Scott grew up in Boulder Colorado and attended medical school at the University of Colorado. He went to public health school at Harvard University where an interest in Tropical Public Health was further developed, leading to a year-long study as a Fulbright Scholar in Cali Colombia. Here he studied improved diagnostic technologies to understand the epidemiology of leishmaniasis and onchocerciasis (River Blindness), a leading infectious cause of blindness worldwide. He completed a residency then a fellowship at Stanford University in Infectious Disease and Geographic Medicine.
He taught at Stanford Medical School and directed a course in Human Biology entitled “Parasites & Pestilence” for over 20 years. He was presented the Bloomfield award in recognition of excellence in teaching of clinical medicine at Stanford School of Medicine.
He served as chief of infectious disease and geographic medicine at Kaiser Redwood City before retiring in 2023 after the COVID pandemic. He concluded his tenure on a high note, serving as a subject matter expert and on the regional task force for COVID and Influenza vaccination.
He has served locally on the San Mateo County Mosquito Abatement District Board as trustee and board member since 2012 for his town of Hillsborough. He also serves on the Professional Education Committee as Co-Chair in the ISTM (International Society of Travel Medicine), organising webinars and updating courses.
He has recently appeared on The Doctors Show (CBS), Animal Planet, Discovery Channel and National Geographic (and even the Tyra Bank’s Show in New York!) about several unusual parasitic diseases in humans including leishmaniasis, tapeworm, leprosy and hookworm.