Six uOttawa COVID-19 mental health projects receive $1 million CIHR funding

Six University of Ottawa-affiliated projects focusing on COVID-19’s impact on mental health have won important funding grants totaling 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 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 focus her work on measuring 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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