Clinician Scientist Profiles: General Stream
BAILEY, Katherine
Dr. Katherine Bailey is a resident physician in the Psychiatry Residency Training Program at the University of Toronto. She is also serving as Chief Resident at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Before residency, she completed her MD at the University of Toronto and concurrently completed her MSc through the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation. Her master’s research, completed at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) under the supervision of Dr. Alene Toulany, focused on evaluating the transition from pediatric to adult healthcare services for youth with physical and mental health conditions, as well as youth engagement in health research.
Building on her graduate work, Katherine’s current research interests involve exploring narratives of suicidal ideation and behaviour in youth and young adults, particularly during the time of healthcare and broader life transitions. She is working under the supervision and mentorship of Dr. Juveria Zaheer, a leading suicide prevention researcher at CAMH, to understand youth experiences of suicidality during the COVID-19 pandemic.
CHIOREAN, Andreea
Dr. Andreea Chiorean is a Psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto and a trainee in the Clinician-Scientist Program. She is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Tyler Kaster and Dr. Ishrat Husain at the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention. Her research is focused on the biological and pharmacologic underpinnings of psychiatric illness and therapeutic treatments. Supported by the PSIF Resident Research Grant, she will be leading an epidemiological investigation of the pharmacological treatment of patients with bipolar disorder by leveraging large health administrative datasets and advanced statistical methods.
HAWA, Aceel
Dr Aceel Hawa, BSc, MSc, is a resident in Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, part of the Clinician-Scientist Program. Her research interests relate to neuromodulation interventions for substance use disorders, supervised by Dr Victor Tang, addictions psychiatrist at CAMH.
HUI, Jeanette
Dr. Jeanette Hui completed her BSc in Neuroscience at McGill University and MSc in Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her graduate training, supported by the CAMH Discovery Fund Talent Development Award, investigated the neurophysiological pathways involved in depression and schizophrenia using transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroencephalography. Currently a senior psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto, her research focuses on the use of interventional psychiatry techniques to treat medication-refractory psychiatric disorders. Her current CSP project involves the exploration of neurobiological and physiological mechanisms underlying ketamine’s anti-suicidal effects in bipolar depression.
Supervisor: Dr. Daniel Blumberger
HUSSAIN, Zakia
Dr. Zakia Hussain is a postgraduate psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto and a trainee in the Clinician-Scientist Program. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Neuroscience and Mental Health at the University of Toronto and earned her medical degree from McMaster University. Prior to and during medical school, she worked as a research analyst at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Dr. Hussain's research focuses on understanding engagement with and barriers to mental health care, with the goal of improving access to equitable, patient-centred services, particularly for individuals living with serious mental illness. Under the supervision of Dr. Lucy Barker, her current research uses population-level health administrative data to examine patterns and disparities in perinatal psychiatric hospitalizations among immigrant populations.
NONA, Christina
Dr. Christina Nona completed her PhD in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto where she investigated the neuroplastic adaptations in the brain’s reward circuitry associated with chronic alcohol exposure. Using rodent models, this work explored the neuromodulatory mechanisms underlying addictive and relapse-like behavior, contributing to the foundational understanding of individual differences in alcohol-induced synaptic changes and propensity towards addiction.
Building on her PhD training, Dr. Nona completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health that shifted towards clinical application, specifically integrating neurobiological insights from pre-clinical research into the design and execution of high-quality, clinical studies addressing gaps in the treatment of alcohol use disorder.
Currently, her research interests include identifying biomarkers of treatment response to repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in individuals with treatment-resistant depression.
Christina Nona on PubMed:
MOHAMMAD, Ibrahim
Dr. Ibrahim Mohammad is a psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto. Prior to residency, he obtained his BSc in Kinesiology from McMaster University and his MD from the University of Ottawa. His experience in community organizing, particularly within the Justice for Soli movement, highlighted the challenges faced by those at the intersection of mental illness, the justice system, and racialization. This led him to develop an early interest in forensic and transcultural psychiatry, particularly within Muslim mental health.
His research experience is reflective of his interests. Under the supervision of Dr. Floyd Wood at the University of Ottawa, he published a study on the integration of correctional psychiatry within medical education. Additionally, for the past three years, he has been a research mentee at Stanford University’s Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology lab, where he examined the experiences of formerly incarcerated Muslims under the guidance of Dr. Rania Awaad. He has also co-authored a forthcoming book chapter on the mental health of incarcerated Muslims in North America.
As part of the Clinician Scientist Program, he will be working with CAMH’s Dr. Sandy Simpson and Dr. Roland Jones on a project investigating the rate and risk factors for suicide within Ontario’s provincial prisons, supported by a grant from the Physicians’ Services Incorporated (PSI) Foundation. This project aims to inform policy and structural changes to address the elevated risk of suicide in correctional settings. Outside of his clinical and research interests, Ibrahim enjoys baking (being particularly fond of baklava) and nature photography.
RIVERA, Laura
I am a Psychiatry Resident at the University of Toronto. I completed graduate training at the University of Toronto (MPH in Epidemiology, 2013) and medical training at the University of Calgary (MD, 2021). Prior to medical school, I was a Research Associate at Public Health Ontario and at the University of Calgary in the Faculties of Medicine and Social Work. As an epidemiologist who is now a clinician, my interest is in the intersection of mental health care and data science, as well as knowledge translation and application of epidemiological research to psychiatric practice. I am additionally interested in equity promotion and aim to consider the impacts of the social determinants of health (SDOH), particularly gender and race, in my research. Within the Clinician Scientist Program, I will work with George Foussias, Martin Rotenberg, and Marta Maslej at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health to apply machine learning methods to healthcare administrative data to determine clinical and functional outcome trajectories for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia, and to clarify the role of the SDOH in shaping these outcomes.