Richard Oster

Summary:

Dr. Richard Oster is the Scientific Director of the Indigenous Wellness Core at Primary Care Alberta. His ceremonial name is Wâpastim (White Horse), and he is of mixed European ancestry. Richard has lived most of his life in Treaty 6 Territory and Métis North Saskatchewan River Territory in Alberta, Canada. His work focuses on the strengths, knowledge, and resilience found within Indigenous communities. For more than 15 years, Richard has worked alongside Indigenous communities and organizations to co-design research projects. His areas of focus include Indigenous health, primary care, chronic diseases, the social factors that affect health, and pregnancy and newborn health. Throughout his career, he has learned from and collaborated closely with Indigenous communities. His experience includes community engagement, partnership building, community-based research, public health research, qualitative studies, program design, project management, sharing research findings, Indigenous ways of knowing, and Indigenous research ethics.