FRAMES OF MIND Mental Health Film Series | Wednesday June 19 @ 7:00pm | The Cinematheque

FRAMES OF MIND Mental Health Film Series | Wednesday June 19 @ 7:00pm | The Cinematheque

A monthly film series promoting professional and community education on issues pertaining to mental health and illness. Presented by The Cinematheque and the Institute of Mental Health, UBC Department of Psychiatry. Screenings are generally held on the third Wednesday of each month at The Cinematheque, 1131 Howe St, Vancouver, BC.

On the Adamant

France/Japan 2023 (109 min DCP)
Director: Nicolas Philibert
Wednesday June 19th @ 7:00pm
The Cinematheque (1131 Howe St)

Film Description

Floating on the Seine River in the heart of Paris, the Adamant is a therapeutic day centre whose distinct architectural form—resembling that of a wooden spaceship-turned-barge—defies the clinical setting. Developed in collaboration with staff and persons living with mental illness, the centre opened in July 2010 and operates as part of the Esquirol psychiatric service of the Saint-Maurice hospital network. With a gentle quotidian lens, director Nicolas Philibert respectfully documents life at the centre. We see those attending the Adamant engage in a range of art-making, demonstrating how creative expression is critical to mental well-being. From planning the anniversary of the centre’s film club to reconciling cash at their cafe, candid conversations and collective decision-making between staff and its members are core to the centre’s operations. Winner of the Golden Bear at last year’s Berlinale, On the Adamant is a tender portrait of collaborative and community-oriented care.

Co-Sponsored by Pathways Clubhouse

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“A moving testament to what people are capable of, if they could just find the right outlet for it.” — Jordan Mintzer, The Hollywood Reporter

“Compassionate, intelligent, and shrewdly observed … There is a gentle and very happy sense of freedom and possibility aboard the Adamant, and there is enormous warmth, sympathy, and human curiosity in this film.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

Post-screening Discussion:

Post-screening discussion with Mike Tibbles and Dave MacDonald of Pathways Clubhouse, and Katy Tucker of Grandview-Woodlands MHSU. Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia

About the Panel:

Dave MacDonald was first employed by Pathways in 1984 and became the executive director in 2002. He is a Member of the Faculty for Clubhouse Development—Clubhouse International. He has performed over 70 accreditations around the world. The current membership at Pathways is over 1600 and continues to grow, with an average daily attendance of 60 people. Pathways has both a Youth Program and a Young Adult program.

Mike Tibbles has been a member of Pathways Clubhouse for the past 12 years, and has recently transitioned to a staff position. He has gained a wealth of knowledge about the Clubhouse model through conferences, colleague training, and now as a member of the International Faculty for Clubhouse Development. Mike loves the Clubhouse model, and through his own lived experience has a real heart for people living with mental illness.

Katy Tucker immigrated to Canada with her then same-sex partner (a French national) under Compassionate and Humanitarian grounds in 1998, and since then has been working for Vancouver Coastal Health at at Grandview-Woodlands MHSU as a Psychiatric Social Worker. This past April, she arranged a tour of the Adamant with Care Coordinator Arnaud Vallet and is currently trying to organize an exchange whereby some of the Adamant’s staff and “passengers” would visit Vancouver to tour our day programs.

Dr. Harry Karlinsky, the Series Director of Frames of Mind and a Clinical Professor in the UBC Department of Psychiatry, has a longstanding commitment to professional and public education. He has presented nationally and internationally on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s disease to information technology to narrative medicine to PTSD and to the use of films in health care education.

Want to be a regular at Frames of Mind screenings on the third Wednesday of every month? Subscribe to the email list and be the first in line for tickets!

Announcement of Dr. Faiza Hameer’s Departure as Associate Program Director, Fraser Track

** Sent on behalf of Dr. Irfan Khanbhai, PGE Program Director, UBC Department of Psychiatry **

Dear Clinical Faculty,

It is with a sad heart that our current Associate Program Director for the Fraser Track, Dr. Faiza Hameer will be stepping down from this position on July 31, 2024, to move with her family to Edmonton. 

Dr. Hameer, a graduate from our UBC Psychiatry PGE Program, has been in the role for the past 7 years. This will be a huge loss for our Program as Dr. Hameer has been exceptional in her work and dedication to the role, and an invaluable member of our education team.  She has been pivotal in solidifying and growing the Fraser track into the excellent clinical track that it is today.  We would like to express our truly heartfelt appreciation.

In her stead, I would like to welcome Dr. Anyssa Shakeri, the current site director at RCH and our Oversight Director for Professionalism, who, on August 1, 2024, will be taking over as the Interim Associate Program Director for Fraser Track. In September, we will be welcoming expressions of interest for this role and will conduct our usual search process.

Warm regards,

Irfan

Dr. Irfan Khanbhai MD, FRCPC
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director
UBC Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Program

Interim Associate Head
Postgraduate Education and Continuing Professional Development 
Department of Psychiatry

I humbly acknowledge, with gratitude, that I live, work, and play as an uninvited guest on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations. 

Dr. Daniel Vigo appointed as the BC Premier’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs & Concurrent Disorders

Daniel Vigo

We are thrilled to share the news that Assistant Professor Dr. Daniel Vigo has been appointed as BC’s Chief Scientific Advisor for Psychiatry, Toxic Drugs & Concurrent Disorders. Announced by BC Premier David Eby on Wednesday June 5, 2024. Dr. Vigo will focus on improving care for individuals with severe mental illness, acquired brain injury, and exposure to toxic drugs.

In this role, Dr. Vigo will collaborate with several health authorities, Indigenous partners and individuals with lived experiences. He will access all relevant data sources, conduct centralized data analysis and interpretation, and provide ongoing evidence-based recommendations to enhance the health system’s response.

Dr. Vigo is a psychiatrist, clinical psychologist, and public health specialist. Besides his role at UBC, he is 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. He is also the Regional Lead Psychiatrist for Assertive Community Treatment for the Province of BC and the incoming Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Mental Health Systems.

He has worked in clinical, research, teaching, and leadership positions across both the public and private sector. 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 also leads several projects in BC and globally, including on E-Mental Health, prediction of risk of adverse mental health and substance use outcomes, and needs-based planning for mental and substance use disorder services. More information can be found at Dr. Vigo’s Mental Health Systems and Services Laboratory webpage.

Congratulations to Dr. Vigo on his new appointment! Read the announcement on the BC Gov News.

2024 Stimulus Grants: Applications Now Accepted!

** Sent on Behalf of Dr. Sophia Frangou, Associate Head, Research, UBC Department of Psychiatry **

Dear Colleagues,

Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Stimulus Grants program, which aims to increase research capacity and support for clinicians and junior academics who wish to undertake pilot studies or small, self-contained studies without other funding.

Please note that this year we have revised the criteria for the Stimulus-Clinician grant as follows:

  • The principal applicant must have a clinical, non-academic position, and must not hold salary funding primarily for research.
  • The principal applicant must not have held competitive research grant funding as a PI in the past five (5) years.

Each Application Package must include:

Please submit your application package as a single PDF document using the online SUBMISSION PORTAL by October 1 (11:59pm). Only applications using the templates provided will be considered. Should you have any specific questions about the Stimulus Grants, please direct them to me at sophia.frangou@ubc.ca.

Please see our website for further details: https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/research/stimulus-grants-initiative/.  

With best wishes,

Sincerely,

Dr. Sophia Frangou, MD, Ph.D., FRCPsych, FRCPC
President’s Excellence Chair in Brain Health
Associate Head – Research
Professor of Psychiatry

I acknowledge, with gratitude, that I live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.

Request for Expressions of Interest for the position of Oversight Director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

** Sent on behalf of Dr. Irfan Khanbhai, PGE Program Director, UBC Department of Psychiatry **

Dear Clinical Faculty,

Our current Oversight Director for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Dr. Muffy Greenaway, will unfortunately be stepping down from her role within our Postgraduate Education Program.  Dr. Greenaway has been exemplary in this role over the past six years and we want to thank her for all her hard work and dedication to medical education both over that time and throughout her career.  

Hence, we are looking for expressions of interest from Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists within our clinical faculty, who may be interested in the position.  The primary roles would be to oversee the running of the PGY3 CAP Core rotations across the Program’s tracks, to ensure each continues to meet the Royal College training requirements and to support the CAP supervisors as needed.  The position is classified as 0.05 FTE or approximately 2 hours per week, but the workload is quite variable depending on the needs of these rotations.  A stipend is provided for the position.  Please follow this link for more details on the role description.  

If you are interested, please send me a letter describing your background, your interest in the role and any experience that you may have had that would lend itself to the position (irfan.khanbhai@ubc.ca).  Feel free to send your CV as well.  The deadline for sending expressions of interest will be June 18, 2024.  We will then meet with all candidates to ascertain who would be the best fit for the role.

Thank you for your consideration and please reach out with any questions.

Irfan

Dr. Irfan Khanbhai MD, FRCPC
Clinical Associate Professor
Program Director
UBC Psychiatry Postgraduate Education Program

Interim Associate Head
Postgraduate Education and Continuing Professional Development 
Department of Psychiatry

I humbly acknowledge, with gratitude, that I live, work, and play as an uninvited guest on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations. 

2024 Annual Departmental Research Day Is Drawing Closer!

** Sent on Behalf of Dr. Sophia Frangou, Associate Head, Research, UBC Department of Psychiatry **

Dear Colleagues,

The 2024 Annual Departmental Research Day is drawing closer…

The Departmental Research Day serves as our annual platform to highlight groundbreaking research, showcasing academic achievements and fostering a spirit of equity, inclusivity, and diversity. It underscores our Department’s position as a global leader for work and study.

The meeting will take place on Thursday June 13, 2024, from 8:45am to 4:00pm, at the UBC main campus. All events will take place at the Life Sciences Centre (LSC), 2350 Health Sciences Mall (West Atrium & Lecture Theatre 3). While the meeting is offered in a hybrid format, we encourage in-person attendance for those who are able to join (REGISTRATION closes soon!).

Please note that the University of British Columbia Division of Continuing Professional Development (UBC CPD) is fully accredited by the Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME) to provide study credits for continuing medical education for physicians. This event is an Accredited Group Learning Activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification Program of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and has been approved by UBC CPD for up to 4 MOC Section 1 Group Learning credits. Each physician should claim only those credits accrued through participation in the activity.

The program has been updated since our last communication. Our keynote speaker is Dr. Patricia Conrod (https://preventureprogram.com/dr-conrod/) is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor of Psychiatry at Université de Montreal, as well as an associate member of the departments of Pediatrics and Neuroscience. She holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Preventative Mental Health and Addiction and the Fondation Julien/Jean et Marcelle Coutu philanthropic research chair in Social and Community Pediatrics. Dr. Conrod has developed world-class programs to address substance use in youth and she will share her insights with us.

The plenary lecture will be complemented by state-of-the-art talks from two of our Faculty members. Dr. Daniel Vigo will present data from the Student e-mental health project on the prevalence of mental and substance use disorders in Canadian universities, and effectiveness of an intervention app. Dr. Ruiyang Ge will discuss CentileBrain, a platform for normative modeling of brain morphology, and its application in mood disorders.

Further there will be 12 lightning talks and over 60 posters featuring work from researchers at all career stages, including IMH Marshall Fellows and Stimulus Grants Awardees. The event will conclude with the presentation of poster, lighting talks and early career awards.

This event is open to everyone at the UBC Department of Psychiatry and beyond. For more details visit: https://psychiatry.ubc.ca/research/2024-research-day/

We very much look forward to seeing you at this event.

Dr. Sophia Frangou, MD, Ph.D., FRCPsych, FRCPC
President’s Excellence Chair in Brain Health
Associate Head – Research
Professor of Psychiatry

I acknowledge, with gratitude, that I live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.

Weihong Song

Inviting Expressions of Interest | Graduate Representative on Department EDI Committee

** Sent on behalf of the Departmental Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee **

Dear Master’s/PhD Students in the Department of Psychiatry,

As you may be aware, a refreshed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee is being established in the UBC Department of Psychiatry. This Committee will be comprised of members from across the Department with diverse experiences and perspectives, working together to examine issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to provide consultation to the Department Head.    

At this time, we are calling for expressions of interest for a Graduate Representative who is currently enrolled in a Master’s or PhD program to serve on this Committee.

If you are interested, please send an email with a brief rationale for your interest in joining this Committee to Dr. Andrea Tuka at andrea.tuka@ubc.ca.

Sincerely,

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Department of Psychiatry
University of British Columbia

We acknowledge, with gratitude, that we live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.

IMH Showcase | April 2024

JOHN-JOSE NUNEZ

IMH Marshall Fellow
UBC Mood Disorders Centre
BC Cancer Agency


Meet Dr. John-Jose Nunez, an IMH Marshall Fellow using computational methods to advance mental healthcare. Dr. Nunez’s groundbreaking research includes predicting mental illness in cancer patients and functional improvements in depression treatments. Outside of work, he enjoys travelling and making wine – a hobby that he highly recommends for researchers!

Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

I’m a psychiatrist and clinical research fellow at UBC. My research is focused on using cutting-edge computational methods to help patients with mental illness, including artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and other big data approaches. This blend of computer science and psychiatry comes from a lifelong journey of not knowing whether I wanted to be a doctor or a computer programmer. I decided to do both! During my psychiatry residency, I completed my master’s in computer science, to give me the tools I need to use these techniques. I think, in life, it’s important to figure out what you’re passionate about, and go for it, even if those passions can sometimes seem pretty distinct!

Can you describe what kind of research you are involved in?

Some of my current projects include using large language models to “read” cancer documents to help predict which cancer patients will develop mental illness, hopefully allowing them to receive help sooner. Another project uses machine learning to predict which patients with depression will have improvements in their function at work and home if they were to take an antidepressant.

Do you have any recent publications or other accomplishments that you would like to share?

We’ve published some high-impact papers lately, including our papers in JAMA Network Open and Psychiatry Research, and our paper hot off the press in Communications Medicine. I’ve also had a chance to present my work, including recently at the ACLP conference in Austin, Texas, and as a plenary speaker at the recent BC Cancer Research Summit. I’m presenting in Lille, France as well in a few months.

What are your interests and hobbies outside of work?

One of the benefits of getting to present my work internationally is I get to enjoy my love of travel; some recent highlights include enjoying hot springs in the Azores, wine tasting in Argentina, and cycling Japan’s Shimanami Kaido. My favourite hobby at home is winemaking – the perfect hobby for a researcher as letting it sit when I get too busy helps improve the wine!

If you are an IMH member and would like to share more about yourself and your research with the community, please contact IMH Research Manager Dr. Nicole Sanford at nicole.sanford@ubc.ca.

Inviting Expressions of Interest | Staff Representative on Department EDI Committee

** Sent on behalf of the Departmental Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee **

Dear Department Staff members,

As you may be aware, a refreshed Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Committee is being established in the UBC Department of Psychiatry. This Committee will be comprised of members from across the Department with diverse experiences and perspectives, working together to examine issues related to equity, diversity, and inclusion in order to provide consultation to the Department Head.    

At this time, we are calling for expressions of interest for a Staff Representative to serve on this Committee.

If you are interested, please send an email with a brief rationale for your interest in joining this Committee to Dr. Andrea Tuka at andrea.tuka@ubc.ca.

Sincerely,

Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee
Department of Psychiatry
University of British Columbia

We acknowledge, with gratitude, that we live and work on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations.