Faculty grant recipients
The latest grants received by our faculty members
Health care costs and medical complexity of adults with a pathogenic genomic disorder in population-based health administrative data
McLaughlin Centre Special Research Grant
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Sarah Malecki
Total funding (Direct costs): $75,000
July 1, 2023
Outcomes and disease burden in a model of young adult multimorbidity
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Ryan Yuen, Gregory Costain, Kathleen Hodgkinson
Total funding (Direct costs): $986,850
Oct 1, 2023
Intravenous Ketamine versus Personalized Accelerated Brain Stimulation in Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Pilot Randomized Feasibility Trial of Rapid-Acting Treatments (IKARE-TRD)
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Intravenous ketamine has established evidence and personalized accelerated brain stimulation has emerging evidence as rapid-acting interventions for treatment-resistant depression (TRD); this project is a two-site pilot randomized feasibility trial comparing these two rapid-acting interventions (IKARE-TRD).
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Katherine Dunlop, Yanbo Zhang, Jennifer Swainson, Andrew KComt, Wendy Lou
Other faculty investigators: Benoit Mulsant, Daniel Blumberger, Sidney Kennedy, Perry Menzies
Total funding (Direct costs): $610,000
April 2024 - March 2027
Deep Brain Stimulation for PTSD: Development of personalized treatment and predictors of response
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Clement Hamani
Other faculty investigators: Agessandro Abrahao, Peter Giacobbe, Maged Goubran, Nir Lipsman. Luka Milosevic, Sean Nestor, Jennifer Rabin
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,093,950
July 1, 2023
Novel markers for tracking early treatment response to rTMS in major depressive disorder
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Evaluation of speech parameters and eye-tracking characteristics to emotionally laden stimuli as office-based biomarkers of early response to rTMS.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Jennifer Rabin
Other faculty investigators: Dr. N. Lipsman, Dr. S. Nestor
Total funding (Direct costs): $436,050
January 31, 2024 - January 31, 2029
Maternal Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (m-ADHD): Mental Health, Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
In this study, we will follow the ~35,000 people with ADHD in Ontario who became pregnant between 2012 and 2022. We will follow this group until 2024, and compare important maternal and child outcomes in pregnancy and up to 2 years postpartum in this group to those of pregnant people without ADHD. This will help us to identify health problems in the ADHD group that can be acted upon. We will also attempt to identify subgroups of people with ADHD who may be at particularly high risk for specific problems. Finally, we will create new, reliable, information about the safety of stimulant medication use in pregnancy. We believe that the study results will provide important information to patients and clinicians about how to best help people with ADHD plan for pregnancy, and guide us in developing new treatments or models of care to improve the health of pregnant and postpartum people with ADHD, and their children.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Hilary Brown, Jonathan Zipursky
Co-Applicants: Dr. L. Barker, Dr. B. Bolea-Alamanac, Dr. C. Clark, Dr. E. Cohen, Dr. C-. Dennis, M. Feldman, Dr. T. Gomes, Dr. C. Maxwell, Dr. J. Ray, Dr. N. Saunders, Dr. A. Toulany,
Total funding (Direct costs): $604,352
April 1, 2024-March 31, 2028
MOVIN: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of a scalable collaborative care model for perinatal mental healthcare delivery
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Up to 20% of childbearing people develop mental illness during or after pregnancy. When untreated, these perinatal mental disorders negatively affect not only the perinatal person, but also the health and development of their children. Only 1 in 5 Canadians receive the help they need. Implementing a system-wide approach to reliably deliver recommended care to all perinatal mental health patients is a crucial healthcare priority. The Pregnancy and Postpartum Mental healthcare Optimization Virtual Intervention Network (MOVIN) is a perinatal mental health platform that allows patients to self-screen for symptoms, receive tailored education materials and connect with a care coordinator to co-develop personalized treatment recommendations in collaboration their primary care clinician and a perinatal psychiatrist when needed. Our pilot randomized trial showed clinical benefit, with potential for scale, spread and sustainability. We are now ready to take the next step in definitively evaluating the efficacy of MOVIN. In partnership with Ontario’s five large specialized perinatal mental health care programs, we will conduct a randomized controlled trial that will concurrently develop organizational and human capacity to enable sustainable province-wide scale-up of MOVIN in Ontario if results are positive. Along with knowledge users including decision-makers, healthcare professionals and persons with lived experience from across Canada, and meaningful opportunities for trainee development in perinatal mental health research, we will spark further collaborations to eventually pursue a national approach to implement best practices in perinatal mental health in our country.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Noah Ivers
Co-Applicants: Dr. L. Barker, Dr. H. Brown, Dr. T. Burra, Dr. C. Clark, Dr. C. Denni,s Dr. B. Frey, Dr. J. Gandhi, Dr. S. Grigoriadis, Ms. N. Hussain-Shamsy, Ms. Z. Ladak, Dr. C. Laur, Dr. C. Maxwell, Dr. B. Rosen, Dr. G. Saraf, Dr. D. Singla, Dr. M. Taljaard, Dr. K. Thavorn, Dr. R. Van Lieshout, Dr. E. Wright
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,510,875
April 1, 2024 - March 31, 2029
Reflecting on the Road to Social Justice – a Critical Discourse Analysis Evaluation of First Year Psychiatry Residents’ Reflections from the Underserved and Marginalized Populations Selective
PGME and Department of Psychiatry - Medical Humanities Education Matching Funding Grants
Using a critical discourse analysis evaluation, we will evaluate PGY1 reflective pieces written during their U/MPS rotation, to explore how the discourses of equity/inequity manifest and operate in the training of residents caring for marginalized individuals
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Saadia Sediqzadah, Sacha Agrawal, Arno Kumagai, Stella Ng
Total funding (Direct costs): $6,755
January 2023 - January 2024
Cultivating confidence in the practice of secure recovery through education of forensic interprofessional staff
American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law AEIR (AAPL Institute for Education and Research) Education Grant
This grant funds a curriculum design and evaluation project aimed developing a tailored education curriculum in secure recovery informed by education best practices and the education needs of forensic care staff. The AAPL Institute for Education and Research was founded in 2004 to: engage in education and research activities; stimulate and encourage important and creative educational research programs in forensic psychiatry; Train and encourage the trainings of forensic psychiatry educators, researchers and students; Provide educational resources and activities for members; and Promote development of linkages and synergies among forensic education and research programs.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Sandy Simpson
Co-investigators: Stephanie Penney, Faisal Ali, Patti Socha, Remar Mangaoil, Treena Wilkie
Total funding (Direct costs): $9762.49
January 2023 - January 2024
Improving stratification of risk for schizophrenia using cell-specific EEG biomarkers
Miner's Lamp Innovation Fund
The proposed project aims to better stratify the risk of Clinical High Risk patients for developing schizophrenia, by applying new mechanistic in-silico biomarkers estimating cell-specific inhibition changes from EEG signals. As directly probing the cellular and microcircuit mechanisms in the living human brain is currently impossible, the in-silico biomarkers serve to overcome experimental limitations and pave the way into early detection using EEG biomarkers of fine-scale brain changes that precede full/overt cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Andreea Diaconescu, Michael Kiang
Total funding (Direct costs): $133,000
2023 - 2025
Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy for treatment-resistant depression: A randomized phase II clinical trial comparing one versus two psychedelic doses of psilocybin
CIHR Project Grant
This study will be a two-site (University Health Network and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health), phase II, eight-week RCT evaluating the antidepressant efficacy, safety and tolerability of one versus two 25 mg (full psychedelic dose) doses of psilocybin with accompanying psychotherapy in adults with moderate to severe TRD (age 18 - 65; n = 92).
Other faculty contributors
Site PI for CAMH and Co-PA: Ishrat Husain
U of T Co-Investigators: Danica Johnson, Jeremy Riva-Cambrin, Jordan Bawks, Dan Blumberger, Alastair Flint, Rodrigo Mansur, Roger McIntyre, Benoit Mulsant, Christian Schulz-Quach, Smrita Grewal, Hilary Offman, Rick Sethi and Geneva Weiglein
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,000,000
June 2023 - June 2025
Optimized Predictive Treatment In Medications for Unipolar Major Depression (OPTIMUM-D)
CIHR Project Grant
The OPTIMUM-D study will test whether giving combined medication at the start of treatment, rather than waiting 8 weeks, improves depression treatment outcomes overall, or specifically for individuals who are predicted to not respond to an antidepressant alone. OPTIMUM-D will enroll 704 adults with depression across 8 Canadian sites.
Other faculty contributors
National PI: Rudolf Uher (NPA)
Site PI and Co-PA: Daniel Mueller
Co-Applicant: Sidney Kennedy
Co-PIs: Pierre Blier, Faranak Farzan, Benicio Noronha Frey, Raymond Wayne Lam, Roumen V Milev, Valerie Hannah Taylor
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,495,575
Feb 2023 - Feb 2028
An economic evaluation of scalable methods to improve mental healthcare for perinatal women
New Frontiers in Research Fund
We will conduct an economic evaluation of an ongoing psychological treatment trial for perinatal depression which compares nonspecialist providers (nurses and midwives) and telemedicine sessions to specialist providers (psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers) and in-person psychotherapy sessions in Toronto, Chapel Hill and Chicago (N=1368). We hypothesize that non-specialists and telemedicine will be less costly, equally effective, and associated with similar use and cost of other health services, and thus will be cost-effective compared with specialist providers and in-person sessions.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PI: Claire de Oliveira
Co-Investigators: Samantha Meltzer-Brody, Richard Silver, Simone Vigod, Cindy-Lee Dennis, Jo Kim
Total funding (Direct costs): $200,000
April 2023 - March 2025
Metformin, Antipsychotics and Psychotic Disorders: Challenges and Opportunities in Psychiatry and Family Medicine
Innovation Fund, St. Michael's Hospital Association
Family doctors and psychiatrists provide care for people living with psychotic disorders, like schizophrenia. Unfortunately, antipsychotics have serious side effects including weight gain. How do doctors assess and manage antipsychotic-induced weight gain? Whose responsibility is it anyway? To address this gap, we propose an innovative, cross-discipline project that will attempt to define the gap in care for AIWG through investigation of 600K+ primary care records, followed by semi-structured interviews with psychiatrists, family doctors, and patients.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Braden O'Neill
Co-Applicants: Andrew Pinto, Sanjeev Sockalingam, Samuel Law, Anika Maraj, Margaret Hahn, Osnat Melamed, Jon Hunchuk, Madison Burella, Gord Singer
Total funding (Direct costs): $48,129.38
May 2023 - May 2025
Exploring the long-term impacts of a service user advisory course for senior psychiatry residents
UofT – Department of Psychiatry
With this project we will explore the impact of participation in a service user advisory course for PGY4 psychiatry residents using narrative interviews at 2 - 4 years follow up.
Other faculty contributors
Collaborators: Csilla Kalocsai, Sophie Soklaridis, Suze Berkhout
Total funding (Direct costs): $9650
May 2023 - April 2024
Does hyperplasticity in the primary sensory cortex underlie atypical tactile reactivity in autism spectrum disorder?
AHSC AFP Innovation Fund
We will investigate if an excessive plasticity (i.e. hyperplasticity) in the sensory area of brain underlies atypical tactile reactivity in autism and if ‘mechanism-driven’ brain stimulation can reduce such excessive plasticity.
Other faculty contributors
Co-investigators: Dr Tarek Rajji, Dr Yona Lunsky, Dr Daniel Blumberger, Dr Christoph Zrenner, Dr Reza Zomorrodi, Dr Meng-Chuan Lai, Dr Stephanie Ameis, Dr Hsiang-Yuan Lin, Mr Marcos Sanches.
Total funding (Direct costs): $139,970
May 2023 - April 2025
Modulating plasticity in the motor cortex using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation to improve motor function in autism spectrum disorder
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
We will be: i) Testing whether hyperplasticity in the motor cortex (M1) underlies motor function difficulties in autism, and ii) Using ‘mechanism-driven’ rTMS with autistic adults to examine whether resulting reduced M1 hyperplasticity will be associated with clinical improvements in motor function.
Other faculty contributors
Co-investigators: Dr. Tarek Rajji, Dr. Daniel Blumberger, Dr. Stephanie Ameis, Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai, Dr. Yona Lunsky, Dr. Hsiang-Yuan Lin, Dr. Christoph Zrenner, Dr. Stewart Mostofsky, Mr. Marcos Sanches.
Total funding (Direct costs): $615,825
April, 2023 - March, 2028
Developing Service Standards for Youth with Complex Mental Illness
CIHR
While most youth mental health standards are disorder-specific, there are no agreed upon standards for “complexity,” despite the frequent use of this transdiagnostic term describing youth requiring more intensive supports. With youth, family members, service providers, administrators, policymakers, and researchers, we aim to achieve a consensus definition of complexity and a consistent approach to its measurement to help direct resources and guide interventions that target youth with the highest need.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Kristin Cleverley, Jo Henderson, Peter Szatmari
Co-investigators: Madison Aitken, Darren Courtney, Stephanie Ameis, Yona Lunsky, Aristotle Voineskos, Louise Gallagher
Total funding (Direct costs): $198,514
March 2023 - February 2024
A Novel Study of TikTok Use and the Relationship to Mental Health in Adolescents Presenting to Hospital
Sunnybrook AFP Innovation Fund
TikTok is a massively popular social media platform among youth. Suicide-related content is popular and readily accessible on the TikTok platform. This study will use a quantitative and qualitative approach to examine the relationship between TikTok use and mental health among a clinical population of adolescents.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PI: Mark Sinyor
Co-investigators: Dr. Juveria Zaheer, Dr. Janet Song
Total funding (Direct costs): $104,578
April 2023
GABAA Receptor-Specific Regulation Of Cortisol Release In Stress-Related Depression
CIHR
The project will characterize the role of various subunit of the GABAA receptors on the regulation of the stress axis in mouse models, in order to better understand how therapeutic interventions can better intervene in the context of stress-related disorders, including depression.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Etienne Sibille and Toshifumi Tomoda
Total funding (Direct costs): $619,000
April 2023 - March 2028
Neonate PK-Model Informed Precision Dosing: Feasibility Trial
NIH Maternal and Pediatric Precision in Therapeutics (MPRNT) Knowledge & Research Coordination (KRCC) P30 Pilot & Feasibility
The purpose of this research is to assess the feasibility of doing a study of the MIPD approach to drug dosing in critically ill newborns in the ICU with a focus on its use to determine the starting dose of the drug exonaparin to treat blood clots. To do this, an established Model Improved Precision Dosing (MIPD) tool called Lyv developed by a company PUMAS-AI will be used.
Other faculty contributors
Named Principal Applicant: Tamorah Lewis
Co-Principal Investigators: Melanie Barwick, Leonardo Brandão, V Ivaturi , Emily Tam
Total funding (Direct costs): $149,227 USD
October 2022
Dementia Caregivers Skills Training Through Virtual Reality Simulation (VR-SIM CARERS)
National Research Council and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The project aims to develop VR adaptation of the CARERS program (caregiver skill training program) through a process of co-design with caregivers, clinical investigators, technology developers and simulation experts.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Michael Smith, Mary Chiu
Academic Collaborators: Tarek Rajji, Joel Sadavoy
Total funding (Direct costs): $556,000
Sept 2022 - Aug 2025
Improving Quality of Mental Health Care Through Learning Collaboratives: A Co-Design Project
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Learning collaboratives are a structured data driven strategy wherein peer programs work together to conduct quality improvement projects. This grant will work with 3 sectors to discuss LC opportunities for which follow-up funding will be sought.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Avra Selick
Co-Investigators: Nicole Kozloff
Total funding (Direct costs): $9,973
July 2022 - June 2023
Standardizing Approaches to Transitions in Care in Early Psychosis Intervention
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Working with stakeholders this grant will develop a discharge protocol for Early Intervention programs that can be tested in a next phase of work.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Nicole Kozloff
Co-Investigators: Aristotle Voineskos, Sophie Soklaridis
Total funding (Direct costs): $98,934
March 2022 - Feb 2023
A Data Driven Approach to Personalize Psychosocial Treatment for Parents of Children with Disruptive Behaviour Disorder
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
This project will identify which subgroups of parents, and children with emotional and behavioural challenges, benefit most and least from evidence-based psychosocial treatment in order to develop more targeted and personalized interventions.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Daniel Gorman, Jennifer Jenkins, Yuanyuan Jiang, Stefan Kloiber, Azadeh Kushki, Judith Laposa, Robert Mcmahon, Marcos Sanches, Debbie Schachter
Total funding (Direct costs): $100,000
July 2022
Linking depression with cognitive impairment in aging using EEG biomarkers of cortical microcircuit inhibition
Labatt Family Network
We propose to assess the relevance of reduced SST interneuron inhibition in underlying a link between major depressive disorder (MDD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in older adults. As a proxy of reduced SST interneuron inhibition, we will use EEG biomarkers of the level of SST
interneuron inhibition which we previously derived from detailed in-silico models of human cortical microcircuits in health and depression.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Tarek Rajji, Heather Brooks
Total funding (Direct costs): $97,000
2023 - 2024
Dr. Mahavir Agarwal
Is brain insulin resistance a feature of the biology of depression? A pilot multi-modality neuroimaging study in adolescents
Banting and Best Diabetes Centre, University of Toronto
In this study, we will examine whether adolescents with MDD have greater brain insulin resistance compared to age-, sex- and weight-matched healthy controls, and if this predicts clinical, cognitive, and metabolic outcomes at 6 months.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Daphne Korczak, Ariel Graff-Guerrero, Margaret Hahn, Sofia Chavez, Gary Remington
Total funding (Direct costs): $90,000
July 2022 - June 2024
Neurobiological Mechanisms of Reading Disabilities
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Study incorporates neuroimaging of children with reading disabilities and the characterization of stem cell derived neurons from the children.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigator: Shreejoy Tripathy
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,185,750
April 1, 2022
An adapted early warning signs and symptoms (EWSS) intervention to improve early recognition and referral of childhood cancers in Kenya and Cameroon: An Effectiveness Implementation Study
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Our overarching aim is to generate robust evidence of the feasibility, effectiveness, and costs related to implementing an adapted Early Warning Signs and Symptoms (EWSS) intervention in Cameroon and Kenya. We will address the study aims through five linked objectives: 1) Adapt core intervention components; 2) Identify barriers and facilitators; 3) Execute the intervention; 4) Evaluate clinical effectiveness; 5) Evaluate implementation effectiveness.
Other contributors
Primary Named Applicant and Co-Principal Investigator: Avram Denburg
Co-Principal Investigator: Sumit Gupta
Total funding (Direct costs): $1,250,776
Oct 2022
Implementing a sudden cardiac death risk assessment tool in childhood hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The major goals of this project are to utilize implementation science methods to implement PRIMaCY, a sudden death risk prediction tool for childhood HCM, within hospital EHRs and workflows using an organization and physician focused implementation strategy; and to assess implementation outcomes and identify and address implementation barriers and facilitators to improve the effectiveness of the implementation approach.
Other contributors
Primary Named Applicant and Co-Principal Investigator: Seema Mital
Total funding (Direct costs): $631,126
Oct 2022
Development and piloting of an early warning score for psychiatric deterioration
HIROC Patient Safety Grant Program
This project will leverage existing EMR data to identify patients at risk of mental deterioration and alert their providers with the aim of reducing preventable harm.
Other faculty contributors
Co-PIs: Soyeon Kim, Kevin Young
Executive Sponsor: Kevin Young
Collaborators: Achal Mishra, Mara Smith
Total funding (Direct costs): $17,000
December 2022 - December 2023
Personalized Genetic Drug Technologies and Medical Economies in Canada: Moral Experiment or Curative Renaissance?
SSHRC and Genome Canada
Other contributors
A. Hay, LG. Balneaves, K. Chan, K. O’Doherty, J. Bramson, H. Llewellyn, V. MacDonald, J. Needham, S. Peacock, S. Sundquist
Total funding: $199,462
April 2022 - March 2026
STS, Disability Arts, and the Frictions of Futurity in Transplant Medicine: A Multidisciplinary Salon
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC)
This SSHRC Connection Grant will support the collaboration of international artists and scholars through two multidiscplinary salons. The salons will use arts-based research methods and practices to examine novel ways of understanding psychosocial challenges that span the solid organ transplantation process.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Kelly Fritsch, Margrit Shildrick
Co-Investigators: Susan Abbey, Donna Stewart
Project collaborator Kathleen Sheehan, Josee Lynch, Eva-Marie Stern
Total funding (Direct costs): $30,060
March 2022 - March 2023
Temporalities of Cure in Liver Transplantation
University of Toronto Critical Digital Humanities Institute
The "Temporalities" project examines the experience of long-term survivors of liver transplantation, exploring the limitations that surround conceptualizations of survivors’ experiences in biomedical settings and what is lacking in conventional approaches to psychosocial supports for this population. This grant will support a project graduate student to lead a critical discourse analysis of liver transplantation patient manuals along with a series of qualitative interviews and digital storytelling workshops for transplant recipients.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Chloe Wong-Mersereau
Total funding (Direct costs): $10,000
April 2022 - August 2022
Functional Electrical Stimulation for Major Depressive Disorder: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Functional Electrical Stimulation of Facial Muscles: Treating Depression with a Smile
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Sidney Kennedy, Milos Popovic
Co-Investigators: Benoit H Mulsant
Total funding (Direct costs): $390,000
Oct 2022 - Sept 2025
Feasibility of Inhaled Nitrous Oxide versus Intravenous Ketamine in Treatment-Resistant Depression with Suicidal Ideation: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP)
This pilot trial will compare inhaled nitrous oxide to IV ketamine for reduction of suicidal ideation in treatment-resistant depression.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Sidney Kennedy
Co-Investigators: Ishrat Husain, Benoit H Mulsant
Total funding (Direct costs): $90,000
Oct 2022 - Sept 2024
Understanding attitudes and beliefs toward the COVID-19 vaccines among youth with mental illness
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The overall objective of this project is to explore the beliefs, attitudes, and information needs of youth with mental illness related to COVID-19 vaccines. Our findings will lead to the co-creation of targeted resources that can support youth, clinicians, and public health professionals in having effective youth-centric discussions about vaccines, mental health, and COVID-19 more generally.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Sanjeev Sockalingam, Joanna Henderson, Nicole Kozloff, Andrea Levenson
Total funding (Direct costs): $143,428
December 2022 - December 2023
Physiological Signature of Emotional Distress in Persons with Dementia: Multi-sensory X deep learning to Facilitate Personalized Management of agitation
Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging/CIHR
This project will investigate the physiological signature for "emotional distress" in patients with agitation due to Alzheimer disease leveraging two large multi-centre therapeutic trials. Methodology will include multi-sensory devices and deep learning.
Other faculty contributors
Co-investigators: Krista Lanctot, Tarek Rajji, Corinne Fischer, Andrea Iaboni, and Sanjeev Kumar.
Total funding (direct costs): $40,000
May 2022 - April 2024
Anti-Muslim Discrimination in Medical Training: The experiences of resident physicians
Education Development Fund
This is a mixed-methods study using quantitative and qualitative methods to quantify and characterize anti-Muslim discrimination in residency training. A survey will be conducted nationally, along with in-depth qualitative interviews to understand the emotional and behavioural impact of discrimination on resident physicians.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Susan Abbey, Hashim Khan, Arfeen Malick, Umberin Najeeb, Javeed Sukhera, Juveria Zaheer
Senior advisors: Juveria Zaheer and Susan Abbey
Total funding (Direct costs): $20,000
August 2022
Common language for intimate partner violence risk appraisal and mitigation: An evidence-based policing approach
Social Science and Humanities Research Council
Partnering with police services and universities in Alberta, New Brunswick, and Ontario to study and share evidence-based approaches for assessing risk of intimate partner violence and coercive control.
Total funding: $199,583
2022-2024
A proof-of-concept randomized controlled trial to show that the antidepressant effects of psilocybin do not require psychedelic effects
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
This proof-of-concept “double dummy” RCT aims to assess whether psilocybin’s antidepressant effects are induced by 5HT2A receptor agonism (and hence by psychedelic effects) in 60 participants with treatment-resistant depression.
Other contributors
Co-Investigators: Daniel Blumberger, David Castle, Stefan Kloiber, Abigail Ortiz, Benoit Mulsant, Joshua Rosenblat, Wei Wang
Total funding (Direct costs): $546,976
Oct 2022 - Sept 2023
The Canadian Mental Health, Equity, and Climate Change Initiative
McConnell Foundation
This knowledge mobilization initiative was developed to enhance Canada's capacity to decrease the mental health impacts of climate change, emphasizing preventative responses for populations experiencing poverty. Subpopulations of focus include women, children and the elderly, and persons lacking adequate housing.
Other contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Kwame McKenzie, Arun Ravindran, Vicky Stergiopoulos, Samantha Wells, Trevor Young
Total funding (Direct costs): $443,880
June 2022 – June 2025
App for Independence-O (A4i-O) – Expanding a Validated Platform for Complex Behavioral Health to Address Opioid Use
CAMH Foundation
This study involves modifying a digital health platform currently tailored for psychosis to meet the needs of individuals.
Other faculty contributors
o-Investigators: Lena Quilty, David Castle, Tony George, Matthew Sloan, Peter Selby, Jessica D’Arcey
Total funding (direct costs): $165,000
March 2022 - April 2024
Creating an Evidence-Informed, Accessible, Clinically Useful and Personalized Virtual Mental Health Support Framework for School-Age Children on the Autism Spectrum: Building from Pandemic e-Support Experiences
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
This project will provide critical knowledge to create a child- and family-centered e-MH framework for Canadian school-age autistic children and their families. This e-MH framework can be applied widely to enhance personalized support for autistic children across geographical regions and contexts.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigator: Stephanie Ameis
Total funding (Direct costs): $657,900
April 2022 - March 2026
rTMS for apathy in dementia: a pilot study
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Evaluating the effectiveness of rTMS for apathy associated with dementia.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: D Gallagher, P Giacobbe, N Herrmann, S Nestor, M Rapoport, S Tumat
Total funding (Direct costs): $100,000
Apr 2022 - Mar 2023
Exercise augmenting cognition tDCS (EXACT) trial: A pilot study of a combined exercise and transcranial direct current stimulation intervention for cognition
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The aim of this study is to assess the efficacy of exercise combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) for improving cognition in mild Alzheimer's disease patients. This study may identify a safe, non-invasive treatment approach that preserves cognition in early Alzheimer's disease, therefore having major health implications.
Other contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Damien Gallagher, Nathan Herrmann
Damien Gallagher, Mark Rapoport and Nathan Herrmann will oversee patient management and care. Ana Andreazza will perform biomarker analysis. Tarek Rajji will assist with aspects related to the tDCS machines and training.
Total funding (Direct costs): $456,706
Oct 2022 - Sept 2025
What do New Practitioners Need from Continuing Professional Development (CPD): A Case Study of Transition to Practice and Early Career Psychiatrists
CPD Advancement and Ideas Grants - Temerty Faculty of Medicine
The Royal College has stipulated new training experiences (e.g. learning the business aspects of practice, avoiding College complaints, engaging in QI initiatives amongst others) for Psychiatry residents in the penultimate stage of training: Transition to Practice (TTP). We seek to determine gaps in these competencies, as identified by senior Psychiatry residents and Early Career Psychiatrists, which would then inform Continuing Professional Development education sessions in order to best address their needs.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Dr. Certina Ho
Collaborator, representing Early Career Psychiatrists: Dr. Tracey Sarmiento
Collaborator, representing Equity and Mentorship: Dr. Mary Jane Esplen
Project Advisor: Dr. Sanjeev Sockalingam
Total funding amount: $5,000
Lithium for the Treatment of Paediatric Bipolar Disorder: A Delphi Study
Pooler Charitable Trust, TD Bank
This study will use the Delphi Method to conduct a survey of international experts on the safe and effective use of lithium for the treatment of paediatric bipolar disorder in all phases of illness.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigator: Simina Toma Co-Investigator: Ayal Schaffer
Total funding (Direct costs): $21,850
March 1 2022 - March 1 2023
Self-Harm Presentations Encountering ED in Youth (SPEEDY): Rapid Risk Stratification for Clinical Management
American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (AFSP); Young Investigators Grant Competition
To determine how self-harm method impacts risk of suicide and related outcomes following a first presentation of self-harm to the emergency department for youth. The specific focus will be on cutting versus poisoning as these methods represent over 90% of all emergency room presentations for self-harm among youth.
Other contributors
Co-Investigators: Kathleen Dobson, Benjamin Goldstein, Nicole Kozloff, Natasha Saunders, Ayal Schaffer, Mark Sinyor (Young Investigator Mentor), Simone Vigod
Total funding (Direct costs):$90,000
Oct 2022 - 2024
Magnetic Seizure Therapy for Schizophrenia - Neurocircuitry (MAST-Neuro)
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD)
The overarching goal of MAST-Neuro is to identify brain imaging biomarkers that relate to the therapeutic effects and cognitive side effects of MST and ECT. Identifying such brain imaging biomarkers is an important step towards precision medicine, in which targeted treatments may help maximize benefit and minimize risk.
Other faculty contributors
Daniel Blumberger, Co-I for MAST-Neuro, PI for MAST-Trial
George Foussias, Co-I for MAST-Neuro, Co-PI for MAST-Trial
Total funding (Direct costs): $70,000
July 2022 - June 2024
Predicting cardiovascular risk in patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder using clinical and biomarker data: focus on sex-related differences
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
The overall objective of this work is to understand the determinants of sex-related differences in cardiovascular morbidity in bipolar disorder (BD) towards the goal of developing prediction tools that will support prevention. This approach builds on the preliminary work of an interdisciplinary team of junior and senior investigators on: (i) clinical trajectories in BD; (ii) feasibility of using passive sensing in adults with BD during different types of episodes; (iii) cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in BD; (iv) and molecular and genetic basis of BD.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, Dr. Daniel Felsky, Dr. Ishrat Husein, Mr. Marcos Sanches, Dr. Benoit Mulsant
Total funding (Direct costs): $283,051
April 2022 - March 2025
Dr, Abigail Ortiz
Community-based, technology-enabled prediction of post-discharge suicidal behavior in bipolar disorders using passive sensing and pattern recognition
Department of Psychiatry Suicide Studies Fund
This study aims to develop new data modeling to examine changes within each individual, over time, to predict post-discharge suicidal behavior in patients with bipolar disorder.
Other faculty contributors
Co-applicants: Dr. Daniel Blumberger, Dr. Ishrat Husain, Dr. Juveria Zaheer
Mentor: Dr. Benoit Mulsant
Total funding (Direct costs): $48,000
July 2022 - June 2023
Optimization of Prefrontal Theta-Burst Stimulation to Treat Depression: A Bench to First-in-Human Study
Brain Canada
In this project, we will first optimize theta-burst stimulation to induce plasticity in the prefrontal cortex of an animal model for depression then adapt the preclinical changes to human theta-burst stimulation and compare its ability to induce plasticity in humans compared to traditional protocol. Throughout the project we will also implement integrated Knowledge Translation in partnership with individuals with lived experience, learner and community of practice stakeholders.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Branka Agic, Daniel Blumberger, Clement Ma, Benoit Mulsant
Co-Applicants: Graham Collingridge, Evelyn Lambe, Sanjeev Sockalingam
Total funding (Direct costs): $950,000
January 2022 - December 2024
Neurobiological Effects of Psilocybin in Treatment Resistant Bipolar Depression: An Emotional-Processing fMRI Pilot Study
Labatt Family Innovation Fund in Brain Health
We propose an open-label, single-arm, pilot study, wherein twenty participants with moderate to severe treatment resistant bipolar depression (TRBD) will receive one 25 mg dose of oral psilocybin with supportive psychotherapy. Our primary objective is to determine if increased amygdala activity during emotional stimuli post-psilocybin treatment is associated with antidepressant effects in individuals with TRBD.
Other faculty contributors
Mentor: Roger S. McIntyre, MD, FRCPC
Co-Applicants: Ishrat Husain, MBBS, MD(Res.), MRCPsych, Colin Hawco, PhD, Rodrigo Mansur, MD, PhD, David Castle, MD, Hilary Offman, MD, FRCPC, Wei Wang, PhD
Total funding (Direct costs): $340,000
February 2022 - January 2025
Maintenance Ketamine Infusions for Treatment-Resistant Bipolar Depression: An Open-Label Extension Trial
Physician Service Inc (PSI)
This study will evaluate the mood stabilizing and antidepressant effects of ketamine infusions in bipolar I/II disorder. This study is an add on study to Dr. Rosenblat's CIHR-funded RCT evaluating the acute antidepressant effects of ketamine for bipolar depression. The present study will provide additional 'booster' infusions to ketamine-responders to evaluate if the benefits may be sustained by additional ketamine doses.
Other faculty contributors
Co-investigator: Dr. Rodrigo Mansur
Mentor: Dr. Roger McIntyre
Total funding (Direct costs): $300,000
March 1, 2022 - March 1, 2025
Development of an education module to improve communication, engagement and inclusivity at PM: A curriculum focused on pronouns, gender, sexual orientation and relationship diversity in cancer care
UHN Cancer Experience Program at Princess Margaret
The purpose of this project is to promote knowledge about the health needs of sexual and gender minorities among healthcare providers, administrative/clerical staff and trainees in a format that is inclusive, interactive and effective.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Gilla Shapiro, Jennifer Croke
Total funding (Direct costs): $20,000
Lived experience of involuntary transport under the Ontario Mental Health Act: A qualitative study to inform the discussion on non-police responses to mental health crises
Innovation Fund, St. Michael's Hospital Association
This study will evaluate the lived experience of patients who have been apprehended by the police under a Form 1 and investigate the preferences of service users for an alternative authority they may respond to under a Form 1, if at all.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators: Michaela Beder, Amy Gajaria, Samuel Law
Total funding (Direct costs): $22,100
Implementation of Caring Contacts using patient feedback to reduce suicide-related outcomes following psychiatric hospitalization: A community-hospital partnership
The Cass Family Grants for Catalyzing Access and Change and the Healthcare Insurance Reciprocal of Canada (HIROC) Patient Safety Grant
Sunnybrook Department of Psychiatry piloted the first Canadian Caring Contact RCT with some early evidence of success. This project seeks additional patient input to enhance the acceptability and effectiveness of the intervention to reduce suicide-related outcomes. This quality improvement project aims to adapt and improve an evidence-based suicide-prevention initiative for psychiatric inpatients at high risk of suicide following discharge from hospital.
Other contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Saulo Castel, Ayal Schaffer, Mark Sinyor, Ari Zaretsky
Total funding (Direct costs): $25,000
July 2022 - June 2023
A Psychosocial Transitional Group to Improve Adaptation, Coping and Mental Health Outcomes Following Trauma, Catalyst Grant – Addressing Musculoskeletal
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
A feasibility RCT to test the effectiveness of a psychosocial transitional inpatient group in neuro-musculoskeletal (NMSK) trauma rehabilitation patients to enhance coping, adaptation and self-efficacy and to decrease psychological distress.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Investigators in psychiatry: Janet Ellis Others: Godleski M, Gotlib Conn L, Guilcher SJT, Hitzig SL, Mayo AL, Redelmeier D, Simpson R, Wasilewski M. (Rehab/Physiatry) Knowledge User: Domingo A
Total funding (Direct costs): $99,986
April 2022 to March 2024
Examination of Factors Influencing Mental Health and Suicidality
CANSSI Ontario
We aim to examine the risk and protective factors influencing suicidal ideation and related mental health phenotypes in the CanPath dataset
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Wei Xu, Pratyusha Attaluri, Arun K. Tiwari, Gwyneth Zai, James Kennedy
Total funding (Direct costs): $5,000
2022-2023
Using Long-read Whole-genome Sequencing to Understand Treatment Resistance in Psychiatric Patients
McLaughlin Centre
We aim to conduct a long-read whole-genome sequencing study to examine genetic factors of treatment resistance in diverse psychiatric populations.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: James L. Kennedy, Arun K. Tiwari, Gwyneth C. Zai, Joyce So, Jerry Warsh
Total funding (Direct costs): $75,000
2022-2023
A Pragmatic Trial to Evaluate the Impact of an Inpatient Psychosocial Transitional Group to Improve Mental Health Outcomes Following Limb Loss
War Amps of Canada
This is a pragmatic research trial (stemming from an earlier feasibility trial) comparing effectiveness of a group therapy intervention (SEGT) to treatment as usual (TAU) for patients with traumatic and dysvascular limb-loss in a inpatient rehabilitation setting.
Other faculty contributors
Co-Principal Investigators: Robinson L, Mayo A, Simpson R, Hitzig S, Wasilewski M, Jankey S, MacKay S
Total funding (Direct costs): $122,000
November 2022 to October 2024