The Centre for Depression and Suicide Studies at St. Michael’s Hospital is a clinical and academic program that aims to define the best treatment and care for people with depression, suicidal behaviour and related challenges through innovative research and knowledge translation. We focus on prevention and early intervention, identifying biological markers of risk and response, and ultimately strive to improve health policy and clinical practice. The Centre brings together research and clinical efforts for two interconnected mental health issues—depression and suicide. By integrating research with education and knowledge translation across these two issues, the Centre facilitates the efficiency and growth of local, national and international research projects to enhance new discoveries and treatment interventions for depression and suicide, while creating a stronger investment in mental health research.
The Centre is home to the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg (ASR) Suicide & Depression Chair at St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Toronto (www.asrlife.ca). It is also the coordinating centre for the Canadian Biomarker Integration Network in Depression (CAN-BIND, www.canbind.ca), sponsored by the Ontario Brain Institute (OBI) with additional support from the Ontario Research Fund (ORF), the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and other granting agencies, charitable organizations and industry partners. The Centre has a network of over 60 researchers and clinicians across five provinces in Canada, including: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia.
