CIHR partners on $25M youth mental health initiative

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is collaborating with the Graham Boeckh Foundation (GBF) to launch a $25-million, five year applied research initiative aimed at improving treatment of youth with mental illness. ACCESS Canada was developed by the Transformational Research in Adolescent Mental Health partnership between CIHR and GBF and will be funded equally by both institutions. It aims to improve access and treatment options for youth within five years. The majority of mental health problems appear prior to age 11 and increase to 75% by age 25 but existing services are aimed primarily at younger children and older adults. ACCESS Canada's principal investigator is Dr Ashok Malla, a professor at McGill Univ and holder of the Canada Research Chair in Early Psychosis….