Final Steering Committee Composition – Mental Health for Students and Youth Research Initiative (PDAD&C #25)

From: Christine Allen, Associate Vice-President & Vice-Provost, Strategic Initiatives
Date: November 19, 2020
Re: Final Steering Committee Composition – Mental Health for Students and Youth Research Initiative (PDAD&C #25)

In January 2020 the University of Toronto’s (U of T’s) Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health released its final report. The administrative response to this report included an outline for a new partnership with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) that consists of four integrated elements:

  • a redesign of campus-based services;
  • integrated care pathways between campus-based services and CAMH (and other Toronto hospitals);
  • enhanced clinical education programs on student mental health for trainees; and
  • a research initiative on youth and student mental health.

Element 4 of the new partnership between U of T and CAMH will establish a network focused on research excellence in youth and student mental health that provides research-informed, evidence-based solutions to the challenges identified by U of T’s Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health.

Following an open Call for Applications in September, the composition of the Steering Committee for the Mental Health for Students & Youth Research Initiative has been finalized. The members are experts in youth and/or student mental health and represent the three U of T campuses and CAMH.

Steering Committee Members:

  • Chair: Kristin Cleverley, Assistant Professor, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing & Temerty Faculty of Medicine, Senior Scientist CAMH
  • Shelley Craig, Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
  • Norman Farb, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, U of T Mississauga
  • Benjamin Goldstein, Professor, CAMH and Temerty Faculty of Medicine
  • Chloe Hamza, Assistant Professor, Applied Psychology and Human Development, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  • Bonnie Kirsh, Professor, Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine
  • Eunjung Lee, Associate Professor, Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work
  • Lance McCready, Associate Professor, Department of Leadership, Higher and Adult Education, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
  • Catherine Sabiston, Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education
  • Amanda Uliaszek, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, U of T Scarborough

The Steering Committee will be advised by the Student Advisory and Clinical Advisory Committees.

The Call for Applications for students (undergraduate and graduate) across all three U of T campuses to join the Student Advisory Committee will be broadly circulated in November.

The Clinical Advisory Committee will include representatives from all three U of T campuses and CAMH.

The Mental Health for Students and Youth Research Initiative will foster a network focused on research-informed, evidence-based solutions to the challenges identified by U of T’s Presidential & Provostial Task Force on Student Mental Health. The Steering Committee will oversee an inclusive process, engaging with students and other key stakeholders, to develop the research direction and objectives for the Institutional Strategic Initiative (ISI) on Mental Health for Students and Youth.