Suparna choudhury

Suparna Choudhury’s research is positioned at the intersection between neuroscience and the social sciences. Her work aims to develop interdisciplinary approaches to examine the implications of the new brain sciences for health and society. She is a founder of the research program of Critical Neuroscience, which brings to bear perspectives of science studies and medical anthropology to examine how neuroscientists construct their objects of inquiry, and how research findings are transformed into popular knowledge and public policy. Ongoing projects include investigations of socioeconomic and neighbourhood contexts on brain development; uses of the neuroscience of the "adolescent brain" in education, law and psychiatry; subjective experiences of young people in the mental health system; interpretations of data from brain science and epigenetics about maternal mental health; and the politics of open science. She is Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the Culture, Mind & Brain Program at the Division of Social & Transcultural Psychiatry, McGill University.

Website: https://www.suparnachoudhury.com/

Ian Gold is the Canada Research Chair in Philosophy & Psychiatry at McGill University in Montreal. He completed a Ph.D. in Philosophy at Princeton University and did postdoctoral training at the Australian National University in Canberra. From 2000 to 2006 he was on the faculty of the School of Philosophy & Bioethics at Monash University in Melbourne and returned to McGill in 2006. His research focusses on the theory of delusion in psychiatric and neurological illness and on reductionism in psychiatry and neuroscience. He is the author of research articles in such journals as Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Mind and Language, Consciousness and Cognition, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, World Psychiatry, Transcultural Psychiatry, Philosophy, Psychiatry, & Psychology, and Cognitive Neuropsychiatry.

Website: http://ian-gold.com/

Jennifer Proudfoot

Jennifer is Senior Academic Associate - Partnerships and Knowledge Exchange at the McGill Institute for Health and Social Policy, a multidisciplinary centre for research, training and dialogue on healthy social policy.  Jennifer leads the Institute's knowledge translation and exchange work, facilitating dialogue and collaborations with policy, community and academic partners in Canada and internationally.  She has extensive experience working across disciplines and sectors for policy and practice change.

Robert Thibault

Robert Thibault studies how to increase the efficiency and reliability of scientific research. He is also interested in promoting evidence-based decision making and encouraging the public uptake of science. He completed a PhD in cognitive neuroscience at McGill University in 2019. His doctoral work focused on brain imaging, including neurofeedback, placebos, and suggestion. His book Casting Light on The Dark Side of Brain Imaging, co-edited with Dr. Amir Raz, is available here. Dr. Thibault also works as a consultant on topics related to brain imaging, neurofeedback, and experimental design. In his spare time, he enjoys rock climbing and other outdoor activities.

Website: https://www.robert-thibault.com/

daniel weinstock

Daniel Weinstock studied Political Science and Political Philosophy at McGill University, where he received a BA and an MA, between 1980 and 1986. He received a DPhil in Political Philosophy from Oxford University, where he studied between 1986 and 1991. From 1988 to 1989, he was a visiting doctoral student at Harvard University. He completed postdoctoral work in the Department of Philosophy at Columbia University, before joining the faculty of the Department of Philosophy of the Université de Montréal in 1993. From 2002 to 2011, he was the Founding Director of the Centre de recherche en éthique de l’Université de Montréal. In 2012, he became a Professor in the Faculty of Law and in the Department of Philosophy of McGill University. In 2013, he was appointed as Director of McGill’s Institute for Health and Social Policy. His term as Director began on August 1, 2013. He has held Visiting Appointments at Université Lyon III, at the Australian National University, at Ritsumeikan University (Kyoto, Japan), and at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, in Barcelona, Spain.

Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/ihsp/people-0

MARY BARTRAM

Mary Bartram has extensive experience in mental health policy development with federal and territorial governments, indigenous organizations and NGOs, including as the Director, Mental Health Strategy with the Mental Health Commission of Canada and as an independent consultant. Mary completed her PhD at the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carleton University in 2017, and is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at McGill University. She is an RSW and holds an MSc in Family Therapy from Purdue University. Mary’s doctoral research focused on equity in access to psychotherapy in Canada, Australia and the UK, with a particular focus on financial barriers and how government structure shapes service system design. Her postdoctoral position is with McGill University’s Faculty of Law and the Institute for Health and Social Policy. As part of a broader grant on Harm Reduction as Public Policy, Mary will be studying the potential for harm reduction to act as a bridge between recovery models in the mental health and addictions sector.

Website: https://carleton.ca/sppa/people/bartram-mary/

RON DAHL

Ronald E. Dahl is the Director of the Institute of Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley, where he also serves as Professor in the School of Public Health and the Joint Medical Program and runs the Adolescent Research Collaborative. He is the Chief Science Officer at the Center for the Developing Adolescent, where he provides the strategic vision for the Center’s research agenda. He is a pediatrician and developmental scientist with long-standing research interests in the development of sleep/arousal regulation, affect regulation and the development of behavioral and emotional disorders in children and adolescents. His current work focuses on adolescence as a developmental period with unique opportunities for early intervention in relation to a wide range of behavioral and emotional health problems. His research is interdisciplinary and bridges between basic developmental research (emphasizing social and affective neuroscience) and the translation of this work into clinical and social policy relevance. He has published extensively on child and adolescent development, sleep disorders, behavioral/emotional health in children, adolescent brain development, and on the policy implications of this work. He has been elected as a Fellow of several organizations including: Association for Psychological Science, American Academy of Pediatrics, New York Academy of Sciences, and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He is a Founding Editor of the journal Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and is President-Elect of the Society for Research in Child Development.

Website: http://dahl-lab.berkeley.edu/people

GABRIELLA GOBBI

Dr. Gabriella Gobbi is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, McGill University. Dr. Gobbi leads a laboratory of basic science (Neurobiological Psychiatry Unit) and works as a Staff Psychiatrist at the Mood Disorder Clinic of the McGill University Health Center. Her research approach spans from bench to bedside, bridging the gaps between fundamental and clinical research. Dr. Gobbi received her MD (1991) and her specialty in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy (1995) from the Catholic University of Rome (Italy). She also earned a PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Cagliari (Italy) and finalized a post-doc at McGill University (Montreal, Canada) in 1998. Dr Gobbi’s lab is interested in understanding the pathophysiology of major depression and sleep related disorders and in the discovery of new treatments and cures for them. She has won many prizes including the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CCNP) Young investigator Award in 2012, the Venezia Prize in 2015 and the Sam Lal prize from the Boeckh Foundation in 2017. She has served as reviewer/editor for many journals, international grant agencies in Europe and the USA and has been invited to speak at conferences around the world.

Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/psychiatry/gabriella-gobbi

SCOTT HANNANT

Scott Hannant is Director of Public Affairs and Communications at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA). He says his role at CCSA is the ideal crossroads of his professional and volunteer life. Scott is past president of the board of the Ottawa Mission; a shelter that also offers health services for people suffering from substance use disorders as well as mental health issues. Before Joining CCSA, he was a media producer, consultant and trainer. He also taught journalism at Carleton University. For most of his career, Scott worked as a news producer. He served as Executive Producer and Director of CTV News in Ottawa 16 years.

Gabriela Kassel Gomez

Gabriela Kassel Gomez holds a Master’s in Educational Psychology from McGill University. She is a counselor, community researcher and program facilitator with particular expertise in mind-body mental health, community youth programming and trans and nonbinary adolescent health. She currently works as the Director of Counseling Services at Head & Hands, where she and her team provide social counseling for youth 12-25 within an integrated system of legal, social and medical services. She is also the Research Coordinator at the Meraki Health Centre, where she oversees the Trans Youth CAN! Study, a national longitudinal cohort study of trans youth accessing gender-affirming healthcare. Additionally, she works independently as a research and training consultant for educators, school professionals, foundations and other community organizations.

REZA SHARIF- NAEINI

Dr. Sharif is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physiology, McGill University. He obtained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry at the Universite de Montreal, followed by a M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Psychiatry and Neurophysiology at McGill University where he studied the mechanisms underlying our sense of thirst. He then obtained a fellowship from the Human Frontiers Science Program to complete a first postdoctoral training in Sophia-Antipolis, France, where he studied the biophysical bases of mechanosensing in the cardiovascular system. He continued with a second postdoctoral training in San Francisco (UCSF) where he studied the genetic and anatomical bases of pain transmission. He was recruited at McGill University in 2012 where he studies the mechanisms involved in pain and touch detection, as well as the spinal cord circuits involved in the processing of these signals.

Website: https://www.mcgill.ca/physiology/directory/core-faculty/reza-sharif-naeini

LOUIS ZUNIGA

Louis Zuniga has over fifteen years experience working as a civilian member with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He is currently the Manager of National Youth Services, where he leads the delivery of the RCMP's National Youth Strategy right across Canada. Louis champions effective youth engagement to ensure that the voices of youth are reflected in policies, programs and initiatives that directly impact young people. Prior to his work with youth, Louis has managed several key portfolios including victim services, crime prevention and volunteer services. He has also been a communications advisor for senior management. These opportunities have taken Louis right across North America to work directly with many rural, urban and Indigenous communities and to collaborate with a variety of stakeholders. On a personal level, Louis lends his support to many national and international organizations; having volunteered aboard with WE and the UNICEF. In 2010, Louis helped to co-found JustChange, a micro-granting organization that aims to accelerate great ideas for social good. Louis is also quite active on social media using his verified profiles to frequently promote community well-being, youth empowerment and positive social change. Louis has an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology and Law.