Michael Mak

Michael Mak is a sleep medicine specialist and staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He also provides cultural mental health care for the Hong Fook Mental Health Association. He received his MD from Queen’s University in Kingston, and subsequently completed his Psychiatry residency and fellowship in Sleep Medicine at Western University in London. Dr. Mak is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and an Adjunct Research Professor at Western University. His academic interests include medical education, simulation as a teaching modality in Psychiatry, management of insomnia and the study of sleep disorders in psychiatric patients. He is currently the Site Director for Undergraduate Medical Education at CAMH and the PGY5/Transition to Practice coordinator for the postgraduate Psychiatry training program at the University of Toronto. He serves on the Education Committees of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He was named Fellow of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2022. Dr. Mak was elected VP Clinical of the Canadian Sleep Society in 2023. He was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine in 2024. He is a standing member of the Royal College AFC Committee in Sleep Disorder Medicine. He is the President-Elect for the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Honours and Awards

2022-2023: Best Elective Supervisor – CAMH Undergraduate Medical Education

2021-2022: Abraham Miller Undergraduate Teaching Award by the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

2021-2022: Best Staff Teacher – CAMH Undergraduate Medical Education

2021-2022: The Wightman-Berris Academy – Individual Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education

2021-2022: MD Program Teaching Award of Excellence for the 2021-22 Academic Year award by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Mak’s research interests include: quality improvement and epidemiology in medical psychiatry; management of insomnia; psychiatric manifestations of sleep disorders; and novel usage of technology in the management of psychiatric and medical disorders.

Recent Publications

Mak MSB, Preisman M. The promise of mindfulness-based interventions for narcolepsy. Sleep. 2024 Oct 11;47(10):zsae166. doi: 10.1093/sleep/zsae166.

Morin CM, Khullar A, Robillard R, Desautels A, Mak MSB, Dang-Vu TT, Chow W, Habert J, Lessard S, Alima L, Ayas NT, MacFarlane J, Kendzerska T, Lee EK, Carney CE. Delphi consensus recommendations for the management of chronic insomnia in Canada. Sleep Medicine. 2024 Oct 1; Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sleep.2024.09.038.

Wong S, Fabiano N, Luu B, Seo C, Gupta A, Kim HK, Shorr R, Jones BDM, Mak MSB, Husain MI. The effect of weighted blankets on sleep quality and mental health symptoms in people with psychiatric disorders in inpatient and outpatient settings: A systematic review and meta-analysis. J Psychiatr Res. 2024 Sep 22;179:286-294. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2024.09.027.

Mak MSB, Gebara MA, Lenze EJ, Blumberger DM, Brown PJ, Cristancho P, Flint AJ, Karp JF, Lavretsky H, Miller JP, Reynolds CF 3rd, Roose SP, Mulsant BH, Stahl ST. Poor Sleep is Common in Treatment-Resistant Late-life Depression and Associated With Poorer Antidepressant Response: Findings From the OPTIMUM Clinical Trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2024 Aug 13:S1064-7481(24)00430-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jagp.2024.07.020.

Aversa V, Hawa R, Lee EK, Mak MSB. C-L Case Conference: Insomnia Disorder. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2024 May-Jun;65(3):293-301. doi: 10.1016/j.jaclp.2023.11.684.

Selsick H, Heidbreder A, Ellis J, Ferini-Strambi L, García-Borreguero D, Leontiou C, Mak MSB, O'Regan D, Parrino L. Assessment and management of chronic insomnia disorder: an algorithm for primary care physicians. BMC Prim Care. 2024 Apr 26;25(1):138. doi: 10.1186/s12875-024-02381-w.

Crockford D, Bahji A, Schutz C, Brasch J, Buckley L, Danilewitz M, Dubreucq S, Mak M, George TP. Training in Substance Use Disorders, Part 2: Updated Curriculum Guidelines. Can J Psychiatry. 2024 Jun;69(6):457-478. doi: 10.1177/07067437241232456.

Bahji A, Crockford D, Brasch J, Schutz C, Buckley L, Danilewitz M, Dubreucq S, Mak M, George TP. Training in Substance use Disorders, Part 1: Overview of Clinical Practice Recommendations. Can J Psychiatry. 2024 Jun;69(6):428-456. doi: 10.1177/07067437241231128.

Bahadur AG, Antinucci R, Hargreaves F, Mak M, Moghabghab R, Sockalingam S, & Abdool PS. Immersive Virtual Reality Simulation for Suicide Risk Assessment Training: Innovations in Mental Health Nursing education. Clinical Simulation in Nursing. 2024;96:101608. doi:10.1016/j.ecns.2024.101608.

Qian J, Fischer C, Burhan A, Mak M, Gerretsen P, Kolla N, Al-Chalabi N, Chaudhary Z, Qureshey A, Bani-Fatemi A, Graff A, Remington G, De Luca V. GWAS of biological aging to find longevity genes in schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2024 Aug;274(5):1025-1036. doi: 10.1007/s00406-023-01622-w. Epub 2023 Jul 8.

Cuperfain AB, Chang BP, Mak M. Violent behaviour during sleep. CMAJ. 2023 Jul 17;195(27):E932. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221820.

Mak M, Rahmani A. 0379 A Scoping Review of Validation Studies for Commercially Available CBT-i Smartphone Applications, Sleep, Volume 46, Issue Supplement_1, May 2023, Page A168, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad077.0379

Liu R, Thomas R, Heckman E, Mak M. 0943 Sleep Medicine Tweet-by-Tweet, an Electronic Platform for Collaborative Medical Education, Sleep, Volume 46, Issue Supplement_1, May 2023, Page A416, https://doi.org/10.1093/sleep/zsad077.0943

Pallaveshi L, Mak M, Rudnick A. Predictors of Clozapine Funding in Southwestern Ontario. Psychiatr Serv. 2016 Jan;67(1):143-4. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.201500370. PMID: 26725498.

Appointments

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University

Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Western University

Grants

2022 – present: Primary Investigator: What do New Practitioners Need from Continuing Professional Development (CPD): A Case Study of Transition to Practice and Early Career Psychiatrists. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Ho, Certina; Sarmiento, Tracy; Esplen, Mary Jane; Sockalingam, Sanjeev. 5000 CAD.

2017 – 2019 Primary Investigator: Tryptophan as treatment for Insomnia in the Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder Populations. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Chitpin J, Kwiatkowski D, Nicolson R. 3500 CAD.

2016 – 2019 Co-Primary Investigator: Chronic Disease Management Initiative. PIs: Links PS, Mak M. Collaborators: Calvin J, Wetmore S, Eynan R, Licskai C, Valiquet S, Sibbald S. 166000 CAD.

2016 – 2019 Primary Investigator: Diagnostic Accuracy in an Academic Consultation-Liaison Service. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Charbonneau J, King R, Ulch S, Maclean M, Barr J, Garcia C. 7500 CAD.