Michael Mak

Michael Mak is a sleep medicine specialist and staff psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. He also provides cultural mental health care for the Hong Fook Mental Health Association. He received his MD from Queen’s University in Kingston, and subsequently completed his Psychiatry residency and fellowship in Sleep Medicine at Western University in London. Dr. Mak is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, and an Adjunct Research Professor at Western University. His academic interests include medical education, simulation as a teaching modality in Psychiatry, management of insomnia and the study of sleep disorders in psychiatric patients. He is currently the Site Director for Undergraduate Medical Education at CAMH and the PGY5/Transition to Practice coordinator for the postgraduate Psychiatry training program at the University of Toronto. He serves on the Education Committees of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and American Academy of Sleep Medicine. He was named Fellow of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in 2022. Dr. Mak was elected VP Clinical of the Canadian Sleep Society in 2023.

Honours and Awards

2022-2023: Best Elective Supervisor – CAMH Undergraduate Medical Education

2021-2022: Abraham Miller Undergraduate Teaching Award by the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

2021-2022: Best Staff Teacher – CAMH Undergraduate Medical Education

2021-2022: The Wightman-Berris Academy – Individual Teaching Excellence Award in Undergraduate Education

2021-2022: MD Program Teaching Award of Excellence for the 2021-22 Academic Year award by the Temerty Faculty of Medicine.

Research Synopsis

Dr. Mak’s research interests include: quality improvement and epidemiology in medical psychiatry; management of insomnia; psychiatric manifestations of sleep disorders; and novel usage of technology in the management of psychiatric and medical disorders.

Recent Publications

Cuperfain AB, Chang BP, Mak M. Violent behaviour during sleep. CMAJ. 2023 Jul 17;195(27):E932.

Qian J, Fischer C, Burhan A, Mak M, Gerretsen P, Kolla N, Al-Chalabi N, Chaudhary Z, Qureshey A, Bani-Fatemi A, Graff A, Remington G, De Luca V. GWAS of biological aging to find longevity genes in schizophrenia. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2023 Jul 8.

Book Chapter: Gregory JM, Mak M, McIntyre RS. Inflammation and Depression in Patients with Autoimmune Disease, Diabetes, and Obesity. Bernhard Baune (Ed.), Inflammation and Immunity in Depression. Elsevier. (May 2018)

Peer Reviewed Publication: Pallaveshi L, Mak M, Rudnick A. Predictors of Clozapine Funding in Southwestern Ontario. Psychiatr Serv. 2016;67(1):143-4.

Appointments

Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto

Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine, McMaster University

Adjunct Research Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Western University

Grants

2022 – present: Primary Investigator: What do New Practitioners Need from Continuing Professional Development (CPD): A Case Study of Transition to Practice and Early Career Psychiatrists. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Ho, Certina; Sarmiento, Tracy; Esplen, Mary Jane; Sockalingam, Sanjeev. 5000 CAD.

2017 – 2019 Primary Investigator: Tryptophan as treatment for Insomnia in the Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder Populations. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Chitpin J, Kwiatkowski D, Nicolson R. 3500 CAD.

2016 – 2019 Co-Primary Investigator: Chronic Disease Management Initiative. PIs: Links PS, Mak M. Collaborators: Calvin J, Wetmore S, Eynan R, Licskai C, Valiquet S, Sibbald S. 166000 CAD.

2016 – 2019 Primary Investigator: Diagnostic Accuracy in an Academic Consultation-Liaison Service. PI: Mak M. Collaborators: Charbonneau J, King R, Ulch S, Maclean M, Barr J, Garcia C. 7500 CAD.