»Faculty of Medicine»Home»Congratulations to Dr. Kamyar Keramatian, Recipient of a Health Professional-Investigator Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC!
Congratulations to Dr. Kamyar Keramatian, Recipient of a Health Professional-Investigator Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC!
Congratulations to Clinical Assistant Professor Dr. Kamyar Keramatian, who has received a Health Professional-Investigator (HP-I) Award from Michael Smith Health Research BC!
Dr. Keramatian is an adolescent and adult psychiatrist who currently serves as the co-medical manager of the UBC Mood Disorders Center and the physician lead for the Coastal Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) Program. His research team, which includes people living with bipolar disorders (BD), have developed a virtual group-based educational program for youth at high risk for BD. This award will support Dr. Keramatian’s study exploring the feasibility of implementing this program across BC to increase knowledge of BD, reduce self-stigma, improve help-seeking and enhance resilience in adolescents and young adults who are at high risk of developing BD. This program also aims to help young people with BD to be identified earlier in order to receive more timely care.
Affecting about 2 percent of people in BC, BD can cause individuals to experience extreme changes in their mood, as well as their energy and ability to function. These changes, however, are frequently underreported and unrecognized, especially in youth, which can delay the diagnosis and treatment of BD by several years. By facilitating early identification and treatment of BD in youth, Dr. Keramatian’s research can potentially reduce health-care costs and lead to more efficient access to care and service delivery for youth with BD across BC.
REDCap has issued an urgent security update yesterday to address several critical vulnerabilities.
If you are running an instance of REDCap, please upgrade to the latest release of REDCap (version 13.1.25) as soon as possible. If you are leveraging Digital Solutions or UBC ARC’s service offering of REDCap, then there is no action needed on your end as the teams have upgraded REDCap to the latest version.
Further details about the security fixes are available on the REDCap Community: hxxps://redcap.vanderbilt.edu/community/post.php?id=13. (account required).
*** Sent on behalf of Dr. Sophia Frangou, Professor and Associate Head, Research, UBC Department of Psychiatry ***
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 1, 2022-April 30, 2023) 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 1, 2023.
Sincerely,
Dr. Sophia Frangou, MD, Ph.D., FRCPsych, FRCPC President’s Excellence Chair in Brain Health Associate Head – Research Professor of Psychiatry
The Department commends Associate Professor (Partner) and CAP Division Head Dr. Roberto Sassi on his recognition by CIHR and the College of Reviewers as an Outstanding Reviewer who has made exemplary contributions to the peer review process.
This recognition is based on observations and feedback from Committee Chairs, Scientific Officers and CIHR staff during the Review Quality Assurance (RQA) process, which captures contributions that exemplify the very best of peer reviewers. Dr. Sassi is among those recognized who have volunteered to take on additional tasks on short notice, participated constructively in discussion of applications – including those to which they have not been assigned, and whose reviews have gone above and beyond expectations.
CIHR and the College of Reviewers have noted Dr. Sassi’s generosity in volunteering his time and expertise, his commitment to excellence and raising the standard in peer review, and his overall leadership by example. His achievement will be included in the College of Reviewer’s Institution Activity Report to be sent to the UBC Office of the Vice-President, Research in Fall 2023.
Congratulations to Dr. Sassi on this outstanding recognition!
We are pleased to announce the recipients of the inaugural Stimulus Grants.
The Stimulus Grants Initiative was launched by the UBC Department of Psychiatry, in partnership with the UBC Institute of Mental Health (UBC IMH) and BC Children’s Hospital, with the aim to increase research capacity and support for clinicians, residents and junior academics seeking to initiate pilot or small, self-contained studies in their areas of interest in mental health. The applications were assessed by members of an international scientific advisory board, constituted by the Department. All applications were of high quality and we want to commend ALL applicants for their efforts in putting together excellent applications.
The following applicants were awarded a Stimulus Grant:
Stimulus-Clinician Grant
Dr. Michael Song, PGY1 Resident:Epigenetic markers for adverse childhood experiences among complex concurrent psychiatric disorders: a pilot study
Stimulus-Junior Academic Grant
Dr. Heather Palis, Postdoctoral Fellow: Examining ten-year trends of ADHD diagnosis and treatment in British Columbia among people with concurrent substance use disorders and history of incarceration
Stimulus-Child and Youth Mental Health Grant
Dr. Clara Westwell-Roper, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Subspecialty Resident: Longitudinal variation in markers of stress and inflammation in youth with obsessive-compulsive disorder and their parents participating in group family-based cognitive behavioural therapy
Dr. Ruiyang Ge, Research Associate: Individual-Level Deviations from Normative Neuroanatomical Models in Youth with Mood Disorders
We thank each and every applicant who submitted a proposal and we offer our warm congratulations to the successful applicants.
In addition, two Stimulus Grant Information Sessions will be hosted by Dr. Frangou during the summer, and are open to anyone interested in submitting an application. Please stay tuned, as more details regarding these sessions will be announced in the coming weeks.
On behalf of the UBC Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Mental Health and BC Children’s Hospital, we wish much success to each of our 2022/2023 Stimulus Grant recipients as they pursue their respective projects, and we look forward to sharing with you updates regarding their progress in the near future.
Sincerely,
Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham, Professor and Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry Dr. Sophia Frangou, Professor and Associate Head, UBC Department of Psychiatry Dr. Roberto Sassi, Psychiatrist in Chief, BCCH and Associate Professor (Partner) & CAP Division Head, 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).
*** Sent on behalf of the Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program (PSIP) ***
Dear Faculty,
The Department of Psychiatry 4th annual Psychiatry Summer Immersion Program will take place Mon, June 5 – Tues, June 6, 2023. The 2-day program provides an opportunity for 1st Year undergraduate medical students to explore the field of psychiatry as a potential career option through engagement with psychiatrists and psychiatry residents. Each day consists of half-day interactive talks, and half-day clinical shadowing (observership) placements.
Talks
The purpose of the talks is for students to hear the about the broad range of subspecialties and career options within psychiatry. As a speaker, you will share your career path and provide insights into your subspecialty. Talks take place in the morning and are 35 minutes long with an additional 5 minutes for Q&A.
*Please note Zoom options are available
Shadowing
The purpose of shadowing is for students to meet and observe psychiatrists at work in a broad range of subspecialties and settings. Shadowing sessions take place in the afternoon and should last 2 to 3 hours.
Locations
Site
Talks location
Shadowing
Vancouver
Diamond Health Care Centre
within Metro Vancouver
Kelowna
Kelowna General Hospital
in Kelowna
Talks – $91.80/hour (pro-rated)
Remuneration
Shadowing Supervision – $91.80/session with 1 student; $112.21/session with 2 students
Sign Up
You can sign up to be a speaker and/ora shadowing supervisor here by emailing amit.natt@ubc.ca
Amit Natt (She, Her, Her) Project Manager Faculty of Medicine | Department of Psychiatry The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus | Musqueam Traditional Territory 2255 Wesbrook Mall | Vancouver BC | V6T 4A1 Canada Phone 604 822 7347 amit.natt@ubc.ca | @UBC_Psychiatry https://psychiatry.ubc.ca
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).
Google’s Project Zero team discovered multiple security flaws with Samsung Galaxy and other smartphones that could allow hackers to target devices easily. All a hacker would need is the victim’s phone number, which can be used to compromise the phone without the user knowing anything is wrong. Samsung is aware of the issue and is currently working on a fix. However, until a solution is found, Google says users can protect themselves by turning off Wi-Fi calling in their device settings.
The devices affected are:
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, with the S-Pen. HAVEN DALEY/AP
Samsung Galaxy phones, including those in the S22, M33, M13, M12, A71, A53, A33, A21, A13, A12 and A04 series
Vivo phones, including those in the S16, S15, S6, X70, X60 and X30 series
Google Pixel 6 and 6 Pro, Pixel 6a, Pixel 7 and 7 Pro
Any wearables that use the Exynos W920 chipset
Any vehicles that use the Exynos Auto T5123 chipset
Clinical Professor Dr. Hiram Mok invites Department members to attend the Canadian Psychiatric Association’s Cultural Psychiatry Day on Wednesday April 26, 2023 from 9:00am to 1:00pm (PDT).
To RSVP, or to obtain more information about the event, please email Dr. Mok at hiram.mok@vch.ca.
On World Bipolar Day on March 30th, 2023, the CREST.BD Research Network led by Dr. Erin Michalak will host their fifth annual “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) on Reddit. This year’s event is the largest yet, featuring 68 experts in bipolar disorder (people living with BD, clinicians, researchers) from 12 countries answering questions from around the world for 48 hours from March 30th – April 1st.
This year, 8 members from our department will be participating in the Internet’s biggest BD Q&A event:
Dr. Chris Gorman (Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry)
Dr. Erin Michalak (Professor and Founder of CREST.BD)
Dr. Emma Morton (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, CREST.BD)
Dr. Ivan Torres (Clinical Professor and Neuropsychologist, Department of Psychiatry)
Dr. Jill Murphy (Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry)
Dr. John-Jose Nunez (Clinical Research Fellow, Department of Psychiatry)
Dr. Kamyar Keramatian (Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry)
Dr. Raymond Lam (Professor and Associate Head for Research, Department of Psychiatry)
Associate Professor Emeritus Dr. Bill Maurice has been reappointed to the BC Mental Health Review Board for an additional four-year term. He has served on the Board since his formal retirement from the UBC Department of Psychiatry in 2004.
The BC Mental Health Review Board is an administrative tribunal established under the Mental Health Act. The Board consists of more than 90 members who conduct review panel hearings of involuntary patients who are appealing their certification. Each hearing involves 3 Board members: a lawyer (who is also the tribunal chair), a physician (usually a psychiatrist or GP with a mental health special interest), and a community member. The Board conducted nearly 1000 review panel hearings in 2021-2022.
