Six University of Ottawa-affiliated projects focusing on COVID-19’s impact on mental health have won important funding grants totalling over $1 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
The Government of Canada’s Knowledge Synthesis Grant: COVID-19 Rapid Research Funding Opportunity in Mental Health and Substance Use has invested $10.2 million on 55 selected projects across the country from a multi-million dollar fund dedicated to the novel coronavirus and mental health.
The six successful applicants with uOttawa affiliation include:
- Dr. Ivy Lynn Bourgeault, Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences and holder of University Research Chair in Gender, Diversity and the Professions, is leading a study assessing the capacity of the full Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU) workforce across Canada to sync emerging population needs with MHSU service capacity to prepare for longer-term shifts in service delivery.
- Dr. Marie-Hélène Chomienne, a Clinician Investigator in the Department of Family Medicine, is working in collaboration with Hôpital Montfort to measure the stress of front-line cleaners within Canadian hospitals.
- Dr. Wendy Gifford, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, and her team are taking a holistic approach in delivering mental health support for frontline workers serving homeless and street-involved communities during the pandemic and beyond.
- Dr. Simon Hatcher, Full Professor and Vice-Chair of Research in the Department of Psychiatry, is tapping into his wealth of mental health research as head of the Hatching Ideas Hub in a cohort study of Covid-19 test positive and negative patients to detect and provide early treatment for mental health disorders.
- Dr. Jennifer L. Phillips, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry within the Faculty of Medicine, is examining the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of Canadian medical residents.
- Dr. Peter Tanuseputro, Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, is leading a novel data-driven research initiative to improve physician health and wellness and understand how this has been impacted by COVID-19.
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