Encouraging research in cardiology, oncology, and psychiatry.
Mach-Gaensslen Foundation funds new postdoc award through Canadian Institutes of Health Research
The Mach-Gaensslen Foundation is pleased to announce the first winners of a postdoctoral research fellowship in mental health, addictions and cognitive health. The fellowship is funded by the foundation and delivered through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
“This marks the first partnership between the foundation and Canada’s federal funding agency for medical research, CIHR,” said Dr. Christopher Carruthers, the chair of the Mach-Gaensslen Foundations’ board of directors. “The foundation has previously said that Canada needs more research in mental health and allied areas. Now we’re putting our money where our mouth is. We are working with CIHR to improve its capacity to fund this vital research.”
The funding provides $60,000 annually for two-year fellowships for two researchers, for a total of $240,000.
The inaugural fellowships address challenging issues in mental health. This year’s winners are:
Helena K. Kim, a postdoctoral researcher and resident in psychiatry at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. Her project will create “decision trees” — aids in helping clinicians decide on treatment for older adults with depression. Building on her own and others’ research, Kim’s project will look at three scenarios in which patients’ depression poses a challenge for treatment.
Laura E. Labonté, a postdoctoral researcher and resident in psychiatry at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Her project aims to better understand psychosis induced by substance use among marginalized populations. It draws on data from the “Hotel Study” — a longitudinal study of community residents in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside who suffer from severe poverty, addictions and physical or mental illness.
From the planet to the county: bringing an international program to prevent youth substance use to one Ontario county
Youth health and well-being was the topic of a roundtable held May 29, 2023, during a visit to Canada by Iceland’s president. Attending were three young people from Lanark County: Payton Bell, Rowan Tunks and Rylee Gagnon. From left to right, front: Payton Bell and Guðni Jóhannesson (president of Iceland); back: Rylee Gagnon, Rowan Tunks, Governor General Mary Simon, Carolyn Bennett (Minister of Mental Health and Addictions), Rebecca Shams (health promoter from the Leeds, Grenville and Lanark Health Unit), and Eliza Reid (Canadian-born first lady of Iceland).
The Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada is happy to announce that it will contribute to Planet Youth Lanark County’s innovative approach to prevent substance use among young people. Planet Youth is an international organization that helps communities adopt the Icelandic Prevention Model (IPM). The IPM was developed in Iceland and is being used in countries as far flung as Mexico, Finland and New Zealand.
“Lanark County is the first place in Canada to implement the Icelandic Prevention Model,” explains David Somppi, the volunteer chair of the steering committee. The Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada joins the Graham Boeckh Foundation and Ontario Proceeds of Crime grants in supporting Planet Youth Lanark County, which has also applied for other grants to move the approach forward.
The county, southwest of Ottawa, Ontario, takes in rural areas and several small towns. It is about 3,000 square kilometres in area and has a population of 75,760 according to the 2021 census.
Bringing the approach to Lanark County had its genesis in a 2017 community meeting about the pressing problem of opioid use, says Somppi. Several hundred people attended, reflecting the community’s concern. One attendee spoke about the “Icelandic model” that has helped Iceland dramatically lower alcohol addiction — once a serious problem in that country.
The model involves “primary” prevention — preventing a problem before it even starts. Through a series of steps, the community improves the environment for young people, in families, peer groups, schools, and extracurricular activities. Somppi says that an environment “rich in protective factors” contributes to good mental health. Research shows that this makes children “much less likely to engage in activities that lead to use of opioids, alcohol or cannabis,” Somppi says.
“We want to do what we can to make sure kids grow up healthier,” he says.
As a Planet Youth partner organization, Lanark County benefits from standardized surveys that youth fill out online and are then analyzed by Planet Youth’s central office in Iceland. Planet Youth Lanark County has already carried out surveys through collaboration with local school boards. Lanark County also benefits from access to Planet Youth’s worldwide network of experts.
Planet Youth Lanark County is closely connected with Open Doors for Lanark Children and Youth, a community-based mental health service, which provides services throughout the county. Executive Director Kevin Clouthier is also vice-chair of Planet Youth Lanark County. Clouthier also leads a coalition planning to bring a Youth Wellness Hub to Lanark County. This will provide youth from 12 to 25 with a range of services (primary care, mental health and addictions, life skills, etc.) that are currently difficult to access because the system is fragmented. The holistic approach, often called “integrated youth services,” will “deliver immediate benefits for the well-being of youth,” explains Clouthier.
One of the benefits he sees to the connection between Planet Youth and integrated youth services is community engagement, and especially youth engagement. The survey data collected by Planet Youth will also be helpful. “These data tell us what is happening in our community. Our community then sets priorities for responding to the data. Local data is the key to determining local solutions,” says Clouthier.
Somppi and Clouthier say upstream prevention through Planet Youth will complement the services at the proposed Youth Wellness Hub. Bringing together primary prevention with secondary prevention and treatment available through integrated youth services will be another first.
Second annual Dr. Francis Wayne Quan Memorial Prizes awarded
This year’s winners of the annual Dr. Francis Wayne Quan Memorial Prize for the best papers published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience (JPN) were announced April 2, 2024. This year, two papers published in 2023 share equally in the prize.
Dr. Francis Wayne Quan Memorial Prize is cosponsored by the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada and JPN. The prize was launched in January 2022 to honour the contributions of psychiatrist and former editor Dr. Francis Wayne Quan to the foundation and the journal.
Dr. Quan, who died 9 August 2021 after a brief battle with kidney cancer, was one of the founders and the first managing editor of the Psychiatric Journal of the University of Ottawa, the predecessor of JPN, from 1976 to 1983. He was also a director of the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada from 2016 to his death. These experiences were among Dr. Quan’s many contributions during his busy career as an eminent psychiatrist in Ottawa.
The Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada congratulates this year’s prize winners. For more information about the winning papers, see the announcement in JPN.
“Nothing about us without us”: Dr. Srividya Iyer’s research involves youth in services for their mental health
Dr. Srividya Iyer wins the ninth annual Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize
Dr. Iyer holds her Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize after the prize ceremony 5 December 2023 at the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at the Royal. Left to right: Mach-Gaensslen Foundation chair Christopher Carruthers, Dr. Iyer, moderator Ian Mendes and Institute of Mental Health Research president Florence Dzierszinski.
Dr. Srividya Iyer is helping transform Canada’s services for mental health for youth and transforming lives as a result.
Dr. Iyer, a professor at the Douglas Research Centre, McGill University, in Montréal, Quebec, conducts research into the mental health of youth. Among this age group, mental illness is a top cause of disability and death. Dr. Iyer’s research aims to create mental health services for youth that are accessible, effective, and welcoming. She also innovates in mental health services for diverse, underserved youths in Canada and globally. She works with youth, family, community, health care, and government partners to change real-world practice and policy.
At a ceremony to present Dr. Iyer with the 2023 Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize held 5 December 2023 at the Royal Mental Health Centre in Ottawa, she said her experience working as a psychologist in India and the United States forged her path to this unique research in Canada. Seeing people with serious mental illness returning to hospital multiple times impressed upon her the importance of identifying mental issues and treating them promptly when they first arise—mainly in youth (12 to 25 years).
She said the existing mental health system is not set up for young people. Some services are not welcoming for youth. Many cut off youth services at age 18, sending youth into an adult system that may not be suitable for them. As well, the mental health system is still largely organized by diagnosis, whereas many youth are facing what she called a “mélange” of issues involving life events, mental health and substance use.
Joining her in a panel discussion was moderator Ian Mendes, a sports journalist with The Athletic and advocate for mental health, and Dr. Feodor Poukhovski-Sheremetyev, who started advocating for youth mental health when he was a youth himself and has made it his career. He is currently co-lead of a national youth advisory council for Access Open Minds, a national youth mental health network uniting youth, families/carers, researchers, service providers and decision-makers in transforming services. “How do we engage youth and other stakeholders in the design of research?” he asked. He said researchers are asking youth not only “what kind of system do you want, but what do you need to build that system?”
Dr. Iyer helped establish Access Open Minds. She said the answers to questions about youth involvement in their own mental health services can differ, depending on the community. She mentioned one First Nations Community in which youth took carpentry classes to actually build the spaces for youth. In another community, youth and their families have asked to be involved in hiring the staff who will care for youth.
The important thing, Dr. Iyer says, is that services for youth are a “learning health system” in which continuous feedback provides information on what works and what is missing, which changes the way services are delivered, evolving the system. For example, peer support is being added to services for youth with psychosis, in response to feedback from clients and community.
She says the future includes exploring ethical use of artificial intelligence to analyze large amounts of data or even youth people’s artistic expression to see if it offers clues to their mental health. Mental health services would also benefit from agile, digital systems to help them operate effectively and to determine questions like which young people need brief intervention and which need more formal services.
She looks forward to a future in which young people get the services they need in an environment that supports them to flourish and reach their potential.
Video about Dr. Srividya Iyer’s research on mental health services for youth
If you missed the live-stream of the Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize event 5 December 2023, it has been recorded and is available on The Royal’s YouTube channel.
