IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Roger Freeman, Clinical Professor Emeritus

IN MEMORIAM: Dr. Roger Freeman, Clinical Professor Emeritus

Dear Department members,

The Department is saddened to share the news that Dr. Roger Freeman passed away on March 13, 2025, at the age of 91. He was a Clinical Professor Emeritus and had been a member of the Department of Psychiatry for over 50 years. Before his retirement from clinical practice, Dr. Freeman taught regularly in the Psychiatry Residency program at UBC.

Dr. Freeman co-founded the Neuropsychiatry Clinic at BC Children’s Hospital, where he was a Senior Neuropsychiatrist. He also co-founded and managed the Tourette Syndrome International Database Consortium, a worldwide clinical dataset on Tourette syndrome. A well-known child psychiatrist, he had a special interest and expertise in tic disorders and also served as a psychiatrist for hearing and visual impairment and meningomyelocele clinics. Dr. Freeman was the author of numerous papers on Tourette syndrome and a frequent presenter at Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada (TSFC) conferences. In recognition of his clinical expertise and research contributions, he was honoured as Clinician of the Year (2006) by the TSFC and received a distinguished service award from the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine.

Beyond his work in psychiatry, Dr. Freeman was an avid outdoorsman. He was an honorary member of the BC Association of Forest Professionals and a Life Member of the Federation of Mountain Clubs of BC. Alongside his wife, he also co-authored numerous hiking and trail guidebooks for Vancouver’s North Shore Mountains and elsewhere.

On behalf of the UBC Department of Psychiatry, we extend our sincerest condolences to Dr. Freeman’s family and loved ones for their loss.

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, work and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).

Katy Harper

Clinical Instructor, UBC Department of Psychiatry

Email: katy.harper@fraserhealth.ca

Dayle Ostapiuk

Clinical Instructor, UBC Department of Psychiatry

Email: dayle.ostapiuk@northernhealth.ca

Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds | April 1 with Dr. Benicio Frey

All Department members across the province are invited to attend the UBC Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds. The next session will be held Tuesday, April 1, 2025 at 8:30 am on Zoom. The session, Canadian Network for Mood and Anxiety Treatments (CANMAT) guidelines for the management of patients with bipolar disorder: An update, is presented by Dr. Benicio N. Frey, Homewood Research Chair in Women’s Mental Health and Depression; Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, McMaster University; and Academic Head, Mood Disorders Program, McMaster University

A single registration link is available for all 2025 Grand Rounds:

Register online

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

For additional information regarding the monthly UBC Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds please contact Kevin Elsaputra at kevin.elsaputra@vch.ca.

Add the 2025 Grand Rounds events to your calendar: Download calendar

  1. Click the “Download calendar” link above
  2. For Outlook users: Simply double-click the downloaded file to add the events. *Please note, the events may open as a new calendar -simply drag or copy them to your preferred calendar
  3. For other calendar apps: Open the file with your preferred calendar application

Previous Grand Rounds are now accessible on Canvas

Department of Psychiatry members with UBC CWL can self-enrol in the Grand Rounds Canvas course to view past recordings:

View Grand Rounds

The VCH/PHC Regional Psychiatry Grand Rounds are now the UBC Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds and are accessible via Zoom to all Department members across the province. Grand Rounds are held the first Tuesday of every month (unless otherwise stated), from 8:30 am to 9:30 am.

The Grand Rounds are a self-approved group learning activity (Section 1) as defined by the Maintenance of Certification program of The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Scientific Publishing in the Age of AI

March 27, 2025
11:00am – 12:00pm PDT

Summary

This talk (a) reviews emerging AI tools that are transforming the way researchers draft, edit, refine and publish scientific manuscripts; and (b) discusses how researchers can leverage these technologies without compromising the core principles of academic scholarship.

Speaker

Dr. Sophia Frangou, MD, PhD, FRCPsych, FRCPC

UBC President’s Excellence Chair in Brain Health
Professor and Associate Head, Research, Department of Psychiatry
Editor-in-Chief, European Psychiatry and Human Brain Mapping

Dr. Sophia Frangou is a Professor of Psychiatry. She is Editor-in-Chief of both European Psychiatry and Human Brain Mapping as well as Associate Editor of BJPsychOpen. A leading expert in neuroimaging and psychiatric research, Dr. Frangou has authored over 340 highly cited articles and has received numerous awards for her contributions to psychiatric neuroscience and academic leadership, including the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation’s Colvin Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Bipolar Mood Disorders Research (2019) and the Society of Biological Psychiatry’s Educator Award (2020) and George Thompson Award for promoting women’s role in academic psychiatry (2022). Dr. Frangou was also awarded 2025 the European Psychiatric Association’s Constance Pascal – Helen Boyle Prize.

More IMH PROGRESS Webinars

UBC Faculty Research Award Winner 2024, Dr. Todd Woodward

Congratulations to Dr. Woodward who has been awarded a 2024 Killam Research Prize

Congratulations to UBC Faculty Research Award Winner 2024, Dr. Todd Woodward

The Department of Psychiatry congratulates Professor Dr. Todd Woodward who has been awarded a UBC Killam Research Prize in recognition of outstanding research and scholarly contributions in the category of Applied Science, Medicine, and Sciences.

Dr. Woodward is with the Department’s Division of Neuroscience and Translational Psychiatry, a Research Scientist with the BC Mental Health and Addictions Research Institute (BCMHARI), and Centre Investigator with the Brain Research Centre. As director of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Schizophrenia (CNoS) Laboratory, his program is focused on two main areas of research: cognitive neuropsychiatry and functional neuroimaging.

Join us once again in congratulating Dr. Woodward on this well-deserved award.

Julian-Khôi-Huu Nguyen

Clinical Instructor, UBC Department of Psychiatry

Email: juliankhoihuu.nguyen@vch.ca

UBC Department of Psychiatry Staffing Update | March 2025

Dear Department members,

I am delighted to share that Mr. Ahsan Sahibzada has been promoted to the role of Postgraduate Program Manager in the UBC Department of Psychiatry, effective March 10, 2025. As you are all aware, this role has been vacant upon the departure of Ms. Linda Chang last month, and we are very excited for this advancement opportunity for Ahsan, who had been doing a fantastic job as PGE Senior Program Assistant over the last three and a half years.

As our new Postgraduate Program Manager, Ahsan will support and provide oversight to the Department’s general psychiatry specialty program and three postgraduate subspecialty residency training programs. Additionally, he will provide organizational support to the annual CaRMS process, as well as resident semi-annual reviews, resident status and leaves, and accreditation surveys. With Ahsan assuming his new role, we have initiated a recruitment process for the role of Senior Program Assistant, PGE. In the meantime, please continue to connect with Ahsan at ahsan.sahibzada@ubc.ca on related matters.

Please join us in congratulating Ahsan on this well-deserved promotion!

Additionally, I would like to share that our Manager of Communications & Partnerships, Ms. Megan Rollerson will be on a leave of absence from April 1 to June 30, 2025. As such, during this period, please direct:

Sincerely,

Margaret Koshi
Director, Administration
UBC Department of Psychiatry

The UBC Department of Psychiatry Administration Office respectfully acknowledges the land on which we live, work and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).

Attn: PHSA faculty and postgraduate learners| Please complete the PGME learning environment survey

**Shared on behalf of the Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Medical Education Team**

Postgraduate Medical Education (PGME) are committed to seeking ongoing feedback about the educational environment at all major teaching sites. In collaboration with Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) leadership, PGME are seeking faculty and postgraduate learner input on the work and learning environment via a short survey.  Previous feedback has resulted in actions which have initiated some positive culture change and this collaborative work is ongoing.

The PHSA (BCCW, Forensic Hospital, etc.) learning environment survey seeks to better understand the experience, scope and impact of the learning environment issues affecting residents, fellows, and faculty who work and train at these sites. Quantitative results will be shared with Health Authority Leadership, faculty, residents, and programs. Each comment will be reviewed by PGME leadership and shared with the senior and executive level Health Authority personnel.  Ongoing collaboration amongst all invested partners will be key in developing recommendations and action items to realize improvements.

We greatly value your input and expect the survey to take approximately 5 minutes to complete.

Take the survey

The PHSA survey will remain open until March 28, 2025. For any questions in regards to the survey, you are welcome to reach out to PGME at: pgme.educational.environment@ubc.ca

Sincerely,

Sonia Butterworth BSc MD FRCSC 
Assistant Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education Clinical Professor, 
Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine | University of British Columbia   

Ravi S. Sidhu MD MEd FRCSC 
Associate Dean, Postgraduate Medical Education Associate Professor, 
Department of Surgery Faculty of Medicine | University of British Columbia 

The UBC Department of Psychiatry Administration Office at the UBC Vancouver Campus respectfully acknowledges the land on which we live, work and play is the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-waututh).