Psychiatry, Health & Disease Program
ANNUAL REPORT 2004/2005

Mission Statement
The focus of the Psychiatry, Health and Disease (PHD) Program is on the relationship among psychological, biological, and social factors in the expression of symptoms and disease. This program has a mandate to develop and promote research in these areas, to train undergraduate and postgraduate students in the psychiatric care of patients with medical, psychosomatic, and medically unexplained conditions, to establish and communicate standards of care for these populations, and to provide and support continuing education in these areas. The program also has the responsibility to draw the attention of the medical and general community to the significant psychiatric morbidity and psychosocial distress in medical populations, which is often undetected and untreated, and to enhance the services and treatment available for such problems.

The PHD program is based at four general hospital sites, with psychiatric consultation-liaison clinical and teaching services and specialized clinical and research programs at each site and one pediatric hospital:

The University Health Network (UHN):
a). Medical Psychiatry & Transplantation: Susan Abbey, MD
b). Eating Disorders: Allan Kaplan, MD
c). Neuropsychiatry and Sleep Disorders: Colin Shapiro, MD
d). Behavioral Cardiology: Robert Nolan, PhD
e). Psychosocial Oncology & Palliative Care: Gary Rodin, MD

Mount Sinai Hospital:
a). Medical Psychiatry, Psychosocial Oncology and Pain: Jonathan Hunter, MD
b). Gastrointestinal Disease: Robert Maunder, MD
c). HIV Psychiatry: Peter de Roche, MD
d). Palliative Care Psychiatry: Bill Mah, MD

St. Michael’s Hospital:
a). Medical Psychiatry: Shree Bhalerao, MD
b). HIV Psychiatry: Mark Halman, MD
c). Neuropsychology: Sean Rourke, PhD

Sunnybrook and Women’s College Health Sciences Centre (SWCHSC):
a). Medical Psychiatry: Robert Jaunkalns, MD
b). Neuropsychiatry and Trauma: Anthony Feinstein, Mphil, PhD

Hospital for Sick Children:
a). Medical Psychiatry: Rose Geist, MD
b). Eating Disorders: Leora Pinhas, MD

Program Organization
A program Planning Committee consisting of program director, research director, education director, and the heads of the Medical Psychiatry Program at each site meet regularly. Additional administrative and clinical meetings are held within each of the hospital medical psychiatry and specialized programs. The education director is a member of the Postgraduate Education Committee, and the program head is a member of the University Senior Advisory Committee, the University Department of Psychiatry Research Committee, and the Executive of the University Fellowship Committee. An annual research day is held at which current research findings for all areas of the program are presented.

Program Developments
Awards and Honours
A number of faculty received recognition for their academic accomplishments during this past year.

Gary Rodin was appointed the Joint University of Toronto / University Health Network Harold and Shirley Lederman Chair in Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care, Princess Margaret Hospital, and head, Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research Division, Ontario Cancer Institute. Mary Vachon was promoted to the rank of full professor, Jonathan Hunter, Alan Peterkin, and Jacqueline Carter were promoted to the rank of associate professor, and Leora Pinhas and Raed Hawa to the rank of assistant professor effective. Sean Rourke began his position as scientific and executive director of the Ontario hiv Treatment Network, an $8-million-a-year treatment and research organization funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health aids Bureau. Mary Jane Esplen was awarded a Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Ontario Women’s Health Council / Institute of Gender and Health Mid-Career Award and a Distinguished Alumnae Award, Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, and was elected vice-president of the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology (capo). Gerald Devins was elected to the Board of Directors of capo and was appointed chair of its Research Advisory Committee. Lucia Gagliese was a recipient of a York University Merit Award. Mark Halman was a visiting professor at the University of Witswatersrand in South Africa where he provided technical assistance to psychiatrists dealing with psychiatric aspects of the hiv/aids epidemic. Rose Geist was elected to the American College of Psychiatrists at the college’s annual meeting in La Jolla, California.

Education
The PhD program continued its outreach in Ontario and internationally. Consultation-Liason training sites were approved in both North Bay and Thunder Bay. In addition, an educational exchange program continues with Kyungpook National University Hospital and Wonkwang University Hospital in Taegu, South Korea, and with the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais medical school in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The fellowship training program in phd continues to be highly subscribed and successful. There were nine fellows in this program during the past year. Sophie Lebel and Adrienne Kovacs received the Fred Lowy Award 2004–2005 for the greatest contribution to research in psychosomatic medicine by a fellow or resident in psychiatry. Sophie Lebel was also awarded Best Oral Presentation by a student at the Annual Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology conference. Sarah Harrington was awarded Best Poster Presentation by a student at the Annual Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology conference. Doctoral candidate Rinat Nissim received a University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry Fellowship Travel Award. Julie Maggi received the Best Poster Award by a Trainee at the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine Annual Meeting held in November, Sarah Hales received a National Cancer Institute of Canada Post-md Research Fellowship to pursue research on adjustment at the end of life and during bereavement, and Madeline Li received a post-doctoral fellowship to develop research on depression and cancer. Marta Novak won an award from the Hungarian Academy of Science for her mentorship of a medical student in psychonephrology. The president of Hungary and the president of the Hungarian Academy of Science will present this award.

A number of faculty and students in the program were recognized for outstanding accomplishments in education. Shree Bhalerao was awarded the Fitzgerald Academy Outstanding Clinical Teacher Award for 2004–2005. Claire De Souza and Raed Hawa were awarded the Stepping Stones Teacher Training Certificate given by the Centre for Faculty Development at its inaugural graduation ceremony on September 28, 2004. Jane Irvine received the York University, Faculty of Graduate Studies Teaching Award, 2004–2005. Jasmine Gandhi won the Eli Lilly Award for Best Grand Rounds Presentation at Mount Sinai Hospital during her senior selective in Psychiatry, Health, and Disease.

Research
The research program in phd continues to grow and to have international impact. Investigators in the program obtained approximately $8.4 million in peer-reviewed grants during the past year in areas including neuropsychiatry and sleep disorders, eating disorders, psychosocial oncology and palliative care, and hiv psychiatry.

Staff Changes and Program Development
Julie Maggi has joined the full-time academic staff in the Department of Psychiatry at St. Michael’s Hospital with an academic and clinical focus on the adjustment of individuals who are hiv positive, and Patricia Colton joined the academic and clinical staff in the Department of Psychiatry in the University Health Network in the Eating Disorders program. Ellen Margolese joined the consultation-liaison service at Mount Sinai Hospital with a focus on patients with gastrointestinal disorders. The Eating Disorders program, led by Allan Kaplan, has received funding from the Ministry of Health to establish an Assertive Community Treatment team for Eating Disorders. The Department of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care at pmh has received new funding to develop its clinical and research program in cancer survivorship and in the neuropsychology of cancer and its treatment.

Gary Rodin, MD, FRCPC
Head, Psychiatry, Health and Disease Program
Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Faculty of Medicine University of Toronto