Special Honours and Recognition

Ed Adlaf was appointed lead consultant for the Global Audit of Youth Drug Use. The purpose of the report is to compile and review the extent of drug use among 15- and 16-year-old youth worldwide, and trends between 1998 and 2005. The work is under the auspices of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Ofer Agid received a 2005 NARSAD (National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression) Young Investigator award. With this award, he will use brain imaging of patients taking certain antipsychotics to study the drugs’ effect on the extrastriatal dopamine D2 receptor system, a different pathway than usually analyzed.

Michael Bagby and Tony Toneatto co-ordinated the academic conference entitled “Gambling Research Day: Linking Clinical Research with Practice.”

The Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada (AFMC) chose Bruce Ballon as the winner of this year’s AFMC-GlaxoSmithKline Young Educator Award. This award recognizes individuals who have made major contributions to medical education and who are in the early years of their academic career.

John Cairney received his first Canada Research Chair in Psychiatric Epidemiology. Dr. Cairney’s inaugural appointment will help him, as he investigates the cause and consequence of mental well-being, to gain a better understanding of the social determinants of mental health among people with low incomes, children with physical disabilities, and single mothers.

Russell Callaghan presented the paper “Inpatient Detoxification and Intravenous Drug Use in Northern B.C.” at the Aboriginal Youth in Crisis Task Force meeting. Dr. Callaghan also presented the paper “Inpatient Substance-Abuse Detoxification in Northern British Columbia: A 6-year Study” for the Centre for Addiction Research British Columbia.

John Cunningham consulted on the content for the Alcohol Help Centre, an Internet-based intervention for people with drinking problems.

Jeff Daskalakis was one of fifteen 2004 NARSAD Young Investigators selected to present at this year’s annual NARSAD Scientific Symposium. Chosen from almost two hundred 2004 Young Investigators, Dr. Daskalakis spoke on his work with rTMS treatment on patients with schizophrenia. He also received a 2006 Young Investigator award.

Carolyn Dewa joined the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Depression Strategy Advisory Committee.

Peter Farvolden presented on Internet-based treatment for panic disorder at the Anxiety Disorders Association of Canada’s second biannual conference.

Susan George and Brian O’Dowd edited a book entitled G Protein-Coupled Receptor–Protein Interactions. It outlines how these receptor-protein interactions organize signal transduction and control intracellular activities. Chapters offer state-of-the-art updates on the principles and technology, as well as stepwise protocols for methods currently applied to the analysis of receptor-protein interactions.

The Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit (HSRCU) is the Coordinating Centre for the Mental Health System Enhancement Evaluation Initiative (SEEI)project, lead by Paula Goering. SEEI represents a broad collaboration of researchers from Ontario, along with partners from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario; the Ontario Federation for Community Mental Health and Addictions Services; the Ontario Mental Health Foundation; and CAMH’s Policy, Education and Health Promotion department. This project was made possible by $3.2 million in funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. SEEI will evaluate the effects of significant government investments made over four years in key areas of the mental health service system.

The research studies will take place in two phases and will be supported by a knowledge exchange network. Phase 1 includes two studies:

• Study 1, “Understanding Our Mental Health System,” co-led by Janet Durbin and Brian Rush, monitors the impact of new resources, relying mainly on existing provincial health administrative data. 
• Study 2, “The Matryoshka Project,” led by Carolyn Dewa, will collect information to obtain an in-depth picture of young people experiencing a first psychotic episode; and people with mental illness in contact with the criminal justice system. This study will take place in six communities. 

Seven Phase 2 studies are underway and will complement the Phase 1 studies.

Umesh Jain received the Naomi Rae Grant Award. This award is given each year by the Canadian Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, to a child psychiatrist who has made a significant contribution to the lives of children through community work.

Shitij Kapur received The Dr. Paul Janssen Schizophrenia Research Award of the Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum. This award is given to a young investigator who has performed outstanding research in the basic or clinical neuroscience of schizophrenia.  Dr. Kapur also received the Society of Biological Psychiatry’s AE Bennett Award, and his Canada Research Chair in Imaging Technologies in Human Disease and Preclinical Models was renewed for an additional five years.

Fang Liu received an Honourable Mention for NARSAD’s 2005 Daniel X. Freedman Award, which recognizes NARSAD Young Investigators who have distinguished themselves through outstanding basic science research.

Robert Mann was appointed as a member of the Drugs and Driving Advisory Council for MADD Canada.

Jeff Meyer received the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Young Investigator Award. Dr. Meyer’s contributions included new advances in understanding monoamine abnormalities in depression and in measuring how much antidepressant gets to target sites during treatment.

Arturas Petronis chaired the educational session “Epigenetics” at the 13th World Congress on Psychiatric Genetics.

Arun Ravindran was recently elected to the Fellowship of Great Britain’s Royal College of Psychiatrists. This award is for Dr. Ravindran’s outstanding academic and/or clinical contributions to psychiatry.

Paula Ravitz was selected as the Association of Academic Psychiatry Regional Teacher of the Year Award for Region XI (Canada). Dr. Ravitz also received the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry’s Ivan Silver Award for Excellence in Continuing Mental Health Education.

Neil Rector was appointed to the editorial boards of Cognitive Therapy and Research, Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An International Quarterly, and Cognitive and Behavioral Practice. Dr. Rector was also appointed to the American Psychiatric Association’s Best Practices Training Grid for People with Serious Mental Illness.

Jürgen Rehm was invited to be Chair of Health Canada’s Surveillance Advisory Committee. The committee's goal is to develop a plan for future surveillance in the area of alcohol and illicit drugs, which would enable health care planning for Canada in the next decade.  Also, Dr. Rehm became a member of the Board of the Jellinek Fund. The Fund’s main task is to select the winner of the Jellinek Award, considered the most prestigious prize in the area of alcohol studies.

Lori Ross participated as an organizing committee member for the Queer Mothering conference, organized by the Association for Research on Mothering. Dr. Ross assisted in speaker selection and program planning.

Brian Rush acted as a Scientific Advisor to the CAMH Quality Improvement Council Provincial Capacity Assessment Project. Dr. Rush is also consulting on the evaluation of a six-site project for the National Youth Addiction Model, for national implementation in Chile.

In partnership with the Ministry of Health Promotion and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare, Peter Selby launched a study aimed at helping Ontarians quit smoking. The first study of its kind in Canada, the STOP (Smoking Treatment for Ontario Patients) Study will distribute free nicotine replacement therapy to a group of eligible smokers and monitor their effectiveness in quitting. Participants will also be given helpful information and resources, such as counselling, to help in the quitting process.

Carol Strike facilitated and organized several workshops for front line service workers and physicians, including the workshops “Improving Pathways to Care for Suicidal and Substance Using Men,” for the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention, and “Best Practices for Needle Exchange Programs in Ontario,” for A Skills Building Workshop: The Impact of Crack Smoking and Crystal Methamphetamine Use on Hepatitis C Transmission for Drug Users in Ontario. Susan Anstice and Natasha Berkley also helped organize this workshop.

Brenda Toner presented on cognitive behaviour therapy for IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) at the Sixth International Symposium in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.

Nigel Turner designed a course for Ryerson University on problem gambling theory and treatment.

 Rachel Tyndale received funding for her project entitled Pharmacogenetics of Nicotine Addiction and Treatment (PNAT). This five-year program will increase understanding of the genetic bases of nicotine addiction and the genetic influences on responses to pharmacotherapy to aid smoking cessation. The long-term objectives of this work are to better individualize treatment for nicotine dependence, to facilitate the development of novel medications and to reduce the impact of smoking as a major health problem.  Also, Dr. Tyndale received the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s 2006 Innovations in Neuropsychopharmacology Research Award, in recognition of the outstanding, innovative nature of her research contributions.

Jessica Warner was short-listed in the English non-fiction category of the 2005 Governor General’s Literary Awards for her book The Incendiary: The Misadventures of John the Painter, First Modern Terrorist. This book profiles the career of a Scottish sociopath who set fires in the hope of achieving fame in revolutionary America.

Trevor Young was awarded the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology’s Heinz Lehmann Award. This prestigious award recognizes Dr. Young’s outstanding contributions in neuropsychopharmacology research in Canada.  In addition, Dr. Young was elected to the status of Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (APA). This honour is in recognition of his eminent career as a member of the APA and his many contributions to professional and academic life.

Ken Zucker was appointed to the American Psychological Association’s Task Force on Gender Identity, Gender Variance, and Intersex Conditions. The charge of the Task Force is to develop recommendations to address issues such as how the Association can best meet the needs of psychologists and students who identify as transgender, transsexual or intersex.

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