Dr. Krista Stelkia

Director, Assistant Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences

Areas of interest

Indigenous health, structural racism, structural determinants of health, anti-Indigenous racism, cultural safety, land-based health and wellbeing, health inequity, community-based research, police accountability, police oversight, public complaints against the police

Education

• B.A. (F.C. Hons), Criminology, Simon Fraser University
• M.A., Criminology, Simon Fraser University
• Ph.D, Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University

Biography

Dr. Krista Stelkia is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and Director for the Centre for Collaborative Action on Indigenous Health Governance, a partnership between SFU FHS and First Nations Health Authority. She is Syilx/Tlingit from the Osoyoos Indian Band in the interior of British Columbia, Canada. Dr. Stelkia is an interdisciplinary Indigenous health researcher whose research primarily investigates the structural determinants of Indigenous peoples’ health and wellbeing. With a background in health sciences and criminology, Dr. Stelkia’s research has critically explored structural racism and health, social justice, wellness indicators in public health reporting, connection to land as a determinant of health, and police oversight and accountability. Dr. Stelkia received her PhD in Health Sciences from Simon Fraser University where her research examined the complex and intersecting ways in which structural racism influences chronic disease and overall health and wellness of First Nations in Canada. Dr. Stelkia has over 15 years of professional experience working with First Nations communities and organizations, most recently in the Office of the Chief Medical Officer at the First Nations Health Authority. She joined the Faculty of Health Sciences as an Assistant Professor in September 2022.

Research Interests

Dr. Krista Stelkia’s research interests focus on advancing the health and wellness of Indigenous peoples locally and globally through research that is community-engaged and privileges Indigenous knowledges and worldviews. Dr. Stelkia is interested in research that employs interdisciplinary methods and approaches to address complex structural inequities faced by Indigenous peoples in Canada. Her primary research interests are to examine and explore Indigenous determinants of health and wellness, structural racism and Indigenous health, developing community-engaged structural racism indicators, Indigenous health governance, and the intersections between Indigenous health and the criminal justice system.