Mental Health & Substance Use

Our research

Admin leads: William Small and Julian Somers

Mental health and substance use are two of the most urgent problems facing society today. Good mental health is foundational, and substance misuse can be fatal.

The scope of our challenge area is large and complex; factors such as changing substance legislation, increasing homelessness, corporate influence, and the long-term repercussions of colonization all play a role, amongst other considerations. However, it is also one of the most positive challenges to undertake, with the potential to see real impact and improvement over a short span of time. We study the whole-life impact of mental health and substance use (MH&SU), from pre-birth to the end of life, with a multidisciplinary approach that allows us to address the issues at hand on a variety of levels—from genetic predisposition, to the relationship between mental health conditions and homelessness, to shaping policy and prevention strategies. By working together, we are able to provide a comprehensive response to the mental health and addiction challenges facing vulnerable communities, and make a noticeable impact on real lives.

Working together, we achieve more than our primary goal of creating health efficacy for vulnerable people; we also create a template for interdisciplinary research that can inform the study of other large-scale challenges.

People

Faculty

Our partners

• CARMHA

• CIHR

• NSERC

• SSHRC