Page 36 - 2017-2018 Department of Psychiatry Annual Report

Dr. Sherry Stewart: The Canada Research Chair in

Addictions and Mental Health

Dr. Sherry Stewart is the Department in Canadian adolescents – the first
of Psychiatry’s newest research national prevention trial to be funded
chair. She holds the CIHR Tier 1 via the Canadian Research Initiative
Canada Research Chair in Addictions in Substance Misuse (CRISM).
and Mental Health. This seven
year, renewable research chair is CRISM is a unique national research
focused on concurrent emotional network anchored by four regional
and addictive disorders. Those with nodes located in British Columbia,
an emotional disorder (i.e., anxiety- Alberta-Prairies, Ontario, and
related or mood disorder) are two- Québec-Atlantic, jointly funded by
to-six times more likely to develop CIHR and Health Canada. Each
an addictive disorder (i.e., substance of the four nodes has engaged a
use or gambling disorder). Those with diverse group of leading addiction
co-occurring emotional disorders and intervention researchers, health
addictive disorders experience more service and treatment providers,
severe symptoms, poorer treatment governmental policy makers, and
response, and greater relapse rates consumer advocates, all of whom
than those with either disorder recognize the need for enhanced
alone. With Canada Foundation for regional and national collaboration
Innovation funding, and a newly and innovative interventions to
renovated bar lab in her Mood Anxiety better address substance misuse.
and Addiction Comorbidity Lab Dr. Stewart leads the Atlantic arm
(MAAC Lab), Dr. Stewart’s research of the CRISM’s Quebec-Atlantic
program is designed to advance node (Node PI: Dr. J. Bruneau)
understanding of biopsychosocial and she is an active member of
factors contributing to the complex the CRISM Quebec-Atlantic node
interplay between emotional steering committee and its national
disorders and addictive disorders, executive committee. Through
and to develop, evaluate, and her collaborations with local and
disseminate into practice, effective regional stakeholders within the
interventions for these concurrent addictions community, she has
disorders. Dr. Stewart's program is brought together an Atlantic team
currently investigating the role of of more than 50 experts to be
memory associations in explaining involved in this important initiative.
the overlap of post-traumatic stress Dr. Stewart’s group led the launch of
disorder with cannabis misuse, and the CRISM Atlantic arm and chaired
examining the role of depressive the first CRISM Atlantic symposium
mood variability in explaining in fall 2017. Dr. Stewart also co-
changes in women’s engagement in leads the first Quebec-Atlantic
various addictive behaviours (e.g., CRISM demonstration project on
gambling, alcohol use) across the polysubstance misuse amongst
menstrual cycle. She is also co- opiate substitution therapy clients in
investigator and site lead on a recent HRM and Montreal. She is also the
$1.7 million CIHR Project grant (PI: co-lead of the national emergency
Dr. P. Conrod) to test a dissemination health threat working group, funded
strategy for her empirically-supported by Health Canada through CRISM,
personality-targeted interventions for responding to the opioid crisis in
for preventing substance abuse and youth.
co-occurring mental health problems

36 DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY