As the world’s leading social work scholar, Dr. Michael Ungar has transformed the way we think about resilience. Challenging assumed wisdom that people independently summon the strength needed to thrive, his work shows that societies also play an important role. His ideas have gained wide recognition across mental health disciplines, including publication in Lancet Psychiatry, and his Resilience Research Centre collaborates with local, national and international institutions to explore pathways to resilience across cultures.

Dr. Michael Ungar
Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Child, Family and Community Resilience
Dalhousie University

Marisa Young knows it takes a holistic approach to better understand mental health and its impact on families. It’s that rationale that positioned her to be the inaugural director of McMaster’s Centre for Advanced Research for Mental Health and Society. With a focus on work-family conflict – a more modern mental health issue, exacerbated by the pandemic – Young is driving community-based initiatives to help families deal with competing demands and working to eliminate the social inequalities of mental health for parents and children.

Marisa Young
Associate Professor, Sociology
Canada Research Chair in Mental Health and Work-Life Transitions
McMaster University

Niagara College (NC) research teams are recognized for responding to industry needs at the speed of business.

For example, Allan Spence, PhD, brings a technical background in computer-aided design, product design and development, and dimensional metrology to his work mentoring students and tackling the innovation challenges of businesses who seek solutions from NC’s Walker Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (WAMIC). Spence recently contributed to successful grant applications for critical tools, including a co-ordinate measuring machine and a medical-grade 3D printer.

Allan Spence, PhD
Research Scientist, WAMIC
Niagara College

Chronic Pain Assessment
Pain assessment is essential to providing proper patient care. Dr. Rachel Jiang, professor in Sheridan’s Faculty of Applied Science and Technology and researcher with the Centre for Mobile Innovation, is using advanced 3D technologies and Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to develop an automated chronic pain diagnosis system that provides clinicians with real-time patient pain scores. Normally assessed manually, this new system will reduce inaccuracies and enhance a patient’s care plan.

Dr. Rachel Jiang
Professor
Faculty of Applied Science and Technology,
School of Applied Computing Researcher, Centre for Mobile Innovation, Generator at Sheridan
Sheridan College

Hope for people living with difficult-to-treat depression
At The Royal, Scientist Sara Tremblay uses repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to stimulate specific brain circuits known to be dysfunctional in people with major depression. This non-drug therapy is safe, non-invasive, has few side effects. What’s even more exciting is rTMS has shown positive outcomes for people who have difficult-to-treat depression.

Dr. Tremblay’s research is leading to better care for patients for whom traditional treatments haven’t worked.

L-R: Dr. Sara Tremblay, Scientist
Dr. Lisa McMurray, Psychiatrist
The Royal

An international expert on the complex intersections between immigration, aging and health, Dr. Sepali Guruge is developing strategies to ensure older people make social connections and receive necessary care and supports to improve their short- and long-term health.

Through her research projects, such as Inclusive Communities for Older Immigrants and Examining Relational Care in Long-term Care Settings, Dr. Guruge reaches across disciplines and leverages collaborations to improve the lives of older people in Canada.

Dr. Sepali Guruge
Professor
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Toronto Metropolitan University

In order to counteract the negative impacts of psychological trauma, particularly childhood abuse and neglect, Dr. Nicolas Berthelot has developed a unique prenatal intervention: the STEP program. This program aims at intercepting the intergenerational transmission of childhood maltreatment. The concept of mentalization of trauma, an innovative approach in developmental and clinical psychology, also stems from his work and permitted to shed new lights on resilience processes in survivors of childhood trauma.

Dr. Nicolas Berthelot
Canada Research Chair in Developmental Trauma
Professor, Department of Nursing
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Dr. Matthew Hill, PhD is the inaugural chair of the Mental Health Initiative for Stress and Trauma (MIST) at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at UCalgary. MIST, created through philanthropic and community support, explores how both stress and physical trauma can lead to mental health conditions. MIST will share research with the public to help people recognize signs that can be critical red flags.

Dr. Matthew Hill, PhD
Professor, Departments of Psychiatry and Cell Biology & Anatomy
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary

Black communities in Canada – which represent over one million people – face a host of social and economic inequities that affect their well-being and mental health. The University of Ottawa’s Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health, unique in Canada and led by Professor Jude-Mary Cénat of the School of Psychology, aims to advance research to better understand and eliminate racial health disparities and promote health equity for Black communities.

Professor Jude-Mary Cénat
School of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Ottawa

Using leading-edge virtual reality (VR) technologies, Assistant Professor Michelle Rutty explores the impacts of environmental change on the global tourism economy. Through immersion in a destination before or after being impacted by natural disasters (e.g., hurricanes, wildfires), ‘overtourism’ (i.e., destinations exceeding their carrying capacity), and climate-induced environmental change (e.g., coastal inundation, glacier retreat), she is advancing our understanding of tourism’s coupled human-environment relationship and contributing to policies that sustain natural resources while enhancing destination well-being.

Michelle Rutty
Assistant Professor, Geography and Environmental Management
Canada Research Chair – Tourism, Environment & Sustainability
University of Waterloo

Melody Morton Ninomiya was recently named the Canada Research Chair in Community-Driven Knowledge Mobilization and Pathways to Wellness. An assistant professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, Morton Ninomiya works with First Nations, communities and organizations to co-develop research projects centred around local knowledge systems, protocols and priorities. Her research is largely focused on health and wellness in Indigenous communities throughout Canada, and her collaborations have contributed to community-identified needs such as strategic wellness plans and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder prevention.

Melody Morton Ninomiya
Canada Research Chair in Community-Driven Knowledge Mobilization and Pathways to Wellness
Wilfrid Laurier University

If increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) worldwide become the next pandemic, how can we combat it? The new AMR Policy Accelerator at York’s Global Strategy Lab, directed by Professor Steven Hoffman, will be a critical antidote to this threat by combining scientific research and evidence-based policy to urge governments to act. An $8.7-million grant from the charitable Wellcome Trust has enabled the lab to provide customized, research-based and advisory services to governments and other organizations worldwide.

Steven Hoffman
Professor at York University
Dahdaleh Distinguished Chair
Director, Global Strategy Lab