Clinician Scientist Profiles

I completed my undergraduate degree in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto. For my Master’s degree, I worked under the supervision of Dr. Paul Frankland at the Hospital for Sick Children researching adult neurogenesis in the hippocampus using mouse models. I completed medical school at the University of Toronto and developed an interest in child and adolescent psychiatry. I am particularly interested in working with children with autism and hope to intertwine my future clinical practice with research in order to learn how to best understand and treat children with autism and co-morbid mental health disorders.

My parents have always been my fiercest advocates. As a child, my family moved continents to ensure that I received an education that would lead me to a boundless future. My parents’ example encouraged me to consider the lives of individuals with few advocates and how I could change their circumstances. In medical school, I served as the primary healthcare provider for marginalized populations in Ottawa, Hamilton, and Vancouver learning about novel harms reduction techniques including Prescribed Heroin, Managed Alcohol and Targeted Engagement and Diversion. My clinical work with underserved communities reinforced my research interests and I chose to partake in the Clinician-Scientist Program under the supervision of Dr. Vicky Stergiopoulos, the Physician-in-Chief of CAMH. My work evaluates the Supporting Transitions and Recovery Education (STAR) Learning Centre where individuals who are homeless or transitioning out of homelessness act function as experts to create classes and programming that they find useful. STAR challenges participants to guide their health treatments, learn skills, improve self-esteem and contribute to society in ways that they find meaningful. I am elucidating the key features differentiating STAR from other services, formulating the mechanisms that underlie the theory of change and determining health outcomes of participants. As a Clinician-Scientist, I will utilize rigorous research methods to create and evaluate interventions for individuals experiencing mental illness and homelessness and inform health policy initiatives to serve marginalized populations. For my commitment to marginalized communities, I have received the Ontario Volunteer Medal and the Governor General of Canada’s Caring Canadian Award 

Degree(s): MD, FRCPC, PhD (candidate)    Program (Year): CSP Graduate Stream, (PGY6)    Email: danielle.baribeau@mail.utoronto.ca    I attended the University of Toronto for both medical school and residency training in general Psychiatry, and will complete my subspecialty training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at U of T in June of 2019. My initial projects in the CSP focused on the clinical, genetic, and neuroimaging associated differences in social functioning across neurodevelopmental disorders. For my graduate thesis in Clinical Epidemiology at the Institute for Health Policy Management and Evaluation, I am examining the longitudinal association between anxiety and repetitive behaviors in autism spectrum disorder. I am interested in better understanding the underlying mechanisms and developmental trajectories of common childhood conditions like autism, ADHD and OCD, in order to help develop new targeted interventions.    Project Title: Anxiety and Repetitive Behavior in Autism Spectrum Disorder    Supervisor(s): Drs. Simone Vigod, Peter Szatmari, Eleanor Pullenayegum, Evdokia Anagnostou    

Martin Rotenberg's research focus is on the role of social and environmental factors on the incidence of psychotic disorders and pathways to care. He is also interested in rehabilitation with ethnic minority individuals with severe and persistent mental illness.  He will be starting a MSc. in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in July 2019.

During my MD/PhD studies under the supervision of Dr. S. Black at U of T, I developed automated software techniques to map human brain networks, and applied these methods to study Alzheimer’s disease. As a resident in the CSP under the mentorship of Drs. D. Blumberger and J. Downar, I am applying these novel software platforms to examine how brain networks differ among healthy adults and persons with depression. I am also exploring whether the integrity of particular brain networks can predict clinical response to neurostimulation therapies (e.g. rTMS) for treatment of depression. By examining how depression biologically disrupts the brain, and predicting who will respond to state-of-the-art antidepressant therapies, this work will be able to greatly improve treatment outcomes in depression.

Dr. Victor M. Tang is a Canadian resident physician in the clinician scientist program at the University of Toronto's Department of Psychiatry. He received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Science in Neuroscience at the University of British Columbia, and completed his medical training at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. During his research and clinical training, he has published work on topics of oxidative stress in mood disorders, neuroimaging in stimulant addiction, history and clinical treatment of catatonia, and on Electroconvulsive Therapy and Magnetic Seizure Therapy. Currently his academic interests are in brain stimulation for treatment-resistant mental illness and addiction psychiatry.