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Dr. Samra Sahlu
PsychiatristDr. Sahlu is an adult psychiatrist who splits her time between Saskatchewan and Tkaronto. She was born and raised in Treaty 4 Territory, and completed her medical school and residency training in psychiatry at the U of S. She completed the Diversity Leadership Fellowship through the American Psychiatric Association, where she served on the Council on Minority Mental Health and Health Disparities. She has practiced psychiatry in hospital, outpatient, ER, and corrections settings, and her professional interests include advocacy, mentorship, cultural psychiatry, transgender/ gender diverse care, community engagement, and collaboration with the arts. She is proud to be part of the SAPACCY (Substance Use Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth) team at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Mobile Crisis Team supported by TAIBU CHC in Scarborough. She commutes back to Saskatchewan to provide gender-affirming psychiatric care.
Dr. Amy Gajaria
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and scientist- Lessons learned from SAPACCY research project for primary care providers - strategies for screening and service navigation
- Medication and Self-medication: Substance use disorders and psychopharmacology tips and tricks
Dr. Amy Gajaria is an associate scientist in the Margaret and Wallace McCain Centre for Child, Youth, & Family Mental Health and a psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Gajaria completed her postgraduate training in psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She has a specific interest in supporting the needs of racialized young people and was a recipient of a Public Psychiatry Fellowship from the American Psychiatric Association.
Dr. Suzanne Archie
Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster UniversityDr. Suzanne Archie, MD, FRCPC, is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural
Neurosciences and a psychiatrist at the East Region Mental Health Clinic. She is the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Director for the Post Graduate Medical Education at McMaster University. She has published on different aspects of early intervention, including substance abuse, program evaluation, and ethnic diversity in pathways to care for a first episode of psychosis. Her research has been supported by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Peter Boris Centre for Cannabis Research, and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. Currently, Dr. Archie is engaged in knowledge translation projects involving video game technology to identify problematic cannabis use and emerging psychosis among young people, particularly those from Black African and Caribbean communities. She is also conducting a program evaluation of an educational module on Psychiatry, Structural Racism, and Psychosis for healthcare providers.
Dr. Olabode Akintan
Child and Adolescent PsychiatristDr. Olabode Akintan (Bode) is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. His practice has been focused on acute care pediatric psychiatry in both emergency and inpatient settings both at McMaster Children’s Hospital (MCH) where he held a faculty position with McMaster university, and Timmins and District hospital (TDH). He has held several administrative leadership positions in both organizations. He continues to hold privileges and provides virtual tele-psychiatry care to patients at TDH.
After graduating from medical school in Nigeria, Dr. Akintan moved to North America where he completed his psychiatry residency and then a two-year child psychiatry fellowship at University of Maryland /Sheppard Pratt Residency program, Baltimore, USA in 2008. He joined McMaster faculty immediately afterwards. In 2015, he completed a dual MBA degree program at Cornell University (Johnson Graduate school of Mgt) and Queens University (Smith school of business).
Since leaving McMaster Children’s hospital (2022) and after a year in private practice, he is returning to academic practice at SickKids hospital and as Assistant Professor at University of Toronto, providing care in both inpatient and outpatient settings as part of a multidisciplinary team.
Dr. Semir Bulle
Psychiatry Resident at University of TorontoDr. Semir Bulle is currently a Psychiatry resident at the University of Toronto and is the former Co-President of the Black Medical Students’ Association. Born and raised in the Toronto area, he has spent the majority of his professional career working towards the improvement of the material conditions of others through advocacy & research. He is the official liaison for the Canadian Doctors for Protection Against Guns, and he has strong ties to the zero-gun violence movement. Additionally, he is the co-founder of Doctors for Defunding Police, and Doctors for Long-term Care (LTC) Justice and his research work is currently focused on the intersections of mental health crises, policing and resource allocation. His work has been featured in the Toronto Star, CBC and other news organizations in the city of Toronto and throughout Canada.
Donna Alexander
Social Worker at Centre for Addiction and Mental HealthDonna Alexander is a Social Worker with a specialisation in addiction and mental health. She currently serves on the Clinical Equity & Inclusion Council at the Department of Psychiatry and is also an Adjunct Lecturer at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.
Donna currently serves on the Community Advisory Committee for Children’s Aid Society of Toronto and the Healthcare Task Force of the Black Opportunity Fund.
She previously served on the Pathways to Care Project for Black youth as Vice President of Black Health Alliance and was a member of the Black Experiences in Health Care Initiative at Sinai Health Systems.
Donna facilitates training for staff at community-based agencies on factors relating to concurrent disorders and cultural safety in clinical practice.
Donna holds a Master of Social work from the University of Toronto and currently works in the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian & Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY) at the Centre for Addiction & Mental Health
Paul Bailey
Executive Director of Black Health AlliancePaul Bailey is a strategist, urban planner and Executive Director at the Black Health Alliance. He has spent the last decade designing interventions focused on improving outcomes for Black children, youth and families as it relates to: health and well-being, community violence, mental health and addictions, and the social service sector. His practice is currently focused on social planning, health equity, and addressing the causes of neighborhood distress and inequality.
Floydeen Charles - Fridal
Executive Director of Caribbean African Canadian Social Services (CAFCAN)
Tiyondah Fante-Coleman
Researcher at Black Health AllianceTiyondah Fante-Coleman is a Researcher at Black Health Alliance and a PhD Candidate at the Dalla Lana School for Public Health (University of Toronto). Her research interests are varied, but she is passionate about working with marginalized communities, community-based research, qualitative methods and action-oriented academia-to-systems research initiatives. Tiyondah is currently leading knowledge mobilization from the findings of the Pathways to Care project (led by Black Health Alliance), which aims to increase access to mental healthcare for Black children and youth across the province of Ontario. Her dissertation work is focused on the determinants of restraint use in young Black patients in psychiatric settings.
Kevin Haynes
Senior Manager at Centre for Addiction and Mental HealthKevin is the Senior Manager, Black Health Strategy for the Provincial System Support Program (PSSP) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and an Adjunct Lecturer in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto. He is responsible for leading the provincial expansion of the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY), the first-ever Canadian hospital and community partnership of its kind, focused on advancing care for Black youth. Kevin’s role also involves supporting the advancement of health justice for Black communities throughout various provincial clinical programs, as well as supporting the advancement of Ontario's Black Health Plan. Kevin is also the Co-Chair of the Mental Health and Addictions Advisory Panel (MHAAP) with the Toronto Police Services Board. In this capacity, he provides leadership to the panel, which has a mandate to review, provide advice and make recommendations to the Board related to monitoring and evaluating the implementation of Toronto Police Service’s Mental Health and Addictions Strategy, and other matters related to policy involving mental health and addictions issues.
Sheilon Rogers
Registered Nurse at Centre for Addiction and Mental HealthSheilon Rogers is a Mental Health Registered Nurse with 20 years clinical experience in various mental health care settings. Her extensive work history includes work in acute care, inpatient, outpatient clinics and outreach programs with intend to help others through their mental health challenges. Ms. Rogers has worked extensively helping youth aged 13-29 who experience their First Episode of Psychosis and their families through their learning journey. In her currently role at SAPACCY (Substance Use Program for African Canadian Caribbean Youth) as Post Discharge Transitional Care Clinician, she focusses on working with inpatient teams, families and community resources to provide optimal care for Black Youth on their path to self-actualization.