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

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.

Call for Nominations for the Necia Elvin Memorial Prize for Schizophrenia Research

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

Nominations and self-nominations are now open for the Necia Elvin Memorial Prize for Schizophrenia Research. This prize of $1,600 has been made available through an endowment established by Dr. Memory Elvin-Lewis, family and friends in honor of her sister Necia Elvin.

Eligibility: Doctoral student or Postdoctoral trainee in Psychiatry, Psychology or Neuroscience

Award Criterion: Best paper published in the preceding year (i.e., May 2023 – May 2024) on any aspect of schizophrenia

Submissions should include:

(a) A PDF copy of the paper to be considered and;

(b) A completed self-nomination form with the name and affiliation of the applicant and a brief description (max. 200 words) of how their paper has advanced knowledge or improvement of treatment in schizophrenia.

Please send your self-nomination package to Margaret Koshi at margaret.koshi@ubc.ca by the deadline of May 31, 2024.

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.