Teams

CAPU RISE is a Phase I non-therapeutic clinical trial investigating the effects of cannabinoids on stress response in polysubstance users. The study employs a range of techniques, including fMRI, biological assays, standardized cognitive assessments and self-reports.

Members

  • Trainee: Karina Thiessen (Graduate student)
  • Research Assistants: Alessia Risi, Wendy Cheung, Max Hemmerich
  • Supervisor: Thomas Chao, Christian Schütz
  • PI: Christian Schütz


ROAR CANADA is a multi-site longitudinal research study funded by Health Canada, focusing on people being treated for severe concurrent disorders at integrated treatment centres. This study utilizes a combination of self-report, administrative, and medical chart data to provide information about relapse and overdose before, during, and after treatment.

Members

  • Red Fish Healing Centre – Research Assistants: Sydney Penner (Lead), Alessia Risi, Priya Johal, Alex Romanchuk, Anna Billowits, Dave Vass, Ekatrina Piskunov, Sarah Munoz-Violant, Noor Ramadhan, Harman Ranote
  • Heartwood Centre for Women – Research Assistants : Lucia Forward (Lead),  Tania Li, Brandy Holownia, Vera Cheng
  • Postdoc: Thomas Chao
  • Research Supervisor: Christian Schütz
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PI: Christian Schütz


CARES utilizes electroencephalography to identify neural markers that may indicate cue-induced incubated craving through a computerized probabilistic picture task. This study takes place in three treatment hospitals in which craving will be assessed over the course of treatment in patients undergoing concurrent disorder. Identifying the pattern of cue-induced craving over a longitudinal period of abstinence will contribute to our understanding of risk factors that contribute to relapse and overdose.

Members

  • Research Assistants: Priya Johal (Lead), Harman Ranote, Aksheen Chahal, Chaehyeon Lee, Achint Lail, Noor Ramadhan, Suzanne Paddinge
  • Research Supervisors: Myriam Juda, Christian Schütz
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PI: Christian Schütz


INSIGHT uses a picture task followed by a series of insight-provoking questions to identify insight in individuals with stimulant-specific concurrent disorders. Conducted out of three hospitals, we will assess patients throughout their treatment course to determine changes in insight and its relation to treatment success to provide a greater understanding of the impacts of insight on recovery.

Members

  • Research Assistants: Priya Johal (Lead), Keenan Klassen, Anisha Lehal
  • Research Supervisors: Myriam Juda, Christian Schütz
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PI: Christian Schütz


CEASAR is a 12-week-long feasibility study investigating the efficacy of a cognitive bias retraining intervention for individuals with stimulant use disorders at the Red Fish Healing Centre. This study uses a combination of self-report questionnaires and medical chart data to assess craving, rate of relapse, and automatic association between activities and stimulant use.

Members

  • Trainee: Laura Schmid
  • Research Assistants: Ria Nair, Dave Vass, Achint Lail, Noor Ramadhan, Alex Romanchuk
  • Research Supervisors: Thomas Chao, Christian Schütz
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PI: Christian Schütz


HRI investigates differences in fMRI-assessed activations during Tüscher and colleagues’ “Hybrid Response Inhibition Task” (HRIT) in stimulant users, pathological gamblers, BD patients, and controls. Subsequently, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) will be used to target brain regions engaged during response inhibition to test the biological underpinnings of cognitive control in these four cohorts.

Members

  • Trainee: Karling Luciani (Graduate student)
  • Research Assistants: Avneet Brar (Lead), Andromeda Karimi, Katy Yang
  • Research Supervisors: Thomas Chao, Christian Schütz
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Members

  • Trainee: Rachel Dunn
  • Research Supervisors: Thomas Chao, Christian Schütz
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Members

  • Aksheen Chahal (Lead), Karina Thiessen, Myriam Juda
  • Research Supervisor: Christian Schütz


The Sleep and Circadian Rhythms (SCR) project explores the impact of disordered sleep and circadian rhythm disturbances on cognition, craving, psychological well-being and treatment outcomes in inpatients with concurrent disorders. The study assesses patients’ rest/activity rhythms (wrist accelerometry), neuro-cognitive performance (processing speed, executive functioning, inhibition), incubated craving (EEG), psychological well-being (self-reported questionnaires) and medical chart data over the course of 4 months of treatment at the Red Fish Healing Centre.

Members

  • Trainees: Sarah Munoz-Violant, Sydney Penner
  • Research Assistants: Ekatrina Piskunov, Dave Vass, Aksheen Chahal, Joanna Peter, Amanda Suyanto
  • PI: Myriam Juda, Christian Schütz


The Sexual Abuse and Sleep and Rest/Activity Rhythms (SASRAR) project investigates the role of sexual abuse in sleep and rest/activity rhythms disruption in individuals with concurrent disorders undergoing inpatient treatment at the Red Fish Healing Centre. This project utilizes self-report and psychodiagnostic measures to measure sexual abuse in childhood and adulthood and actigraphy data to measure sleep and rest/activity rhythms.

Members

  • Trainee: Sarah Munoz-Violant
  • Research Supervisor: Myriam Juda
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PIs: Myriam Juda, Christian Schütz


Research Roundtable: The Addicted Self in the Age of Information Technology will be a multi-day event bringing together interdisciplinary experts from psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, computer science and other fields to discuss philosophy, technology/process addiction, and the concept of the “self” through an enactivist framework.

Members

  • Tania Li, Karina Thiessen, Karling Luciani, Suzanne Paddinge, Noor Ramadhan
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Concurrent Disorders Knowledge Hub is a knowledge translation platform that aims to bring the most recent evidence base updates on concurrent disorders to patients, their families, researchers, and care providers. This project is a part of Reducing Overdose and Relapse: Concurrent Attention to Neuropsychiatric Ailments and Drug Addiction (ROAR CANADA) research study. ROAR CANADA is a five-year research project funded by Health Canada, focused on people being treated for severe concurrent disorders.

Members

  • Benyamin Hakak-Zargar (Lead), Karina Thiessen, Tanisse Teale, Karling Luciani, Curtis Holt-Robinson, Lucia Forward
  • Supervisor: Thomas Chao
  • PI: Christian Schütz

 


Members

  • Tanisse Teale (Lead), Suzanne Paddinge, Priya Johal, Anisha Lehal, Noor Ramadhan
  • Supervisor: Myriam Juda
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Members

  • Sydney Penner (Lead), Luce Calderon, Alyx Hewlett
  • Supervisor: Myriam Juda
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Members

  • Benyamin Hakak-Zargar (Co-Lead), Bianca Biacora (Co-Lead), Bessie Guo, Alyx Hewlett
  • PI: Christian Schütz


Members

  • Thomas Chao (Lead), Laura Schmid, Andromeda Karimi, Harman Ranote, Karina Thiessen
  • PI: Christian Schütz


PriSMI study explores how primary care providers can better care for the physical health of people living with serious mental illness. This research will be conducted in Ontario and British Columbia and will include both quantitative analyses of administrative data and in-depth qualitative interviews with patients and primary care providers. The B.R.A.I.N. Lab will be involved in the patient interviews.

Members

  • Brandy Holownia, Caitlin Courchesne
  • Coordinator: Laura Schmid
  • PIs: Agnes Grudniewicz, Allie Peckham, Christian Schütz

 


Initiate is a non-interventional, Canadian, prospective multi-site study in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and Bipolar 1 disorder patients treated with Aripiprazole Once-Monthly (AOM) for the duration of their hospital stay. The objective is to characterize the real-life, in-patient clinical uses of AOM as well as time to discharge, efficacy, safety, tolerability, and patients’ satisfaction.

Members

  • Coordinator: Darya Skrenes
  • PI: Christian Schütz