The Douglas Mental Health University Institute offers cutting-edge care and services and advance and share knowledge in mental health.

Collaborations led by Reut Gruber's ABS lab.

Researchers examining the “Mood, Anxiety, and Impulsivity-related Disorders” theme are aiming to identify the genetic , psychological, neurobiological and environmental causes of most mood disorders and testing the most effective treatments. Their main focus is on: Depression Bipolar disorder Personality disorders Post-traumatic stress disorder Eating disorders Substance dependence, e.g. drug or alcohol Suicide Identifying risk factors and responding ef...

The researchers exploring the “Schizophrenia and neurodevelopmental disorders” theme focus on the causes, course, treatment and prevention of: Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), conduct disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and Gilles de la Tourette syndrome Autism (research and evaluation) In Canada, one in a hundred people will be diagnosed with schizophrenia while 3 to 5% of children have an attention deficit...

We all know that, as a population, we are getting older: By 2016, 17% of Canadians will be at least 65 years old and, as the population ages, the number of Alzheimer’s cases will rise accordingly (Statistics Canada) The risk of depression among caregivers of Alzheimer’s sufferers is twice as high as for informal caregivers of individuals with no dementia The needs of our aging population will be a heavy load to bear if we do not find more effective means to treat and prevent ...

The researchers working on the “Services, policy and population health” theme come from a wide variety of disciplinary backgrounds: psychiatry, epidemiology, law, anthropology, economy, psychology, social work, administration. Their goal is to inspire and influence developments in mental health policy so that people living with a mental illness can obtain the care and services to which they are entitled. To accomplish this, the researchers: Study the organization of mental health s...

The Douglas Institute: a leader in research in psychiatry 

Judes Poirier, PhD, CQ, is the associate director of  the Centre for Studies on Prevention of Alzehimer's Disease dedicated to the prevention of AD

Interview with Jens Pruessner, PhD, director of the Aging and Alzheimer's Disease research theme.

The history of the Douglas Institute Research Centre, founded in 1979 by Vasavan Nair, MD and the late Samarthji Lal, MD.