Daniel Vigo

Dr. Vigo is a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, and public health specialist, originally from Argentina. He is currently an Assistant Professor at UBC, a Lecturer at Harvard Medical School, an Advisor to PAHO and WHO, as well as the Chair of the Services and Policy Workgroup of the WHO-World Mental Health Surveys Initiative. 

After obtaining a Bachelor’s+Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, an MD, and a University Specialization in Psychiatry, Dr. Daniel Vigo worked in clinical, research, teaching, and leadership positions across sectors (public hospitals, NGOs, and for-profit organizations). In these roles, he has published peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reports on public health, health systems, global mental health, psychiatric epidemiology, psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and e-mental health. Dr. Vigo leads several projects in BC, Canada, and globally, including on e-Mental Health for University Students, Needs-Based Planning for Mental and Substance Use Disorder Services, Care Options for People with Severe Substance Use Disorders at Imminent Risk of Death and Disability, Estimating Coverage and Quality of Care for Mental Disorders, and Estimating the Disease Burden of Mental Disorders. He also developed the first Assertive Community Treatment Department in Argentina, a collaboration between Proyecto Suma, King’s College (UK) and Columbia University (US). Notably, his contribution to improving the estimation of the disease burden caused by mental illness is among the most impactful papers in the field of mental health in recent years.

Dr. Vigo leads several projects at UBC, including the Needs-Based Planning for Mental and Substance Use Disorder Project, the Student E-Mental Health Project, and several psychiatric epidemiology studies of regional, national, and global scope. The goal of his e-Mental Health portfolio (which includes CIHR and Health Canada funded projects) is to create, administer and evaluate online e-interventions and screening tools, as well as to integrate them with existing brick and mortar services. He is also working in collaboration with the Computer Science department to develop algorithms to predict the risk of developing mental and substance use disorders due to COVID-19. By using machine learning techniques and applying those to health service utilization data, the ultimate goal is to facilitate access to effective treatments. To that end, he has also received funding from a UBC SIF grant to develop a Virtual Clinic at the Department of Psychiatry in collaboration with Dr. Lakshmi Yatham and Dr. Sophia Frangou.

Peer-reviewed publications

• 2024 Appointed as BC’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs & Concurrent Disorders
• Scientific Advisor to Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)/World Health Organization (WHO)
• Chair of the Services and Policy Workgroup, World Mental Health Surveys Initiative – World Health Organization and Harvard Medical School
• Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mental Health Systems (IJMHS), 2021-Present