Dr. Rita Henderson, PhD, is a social scientist, models of care scientist, and Associate Professor in Family Medicine at UC. She is of settler with a research focus on building health equity through health professional education and systems alignment for improved health in partnership with Indigenous communities. Her work addresses mental health and addictions, diabetes and obesity, and anti-racism/structural competency training for health professionals. She is partnered with the Alberta Region First Nations and Indigenous Services Canada Health Co-Management (HCoM) committee to advance a regional action plan for addressing the overdose crisis.

Her research focuses on building health equity through health professional education and systems alignment for improved health outcomes in partnership with Indigenous communities. Her work addresses mental health and addictions, diabetes and obesity, and anti-racism/structural competency training for health professionals. Dr. Henderson is a Principal Investigator of the AIM-HI Mentorship Network and current Faculty Chair for the O’Brien Institute for Public Health’s GRIP.