Benedikt Fischer

Benedikt Fischer, PhD, obtained his doctorate in Criminology from the University of Toronto (1998). He started his academic research career as a Scientist (1996) at the then Addiction Research Foundation, where – upon the formation of CAMH – he was a Co-Head of the Public Health and Regulatory Policy Research Section (2003-2006). Starting in 2006, Dr. Fischer held primary academic positions in British Columbia for a decade, as Professor at the Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, where he was Director of the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions (CARMHA), from 2008 to 2014. In 2015, Dr. Fischer returned to his principal appointments in Toronto, concretely as a Senior Scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, CAMH, with his primary academic appointment in the Department of Psychiatry, with additional appointments at the Institute of Medical Science and the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies, University of Toronto.

Dr. Fischer’s substance use and addiction research work is highly interdisciplinary in nature and, throughout his career, has primarily focused on the intersecting areas of: epidemiology and harms of illicit/prescription drug use; prevention/treatment/public health interventions; co-morbidities (mainly mental health, infectious disease, and pain); and marginalized (e.g., street-involved, correctional; First Nations/Indigenous) populations, with a strong focus on knowledge translation and/or policy application. He is recognized as an international leader in these fields. Select highlights of Dr. Fischer’s prolific research career include: The OPICAN study (which uniquely characterized drug use, health and intervention needs of illicit opioid users across Canada); characteristics of and experimental brief interventions for high-risk cannabis users; evidence-based ‘Lower Risk Cannabis Use Guidelines’ (original version in 2011 and revised version just launched); novel pharmaco-treatment interventions for opioid and cannabis disorders; behavioral/clinical characteristics of and interventions for crack-cocaine users in North and South America); as well as population-level  determinants and outcomes of (morbidity and mortality) harm and evidence-based interventions for prescription opioid use, misuse and control, in Canada and internationally. Recently, Dr. Fischer has been a leading voice in providing science-based input for responses to the ‘prescription opioid crisis’ in Canada, as well as for developing the cannabis legalization framework in Canada. The latter role, most recently, included his temporary secondment as Senior Science Advisor to Health Canada’s Cannabis Legalization & Regulation Office.

Dr. Fischer’s academic career has been characterized by consistently high levels of innovation and excellence. He has a total of ~300 scientific, including >230 peer-reviewed publications, and several internationally co-authored books. He has held extensive peer-reviewed research funding support – mostly from CIHR, but also other national and international funding agency sources – including several large-scale/interdisciplinary team grants, most recently as the NPI for the Ontario Node of the CIHR-funded Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse (CRISM) and his lead role in CRISM intervention studies. Dr. Fischer has held several prestigious academic career awards, including CIHR and MSFHR investigator awards, and, most recently a CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Chair as well as a University Professorship at SFU. He has held scientific advisory positions, including with CIHR’s Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction as well as the Mental Health Commission of Canada. His academic collaborations extend widely across CAMH/UofT, Canada, and internationally, including the Institute of Psychiatry, Federal University of Sao Paulo. Besides his diverse and prolific academic work, Dr. Fischer is a sought-after spokesperson on substance use, health and policy issues in the media.