Dr. Nir Lipsman wins 10th annual Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize

Non-invasive brain surgery helps heal mental illness

As an aspiring young psychiatrist, Nir Lipsman learned about the possibilities of new treatments called “neuromodulation” for mental illnesses. He switched to neurosurgery and has never looked back.

Today, Dr. Lipsman is director of the Harquail Centre for Neuromodulation at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Neuromodulation involves stimulating nerves using drugs, electrical signals or other forms of energy. For example, Lipsman has used deep brain stimulation to treat alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. MRI-guided focused ultrasound is being used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression. Lipsman’s centre is also a leader in repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation.

This work has garnered Dr. Lipsman the 10th annual Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize, jointly sponsored by the University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal and the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada.

“Dr. Lipsman, a clinician-scientist, is the first winner in the 10 years of the Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize who is a neurosurgeon,” says Dr. Chris Carruthers, chair of the board of the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada. “His area of research is novel and represents the value that the prize can bring to new approaches to mental health and illness.”

Left to right: Tony Tattersfield (Mach-Gaensslen Foundation), Cara Vaccarino (President and CEO, The Royal), Nir Lipsman (winner of the Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize in Mental Health Research for 2024), Richard Hofer (Mach-Gaensslen Foundation), Florence Dzierszinski (President of University of Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research at The Royal), Chris Carruthers (Mach-Gaensslen Foundation), Ian Arnold (Mach-Gaensslen Foundation)

Neuromodulation approaches are less invasive or entirely non-invasive, avoiding traditional surgery. Lipsman and his team are trying them in patients who still have significant mental illness despite previous treatments with other, more conventional therapies, such as drugs and psychotherapy.

At the prize ceremony December 2 in Ottawa, Dr. Lipsman told the story of a young adult patient with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder that had a devastating effect on her life. Non-invasive neurosurgery resulted in a dramatic improvement that has allowed her to reach some of her life goals. The patient is now part of a patient team helping the hospital design new research studies.

Lipsman says many serious mental illnesses have their origin in brain circuits that don’t function as they should. In a video about his work, Lipsman says, “To me, it’s a reflection of where we are as a field, of recognizing that these are hard-and-fast organic conditions that require surgical intervention, whether non-invasive or invasive or across that spectrum.”

Media host and fundraiser Sam Laprade, who served as emcee of the ceremony, asked Lipsman about making sure that all members of society have access to such cutting-edge treatments.

“These are conditions that touch people from all socio-economic backgrounds,” said Lipsman. Reaching people who could benefit from neuromodulation is one of Sunnybrook’s aims. “It’s not enough to just have the fancy tools.” He described Sunnybrook’s outreach program to clinicians, especially throughout Ontario, to let them know that treatments are available. He says the hospital also receives referrals from across the country.

But there can be long waitlists for neurosurgery. He says the wait for neurosurgery for epilepsy — an effective and well-known treatment — is currently 18 years. “There is an access problem, and we need to address that.”

He would like to see neuromodulation for mental illness move from research studies to first-line treatment. Currently, he says the risks associated with neuromodulation are low and approaching zero. And treatment times are shrinking from weeks to minutes. These developments would make neuromodulation safer and more accessible.

Learn about Dr. Nir Lipsman’s research in this short video. Video production: SandBay Entertainment.

If you missed the prize ceremony, you can view it here.

Innovative ways to improve student mental health at three Ontario universities garner funding from the Mach-Gaensslen Foundation

Dr. Anne Duffy is principal investigator in a new suite of projects to intervene early and promptly to help the mental health of young adults at Queen’s University in Kingston and the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in Ottawa. PROFILE

The mental health crisis in Canada’s young adults is creating pressure on university mental health services, which are now reaching a tipping point, says Dr. Anne Duffy, a psychiatrist and full professor at Queen’s University, who studies student mental health.

Dr. Duffy is principal investigator in a new suite of projects to intervene early and promptly to help the mental health of young adults at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario, as well as the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario. She plans not only to address backlogs and long wait times, but also to study the interventions to see how well they are working.

The Mach-Gaensslen Foundation of Canada announced funding for these projects, to reach more than $700,000 over three years. Queen’s University acknowledged the funding at an online event held November 16, 2020 (see video below).

Research at Queen’s – Answering a global call for student mental health services

“These projects are a great fit for the foundation’s mandate to support mental health research,” said Dr. Christopher Carruthers, chair of the foundation. “They target mental health in young people, at a point in their lives when timely intervention can change life trajectories.”

There are three specific projects involved. The first is for students who have clinical anxiety or depression and are asking for help. It will provide these students with a “care pathway” called U-Flourish, involving a multi-disciplinary team of social, psychological and medical providers. Patients and health care providers will use an online platform called i-Spero, developed in the UK, which has been extensively studied and proven useful in improving patients’ mental health.

The second is designed for students feeling stressed and experiencing problems with sleep, anxiety, etc., but not at the level of clinical depression or anxiety. The interventions in this project involve self-help on digital platforms, to help students help themselves, guided by online suggestions and feedback.

The third objective is to develop a for-credit university course on the neuroscience of the developing brain in young adults and the biological, psychological and social underpinnings of mental health. The course, to be offered online at Queen’s, is intended to promote “mental health literacy” as well as improve well-being, diminish stress, and encourage positive changes in behaviour among students taking it.

Dr. Duffy notes that mental health appointments at Queen’s University’s student health services are up 73% over the past five years (while enrolment has increased only 13%), and 43% of physician appointments are now related to mental health. She hopes these projects will take some of the pressure off university health services and get students to the help they need faster.

The projects will be accompanied by research to learn whether these approaches are feasible and effective. If so, they could be used at other universities across Canada, helping one of Canada’s most important resources — our young adults — achieve good mental health.

For more information: Research at Queen’s – Answering a global call for student mental health services