People

Dr. Raymond W. Lam, MD, FRCPC
Medical Director

Dr. Lakshmi N. Yatham, MBBS, MBA (Exec), FRCPC
Scientific Director

Lakshmi N. Yatham is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, and Regional Head of Psychiatry and Regional Program Medical Director at Vancouver Coastal Health . His major areas of research interest include neurobiology and treatment of bipolar disorder and major depression.

Dr. Yatham was a recipient of the Michael Smith Foundation Senior Scholar Award, and his work has been funded by a number of peer-reviewed  funding agencies such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research,  Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation, Stanley Foundation, and  National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, USA. Dr.  Yatham leads a Canadian consortium on bipolar disorder, which is currently pursuing  testing of new treatments for bipolar disorder using pragmatic and controlled trials with substantial funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research. He has won numerous awards for his research, including the JM Cleghorn Award for Clinical Research (Canadian Psychiatric Association, 2013), the ISBD-Frank-Kupfer Distinctive Contribution Award (International Society for Bipolar Disorders [ISBD], 2016), the CCNP Medal (Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2011), and the Mogens Schou Award for Education and Advocacy (ISBD, 2009). Dr. Yatham is listed by Thompson-Reuters as one of the top 100 highly-cited scientists in the past decade in the Psychology/Psychiatry category.

 

Dr. Trisha Chakrabarty, MD, FRCPC
Consultant Academic Psychiatrist

Dr. Chakrabarty is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. Her research and clinical interests are in cognitive dsyfunction, virtual reality cognitive retraining, bipolarity, and psychotherapy approaches for mood disorders.

 

Dr. Erin E. Michalak, PhD
Consultant Psychologist

Erin Michalak is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. Her background is in psychology, with a BSc from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and a PhD awarded from the University of Wales College of Medicine. Her research interests are in bipolar disorder, seasonal and non-seasonal depression, quality of life, psychosocial functioning, and the development of psychosocial assessment scales.

Dr. Michalak holds a Canadian Institute for Health Research New Investigator Award and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award. Her research has also been supported by the Canadian Psychiatric Research Foundation, the BC Mental Health and Addictions Network, and the Medical Research Council in the UK. She is also the founding principal investigator for CREST.BD , an international collaborative research network for psychosocial factors in bipolar disorder. Currently, she has studies underway examining maintaining wellness in bipolar disorder, the clinical efficacy of mood monitoring, and she has developed a disorder-specific scale to assess quality of life in people with bipolar disorder.

 

Dr. Ivan Torres, PhD
Consultant Neuropsychologist

Dr. Torres is a research consultant to the Mood Disorders Centre. He is also a Limited Term Associate Professor of Psychology at Simon Fraser University and Research Scientist at BC Mental Health and Addiction Services. His research interests involve neuropsychological functioning in bipolar disorder and psychotic illness.

 

Dr. Edwin Tam, MD, FRCPC
Consultant Psychiatrist

Dr. Tam is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia. He coordinates the training programs in the Mood Disorders Centre, including psychiatry residents and medical students.

 

Dr. Kam Keramatian, MD, FRCPC
Consultant Psychiatrist

Dr. Keramatian is a Clinical Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.