Research During Residency Training | Psychiatry | School of Medicine

Current Research Opportunitines for Residents

Dr. Rebecca Douglas	Ongoing project on forensic inpatient safety – Grading Risk of Inpatient Threat (GRIT). Opportunities for residents: narrative review paper & recommendations for best practices, working in a massive, updated, annotated bibliography - nice opportunity for a resident to get familiar with the literature on assessment and management of acute (imminent) risk for violence. Data from the implementation project is also available but requires statistical analysis background. Ethics approval and grant money for some RA support is available.
Dr. Rafael Freire	Research Interests: Anxiety disorders obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) biomarkers neurostimulation Current research activities: Trigeminal nerve stimulation in anxiety disorders: a case study of an individual with treatment-resistant generalized anxiety disorder. Trigeminal nerve stimulation in anxiety disorders: a randomized controlled trial. A Randomized, Double -blind Placebo-controlled trial of adjunctive Troriluzole in obsessive compulsive disorder-BHV4157-303. Adjunctive treatment with L-methyl folate for treatment-resistant generalized anxiety disorder: a pilot study. Activities for residents: Recruitment and administration of clinical scales to research participants. Preparation of case reports on interesting cases of patients with anxiety or OCD. Literature review and preparation of review articles or meta-analysis on anxiety disorders or OCD. Proposal of other research projects on anxiety disorders or OCD. Preparation and presentation of research in conferences and symposia.
Dr. Felica Iftene	Research Interests: Schizophrenia biomarkers of therapeutic improvement CBTp brain stimulation Current Research: Electric and Physiological Markers, Underlying Mechanisms and Modulation of Cognitive Functioning and Therapeutic Improvement in Response to tACS/CBTp (transcranial alternating current stimulation applied pre-cognitive behavioral therapy for psychosis) in Combination with the Usual Pharmacological Treatment in Schizophrenia Innovative Pathways To Impactful Treatment Of Chronic Schizophrenia: Disrupting The Status-Quo Moving Toward Biologically[1]Driven, Combined Pharmacological And Non-Pharmacological Therapeutic Approaches To Define Markers Of Therapeutic Improvement In Cognitive Behavioral Therapy For Psychosis Promoted Recovery The WPA/CINP study on Tool develOpment for Psychosis (WPA/CINP TOP study)
Neuromood Lab - (Dr. Elisa Brietzke & Dr. Fabiano Gomes)	Research Interests: Bipolar disorder Treatment resistant depression Nutritional Psychiatry Current Research: Interventional studies of ketogenic diet in MDD, bipolar depression, and Adult ADHD. Eating rhythms disruption as a marker of recurrence in bipolar disorders. Literacy on nutrition for residents in psychiatry
Dr. Stephen McNevin	University Student Mental Health at Queen's and Oxford
Dr. Dusan Kolar	Research Interests: Treatment resistant depression ECT Ketamine Multimodal treatment Comorbidity of mood disorders and personality disorders Current Research: Study on alertness in patients with TRD Clinical profile of patients receiving ECT Validation of Dysphoria scale Industry-sponsored studies (antidepressants, mood stabilizers)
Dr. Taras Reshetukha	Research Interests: Suicide, PTSD, Addiction Current Research: Unmet needs of suicide survivors Combined Ketamine and trauma-focused eCBT for PTSD A 24-week, Multicentre, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-Group, Phase 2 Clinical Trial to Evaluate Efficacy and Safety of Psilocybin-Assisted Psychotherapy in adults with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD)
Dr. Anne Duffy	Research Interests: University student health: offspring of bipolar parent research, (developmental psychopathology) Young people at Familial Risk of Mood Disorders, Onset of Mental Illness Current Research: www.queensu.ca/u-flourish CIHR MRC and philanthropically funded longitudinal applied research to understand the onset of mental disorders in young people at variable risk
Dr. Maria Hussain	Research Interests: Medical Education Quality improvement in patient care Service delivery, and resident education Med-Psych interface in older adults Systematic reviews
Dr. Rick Millson	Research Interests: Psychopharmacology Psychoendocrinology and nutrition Current Research: Antipsychotics and prolactin Vitamin C and schizophrenia
Dr. Elvina Chu	Research Interests: Neuropsychiatry Current Research: Neurorehabilitation and the application of music as a therapeutic tool
Dr. Nazanin Alavi	Research Interests: Digital Mental Health Online Psychotherapy Role of AI in the treatment of mental health disorders Suicide Current Research: My research focuses on the effectiveness of online psychotherapy in treatment of different mental health disorders. I specifically specialize on needs of different populations (e.g correctional workers, postpartum, oncological diagnosis, etc) My team and I work on developing a machine learning algorithm that can identify the intensity of care an individual needs based on their probability of dropping out of the course. This algorithm is expected to be comparable to the clinical decision-making process and is expected to indicate the appropriate level of care for an individual experiencing mental health symptoms to make treatment efficient and effective. https://www.queensopl.ca/active-studies
Dr. Sarosh Khalid-Khan	Research Interests: Adolescent mood and anxiety disorders family therapy eating disorders and borderline personality disorders in adolescents school mental health -eye tracking as a biomarker in adolescent eating disorders, borderline personality disorders (self-harm) and mood disorders. psychoeducation for parents of children with mood and anxiety disorders and ADHD DBT in adolescents with self-harm -outcomes pre- and post-multifamily DBT group family therapy reflective training outcomes
Dr. Jessica Jones	Current Research: Genetic and Behavioural Phenotyping of children with NDD - POND (Ontario OBI Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental Network) Clinical Trials with ASD children - POND Network tDCS clinical trial for adults with ID and Aggression aDBT-ID & aCBT-ID: Manualized Adapted DBT and CBT for Adults with ID Risk assessment and SPJ for Adults with ID/ASD Palliative Care for Aging Adults with ID/ASD
Dr. Roumen Milev	https://milevlab.ca/
Dr. Heather Stuart	Research Interest: Mental Illness related stigma and stigma reduction mental health program evaluation instrument development Current Research: National survey data analysis for public stigma National survey analysis for COVID related distress (17 surveys since the beginning of COVID)
Dr. Jen Wong	Research Interest: Inpatient psychiatry, child and youth mental health, psychotherapy Current Research: Predictors of repeat child admissions
The Department of Psychiatry has several highly active researchers in different areas so do not hesitate and reaching out our Faculty to learn about other research opportunities.

Resident Research Expectations

As per the Resident Research Policy of Postgraduate Medical Education at Queen’s University, all residency programs must ensure that residents are provided opportunities to participate in scholarly research as defined within the goals and objectives of each program. Resident research or scholarly projects during the course of their residency program could include: basic science; primary care research, experimental medicine; clinical medicine; epidemiology; quality assurance; medical education; ethics; or any research aligned with health care.

Recognizing that residents have different levels of interest in participation in research, there will be two streams, a general research stream (GRS) and an intensive research stream (IR). The Queen’s University PGME “Introduction to Research” is mandatory for all first year residents, and all residents will complete the Course on Research Ethics (CORE) tutorial and provide documentation to their academic advisor for their file.

IMPORTANT: Residents will identify which stream they plan to pursue by December 31st of their first year/stage (Transition to Discipline).

NOTE: Residents in the IR stream who do NOT demonstrate sufficient progress (denoted below) by the end of year 2 (Foundations of Discipline) will be automatically deferred to the GR stream.

Outline of Research Streams

Option A: Intensive Research Stream (IRS)

Residents choosing the IRS stream will be expected to participate in all aspects of research including protocol development, ethics submission, data collection, data analysis, write-up and presentation. They are expected to be first author on a submitted manuscript and present their research at the Department Research Day and at a national or international conference. They will also have the opportunity to present any subsequent studies at national or international conferences.

IRS residents will be given the option of a research elective after January in Year 1 to get the groundwork laid for their project. They will also have the opportunity to have further research electives over their 5 years and will be strongly encouraged to participate in the Clinician Investigator Program.

Funding

Mentorship

IRS residents will be provided with funding to assist with presentations as first author and be provided with funding to assist with attendance in years 1-5 to attend the CPA and/or APA without the obligation to present.

IRS residents will be matched with a research mentor by January of Year 1. The research mentor will be a faculty member with extensive research experience and who is trained and willing to provide research mentorship. The faculty member may or may not be part of the residents’ research project, but they will mentor them through their research project and provide valuable networking opportunities within their area of interest and in the medical research community in general.

Option B: General Research Stream (GRS):

Residents choosing the GRS stream will be expected to participate in all aspects of research including assisting with protocol development, ethics submission, data collection, data analysis, write-up and presentation. They do not have to do this as part of a single project and do not have to present or publish as first author. In year 4 they will have to produce a manuscript or summary of projects of no less than 1500 words to demonstrate how they have met the research obligations.

GRS residents will not be expected to have research electives unless they demonstrate, a minimum of three months prior to their anticipated start date, that they have a project underway that would benefit from dedicated research time. GRS residents can choose to switch to the IRS stream any time within the first two years of their residency with the permission of the Post Graduate Director(s) and the Research Director.

Funding

Mentorship

GRS residents will be provided with funding, similar to those in the IRS stream, to attend conferences if they are presenting as first author and will be provided with funding to assist with attendance in years 3 and 4 to attend the CPA and/or APA without the obligation to present.

GRS residents may have one or more research mentors that assist and support resident learning in each research activity.

See Table for requirements for each stream, and steps below:

Progress through Intensive Research Stream (IRS)

Outcome: Residents are expected to be first author on their presentations and publications.

Year 1 - Transition to Discipline

Educational Activities

Participate in the PGME introduction to Research Course
Complete the Course on Research Ethics (CORE) tutorial
Identification of a Research Supervisor by January 31
Present research proposal to resident research rounds at the end of the academic year (May)
Attend Department Research Day
Submit to REB (by June 30^th)
$1000 funding to attend APA and/or CPA, not required to present.
Opportunity for a research elective in Year 1*
Prior to the research block in Transition to Discipline/Foundations of Discipline a resident is expected to submit a learning plan that outlines the activities/objectives for the block.
During the research block residents are expected to complete a research proposal including:
- Literature Review
- Research Question
- Methodology
- Submit an ethics application

Assessment/Documentation

IRS residents are to meet with the Research Director by June 30th to document that Year 1 educational activities have been completed. Yearly research documentation and research project progress will be reviewed during progress meetings by the Academic Advisor.

Year 2 - Foundations of Discipline

Submit abstract to national and/or international conferences.
Start study and data collection
Attend resident research rounds in May
Attend Department Research Day
Option to become involved in additional research and/or start new project (case report, QA study, etc)
$2000 funding to present core project at national or international conference as first author.
Funding of $1000 to attend CPA and/or APA. not required to present
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 2 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

By the end of transition to discipline, residents will be matched to a supervisor and have their research proposal approved by the Research Director.

Research proposal includes: Research topic

If the requirements for the IRS project have not been met by the end of this stage, IRS residents will be deferred to GRS.

Year 3 – IRS

Completion of research study
Attend resident research rounds in May
Present at Department Research Day
Present study at national or international conference.
$2000 funding to present core project at national or international conference as first author.
$1000 to attend CPA and/or APA not required to present
Option to become involved in additional research and/or start a new project.
$2000 to present new research at a national or international conference.
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 3 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

Year 4 – IRS

Write up project for publication and submission by June 30^th
Attend resident research rounds in May
Attend Department Research Day
$1000 to attend CPA and/or APA. not required to present
$2000 funding to present new research at national or international conference.
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 4 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

Meet with Research Supervisor by the end of the academic year to document that all Year 2, 3 and 4 criteria have been met.

Year 5 – IRS

Attend resident research rounds in May
Attend Department Research Day
$1000 to attend CPA and/or APA. not required to present
$2000 funding to present new research at national or international conference.
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 5 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

Progress through General Research Stream (GRS)

Outcome: Residents are not expected to be first author on presentations and are not expected to publish, but are expected to hand in a final report and present at the Department Research Day. However, in order to receive funding for attendance to a national or international conference residents need to be first author, similar to the requirements of the IRS.

Year 1 – GRS

Participate in the PGME introduction to Research Course
Complete the Course on Research Ethics (CORE) tutorial
Attend resident research rounds at the end of the academic year (May)
Attend Department Research Day
Meet with Research Director by June 30^th to document that Year 1 criteria have been completed.

Year 2 – GRS

Opportunity for a research elective in Year 2*
Identification of a Research Supervisor by December 31
Present research activities outline to resident research rounds in May
Submit to REB (if necessary) by June 30^th.
Attend Department Research Day
Initiate research activities
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 2 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

Year 3 – GRS

Attend resident research rounds in May
Present at Department Research Day
$2000 funding to present their own research at a national or international conference as first author.
$1000 to attend CPA and/or APA not required to present
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 3 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.

Year 4 – GRS

Completion of research project
Write up project/report and submit report to Research Director by June 30^th
Attend resident research rounds in May
Attend Department Research Day
$1000 to attend CPA and/or APA. not required to present
Funding contingent on completion/satisfactory progress of Year 4 criteria and signed off by the Research Supervisor and Research Director.
Meet with Research Supervisor by end of academic year to document that all Year 2, 3 and 4 criteria have been met

	General Research Stream	Intensive Research Stream
Complete all aspects of a research project	X	X
Present at Department Research Day	X	X
Present at National/International Conference as first author		X
First author publication		X
Funding to go to CPA/APA years 1-5		X
Funding to go to CPA/APA twice during residency	X

*All research electives need to be approved by the Research Supervisor, and objectives and outcomes communicated in writing 3 months prior to the start of the rotation to the Research Director and Post Graduate Director. Residents in the IRS may have more than one research elective block during their residency, residents in the GRS will not usually have more than one research elective block.

Research Resources for Residents

Courses and books

Courses at Coursera (www.coursera.org):

Basic statistics (University of Amsterdam)
Methods and statistics in social sciences (University of Amsterdam)
Understanding clinical research: behind the statistics (University of Cape Town)
Statistics with R (Duke University)
Introduction to systematic review and meta-analysis (Johns Hopkins University)

Free book and course on Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis by Pim Cuijpers:
https://www.pimcuijpers.com/blog/meta-analysis/

Heath Research Training at CIHR (including TCPS2/ CORE):
https://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/50517.html

Royal College Book: The Research Guide: A primer for residents, other health care trainees, and practitioners by Harvey, Lang & Frank. Available for all Queen’s residents.
https://www.royalcollege.ca/rcsite/canmeds/canmeds-faculty-development-resources-e#the-research-guide

A Clinician’s guide to statistics and epidemiology in mental health by S. Nassir Ghaemi:
http://services.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/medicine/mental-health-psychiatry-and-clinical-psychology/clinicians-guide-statistics-and-epidemiology-mental-health-measuring-truth-and-uncertainty?format=PB&isbn=9780521709583

Statistical methods in psychiatry research and SPSS by M. Venkataswamy Reddy:
https://www.routledge.com/Statistical-Methods-in-Psychiatry-Research-and-SPSS/Reddy/p/book/9781774634561

Meta-analysis in psychiatry research by Mallikarjun B. Hanji:
https://www.routledge.com/Meta-Analysis-in-Psychiatry-Research-Fundamental-and-Advanced-Methods/Hanji/p/book/9781774636237