Dear Faculty, Staff, Students, and Residents,
I am delighted to share that the selection process for the 2026/2027 IMH Marshall Fellows Program has been completed by the IMH Scientific Advisory, comprised of members across Canada and the U.S., which noted the many high-quality proposals submitted this year. Four awardees with innovative proposals were recommended for funding by the Chairs of the Committee.
As the decisions have now been finalized, it is with great pleasure that I announce the 2026/2027 cohort of the IMH Marshall Fellows Program. Please join me in warmly congratulating the following awardees, listed in alphabetical order:
IMH Marshall Fellowship Awardees & Research Titles
Rachel Boyd, PhD: Developing and Applying New Technologies to Understand the Organization and Operation of The Human Hippocampal-Amygdalar Transition Area
Supervisors: Dr. Mark Cembrowski & Dr. Mypinder Sekhon
Leena Chau, PhD: Cultural Adaptation and Implementation of a Bipolar Disorder App (PolarUs) in Ghana and Uganda: Mixed Methods Feasibility Study
Supervisor: Dr. Erin Michalak
Kalutota Samarasinghe, MD: Integrating Structured Guideline-Based Reasoning into a Clinical AI Chatbot for Bipolar Disorder Management: A Neuro-Symbolic Approach
Supervisors: Dr. John-Jose Nunez & Dr. Lakshmi Yatham
Vivian Tsang, MD: Impact of Psychiatric Diagnostic and Treatment Factors on Effectiveness of Ketamine-Assisted Therapy in a Real-World Ketamine Assisted Therapy Program: A Retrospective Analysis
Supervisor: Dr. Christian Schütz
I encourage you to visit the IMH Marshall Fellows web page to learn more about each of our awardees and the exciting research they will be pursuing. I look forward to sharing further updates on our Fellows in the months to come.
On behalf of the Institute of Mental Health and the UBC Department of Psychiatry, I wish each of our 2026/2027 IMH Marshall Fellows much success as they gain valuable experience that will both accelerate their learning and serve as an important foundation for their future pursuits in translational mental health research.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, FRCPC, MRCPsych (UK), MBA (Exec)
Professor and Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry
Director, Institute of Mental Health, UBC
Regional Head and Program Medical Director, VCH/PHC
The UBC Department of Psychiatry Administration Office respectfully acknowledges the land on which we live and work is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).