the briefing room

Queen’s University can now lay claim to a world first.

Bell Canada announced Tuesday it is giving the university $1 million over five years to establish a Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Chair, the first of its kind in the world.

Dr. Heather Stuart, a professor of epidemiology and community health at the university, will assume that chair.

“There are visiting professorships in mental health, there are distinguished scholars in mental health, but nothing that really focuses on stigma,” Stuart said after a Tuesday morning ceremony held at the university’s new medical school.

The money, she said, will be used to bring noted scientists to work with her, offer student stipends and scholarships, and basically “help me make my research easier to do.”

Mary Deacon, chair of Bell’s mental health program, said Stuart was chosen because she is world-renowned for her stigma-reduction research, and that this money should help push Queen’s to the forefront in the mental health research field.

“What happens when you have a great person doing great things, it really attracts other people who are interested in the same topic,” Deacon said.

Stuart believes the $1-million gift will encourage and validate the research she has been doing.

“There are very few researchers worldwide that are actually working in this area in a credible way; maybe a handful,” she explained.

“It has not been a place where we could get credible funding, so it’s hard to build capacity and retain people and keep people’s interest when the money is elsewhere, so this is really important that they’ve been able to stand up and say, ‘This counts.’ ”

Studying mental health stigmas can be daunting, Stuart said, because “people don’t think it’s important.” … READ MORE