About the webinar
The Impoverished Populations - Community of Interest (CoI) invites you to join us for a webinar that will showcase important research focusing on poverty and complex health and community support needs in a rapid-fire presentation format.
Four presenters will share their work and diverse perspectives on some of the most critical challenges they faced when trying to tackle the root causes of complex issues such as housing and homelessness, involvement with the criminal justice system, as well as strategies that are needed to address these issues.
This webinar will mark the launch of the CoI and will be relevant for researchers and clinicians interested in issues pertaining to populations experiencing poverty. The goal of this webinar is to bring us together to seed connections, highlight innovative work happening in the field and identify gaps and priorities in research focusing on poverty and complex health and community support needs.
Date: April 5, 2023
Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
About the Panel
Co-hosts
Dr. Sean A. Kidd, Clinical Psychologist, Senior Scientist and Division Chief of Psychology, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.
Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, Psychiatrist, General Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems and Senior Scientist, CAMH; Full Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto and the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Dr. Samantha Wells, Senior Director and Senior Scientist, Institute for Mental Health Policy; Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto; Adjunct Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Western University; Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Psychology, Deakin University in Australia.
Presenters
Alex Abramovich
Dr. Alex Abramovich is a Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto. Dr. Abramovich, Canada Research Chair in 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Homelessness and Mental Health, is an award-winning, internationally recognized leader whose research program aims to investigate and improve the health and social inequities experienced by 2SLGBTQ+ individuals. His research has led to ground-breaking practice and policy reform, including the launch of Canada’s first dedicated transitional housing program for 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Dr. Abramovich has worked closely with all levels of government to develop policies and strategies that address the needs of 2SLGBTQ+ youth and young adults experiencing homelessness and is committed to research that successfully and ethically engages marginalized populations.
Andrew Boozary
Dr. Andrew Boozary is a primary care physician, policy practitioner, researcher, and founding executive director of the Gattuso Centre for Social Medicine at the University Health Network. He completed his medical training at the University of Toronto and health policy training at Princeton University and Harvard University. His work at the intersection of health policy, social justice and equitable healthcare delivery aims to improve health outcomes for marginalized populations.
During the pandemic, Dr. Boozary served as co-lead of the Ontario Health Toronto Region COVID-19 Homelessness Response and holds the Dalla Lana Professorship in Policy Innovation at the University of Toronto. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard Public Health Review and served in senior advisory roles for policymakers at various levels of government both nationally and abroad on public policy issues ranging from primary care reform to the implementation of pharmacare.
Dr. Boozary has published in high-impact academic journals, and his writing and analysis appear in print and broadcast media. He has received several national and international awards and is the youngest physician recipient of the Louise Lemieux-Charles Health System Leadership Award.
Amy Gajaria
Dr. Amy Gajaria is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is also the Associate Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Education and Training, for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Gajaria’s clinical, research, and education work is largely focused on working with historically marginalized children, youth, and families in order to reduce mental health disparities.
Nick Kerman
Nick Kerman is a Project Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He conducts community-based mixed-methods research on health and social services for people with histories of homelessness. His current research focuses on safety issues in the shelter system and risk management approaches in supportive housing.
About the Impoverished Populations - Community of Interest (CoI)
This CoI aims to bring together CAMH researchers, clinicians, and trainees to advance research and knowledge mobilization for populations experiencing poverty and complex needs. Our vision is for this CAMH Network to become an evidence and expertise hub that generates, shares and promotes representative and inclusive evidence to maximize research uptake and impact, and better advocate for the needs of impoverished populations.