Annual Report 2022-2023: Global Mental Health Program

Submitted by Dr. Kenneth Fung, Director of the Global Mental Health Program

During the 2022-23 academic year, the Global Mental Health (GMH) Program continued its steadfast expansion through various collaborative initiatives aimed at amplifying the department's global reach and creating a trans-national global mental health community of practice. The program conducted an inventory of current GMH research and education initiatives undertaken by faculty and trainees, with the aim of increasing the visibility of said initiatives through the department’s digital platforms. Under the leadership of Program Director Dr. Kenneth Fung, the program deepened existing ties with the University of Oxford’s and the University of Manchester’s respective GMH portfolio leads, Drs. Kam Bhui and Nusrat Husain, leading to the formation of a collaborative that has already generated tangible results, including the submission of a joint funding proposal on mental healthcare workforce wellness to the Manchester-Melbourne-Toronto (MMT) Research Fund and the planning of a joint suicide-prevention webinar. The program also established an ongoing collaboration with Harvard University’s GMH portfolio led by Dr. Vikram Patel. Dr. Patel and Dr. Husain will be serving as keynote speakers for the program’s 2023 Global Mental Health Day, titled ‘the Next Evolution of Global Mental Health’, to take place on Sept. 15^th, 2023. Internally, the GMH and Psychiatry Fellowship programs continued to work closely together, with joint initiatives including a GMH-informed fellowship seminar and the early-stage development of a joint GMH fellowship offering.