, health and wellbeing among Sámi youth, violence against Sámi women, adapted elderly care for Sámi and Inuit elders, and Sámi reindeer herders’ working conditions.
My publications span qualitative studies on mental health and Arctic health, and more recently, epidemiological research based on SámiHET data. I actively collaborate with Sámi parliaments, NGOs, and international research networks like NOGVIS, prioritizing knowledge dissemination through academic and public presentations and accessible reports in Swedish.
I chair the Nordic Society for Circumpolar Health (2025-) and am a substitute member of the Sámi Ethical Review Board in Norway (2020-). I regularly consult with WHO and OECD on Indigenous health issues.
Previously, I led the development of the suicide prevention plan for Sámi in Sweden, Norway, and Finland (2016–2017) and participated in Arctic Council projects on mental health and pandemic impacts. I was a Fulbright Arctic Initiative scholar (2018–2019) and have served on commissions such as the Lancet Commissions on Self-Harm and Arctic Health, as well as the commission that developed ethical guidelines for Sámi health research in Norway.
My overarching goal is to strengthen research and education on Sámi and Indigenous health, ensuring that knowledge benefits both academia and Sámi society.
In teaching, I cover undergraduate to doctoral levels across three faculties, with a focus on Indigenous health education.
I developed Sweden’s first university course on Sámi and Indigenous Health (7.5 ECTS) in 2022, which I continue to lead. I also integrate Sámi health topics into professional programs for medical doctors and psychologists and aim to expand this to other health professions.
I have been coordinator of Professional development courses at the Medical programme.
I supervise master thesis students in Public health and at the Medical programme. I currently serve as main supervisor for licentiate student Nalika Tjärnberg at Umeå University and Marianne Larssen at UiT.