Third Canadian Network for Research in Schizophrenia and Psychoses
Meeting: Lecture by Dr. Bill Honer, October 17th, 2023
"Ways of Thinking About Schizophrenia"
A Public Lecture by Prof. William Honer, sponsored by the Canadian Schizophrenia Network
Biographical sketch
Dr. Honer trained in medicine at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and received his MD in 1984. Following a year of internal medicine training at the Vancouver General Hospital, he was a resident in psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University. During the final year of his residency program, and for the next three years, Dr. Honer was a research fellow at Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he was a member of Dr. Peter Davies’ neuropathology research group.
Dr. Honer moved to Vancouver in 1991, and is Professor and Jack Bell Chair in Schizophrenia in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. He is a Consultant Psychiatrist to the BC Psychosis Program, focused on treatment resistant forms of psychotic disorders. Dr. Honer was Head of the UBC Department from 2011-2018, and continues as a Lecturer at Columbia University.
Dr. Honer was elected to Fellowship in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in 2012. He received a Scientist Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and has received both the Young Investigator Award (1997) and the Heinz Lehmann Award (2008) from the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology. In 2018, Dr. Honer received the JM Cleghorn Award for Excellence and Leadership in Clinical Research from the Canadian Psychiatric Association. Dr. Honer is the author of over 400 peer-reviewed publications.
Synopsis
Like so much about schizophrenia, a shared understanding of what is known, and what needs most to be to be discovered remains elusive. Three ways of thinking about schizophrenia will be explored in Prof. Honer’s talk, rooted in the history of the disorder. First, the unusual mental experiences of people with schizophrenia will be described, and the role of these experiences in making a diagnosis of the disorder will be considered. Next, thoughts about the variable and complex course of schizophrenia, and the implications for treatment of patients will be reviewed. Finally, new strategies for thinking about schizophrenia as a brain disorder may provide new sources of hope for the future.
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Vancouver, BC CANADA
3 False ideas about psychotic disorders, with Luc Vigneault
Presented at the 2nd Network Meeting
Second Canadian Network for Research in Schizophrenia and Psychoses Meeting: Lecture by Dr. Vigneault, June 10th, 2022
A Public Lecture by Author Luc Vigneault, sponsored by the Canadian Schizophrenia Network
"Three False Ideas Concerning Mental Health Disorders"
Toronto, ON CANADA
Biographical Sketch
Luc Vigneault is the author of the bestseller "I am a person, not an illness". A peer support worker and international speaker, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, depression and substance abuse. This autodidact is a lecturer at Laval University and he is also a patient research partner at the universities of Montreal and Bordeaux, at GHU Paris as well as at Laval University (VITAM and CAP-restablishment). Luc is also co-founder and research coordinator for Vox Québec, a provincial association of people who have been or are struggling with a mental disorder.
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On Friday, January 24, 2020, the first meeting of the Canadian Network for Research on Schizophrenia and Psychoses was held at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal. This event was attended by over 50 professionals from the health network and academia as well as people living with schizophrenia or psychosis and their loved ones.This new network was initiated by researcher and psychologist Tania Lecomte and a number of her colleagues from institutions in Quebec and Canada. The network’s goal is to bring together stakeholders from the schizophrenia and psychosis community to develop ongoing partnerships and advance science. At the event, the network members joined subgroups and plenary sessions to discuss and reflect on specific themes, which allowed them to define research priorities and find solutions to facilitate the funding and implementation of the chosen initiatives. The group closed the meeting with a discussion of the network’s next steps.
