The Prairie Node includes Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, and is led by Dr. David Hodgins, Ph.D. Dr. Hodgins is a professor in the Program in Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology, University of Calgary and is also the Head, Department of Psychology. Excellent researchers from Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba are investigating substance misuse/addiction interventions delivered in clinics, the community, and academic research settings. Each province funds treatment and prevention of substance misuse/addiction and has developed strategic plans through their respective Ministries of Health and Regional Health Authorities. But to date these assets have operated either in isolation or as part of small provincial teams.

The CRISM Prairie Node already counts over 400 members, including investigators, system and program managers, policy makers, and consumer advocates, each of whom recognizes the need for enhanced regional collaboration to address substance misuse/addiction, and who have committed to participate in a Prairie regional CRISM Node.

The Ontario Node, or OCRINT (Ontario CRISM Node Team), is led by Dr. Jürgen Rehm, Senior Scientist at the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research and the Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)  in Toronto. CAMH is Canada’s largest research and treatment hospital dedicated to mental health and substance use problems.

The Ontario Node is led by Dr. Rehm together with a team of Co-Principal Investigators and Knowledge Users. The Node is comprised of an integrated team of over 150 members including: academic investigators from institutions across Ontario, community-based intervention providers as well as system/policy representatives, next to people with lived experience.

To learn more about the CRISM Ontario Node, click here.

The Québec Node is led by Dr. Julie Bruneau, Professor at the University of Montréal. The Québec Node combines the expertise of researchers, clinicians, and knowledge users from Québec. Members aim to identify the specific needs and priorities and generate evidence-based knowledge according to real needs through research and collaborative projects. This node also contributes to the development of interventional research-based practices and policies with a Canada-wide perspective in mind, to ultimately improve quality of care and quality of life for all Canadians living with substance misuse.

Node members are working on multiple projects aimed at accelerating the transfer of scientific knowledge into better addiction treatment approaches, including both pharmaceutical and psychological interventions. In addition, they benefit from multidisciplinary expertise brought by the diversity of researchers, service providers, and service users who joined the node and are addressing the substance misuse issue from different angles. This vision has the potential to accelerate knowledge base translation into practice and ameliorate the health and well-being of persons living with substance misuse.

To learn more about the CRISM Québec Node, click here.