Farewell message from Dr. Samuel Weiss

Dear colleagues,

It has been an incredible privilege to serve as Scientific Director of INMHA. Although my term was officially to end in June, I have chosen to step away a little earlier to focus on new personal and professional opportunities. With mixed emotions, I write this – my final message to the INMHA community – to say farewell and reflect on all that we’ve accomplished together.

Looking back on the past eight years, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead this institute alongside an outstanding team of professionals. Together with INMHA’s associate directors, programs and operational leads, and our communications group, we have advanced neuroscience, mental health and addiction research and knowledge mobilization in ways that have made a lasting impact on the health of Canadians.

A core focus of our work has been launching initiatives that tackle pressing Canadian mental health and substance use challenges and translate research into meaningful action. A key element of our approach has been the development of exceptional relationships with Government of Canada departments, including Health Canada, Indigenous Services Canada, Public Safety Canada, Veterans Affairs Canada, and Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada. Over the past eight years, our team established INMHA as a trusted partner and evidence resource, ensuring that our strategic research investments drive health policy and practice actions.

One particularly important example was the 2018 establishment of the Integrated Cannabis Research Strategy (ICRS) – the first of its kind – designed to provide new evidence to support cannabis policy changes in Canada. In partnership with Health Canada and Veterans Affairs Canada, we funded 85 grants totalling over $32 million, to examine the impacts of cannabis policies, as well as its potential harms, benefits, and broader health policy implications. The ICRS was recognized as a critical piece of the future evidence-informed approach to regulating cannabis use during the 2024 Cannabis Legislative Review, and additional targeted funding through the ICRS is expected in the near future. Ongoing investments in Canada’s cannabis research community will ensure that evidence continues to inform policies and practices that maximize benefits while mitigating potential harms of cannabis use.

Perhaps our greatest source of pride over the past five years, is INMHA’s leadership in developing the Integrated Youth Services Network of Networks (IYS-Net) Initiative. Working with leaders in every province and territory, and with Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada, we have mobilized over $75 million for up to 14 networks and a learning health system (LHS) data platform to improve access to youth mental health and substance use services across Canada.

Moreover, with the support of former Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett, IYS was named as one of the eight collaborative health priorities in the federal/provincial/territorial health services funding agreements in 2023. And, perhaps as the most ringing endorsement, Budget 2024 committed $500 million for the establishment of Canada’s first Youth Mental Health Fund (YMHF). INMHA has worked alongside Health Canada to structure the YMHF and its three critical streams of funding, which together with provincial and philanthropic commitments, now represents an incredible $1.3 billion investment in youth mental health over the next five years.

INMHA has helped set the course for an IYS LHS, such that all 12–25-year-olds in Canada will have access to the integrated health and social service supports they need, where they live and free of charge, to chart a healthy life.

It has been an incredibly rewarding experience to work with partners across the country to demonstrate the power of health research and knowledge mobilization to improve Canadian health outcomes.

I warmly welcome Dr. Patricia Conrod as she prepares to lead INMHA into its next chapter. We have built something remarkable here, and I have no doubt that under her leadership, the Institute will continue to thrive.

Thank you all for your support, collaboration, and commitment to advancing neuroscience, mental health, and addiction research and knowledge to action in Canada.

Best wishes,

Sam

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