Dr. Benjamin Goldstein receives 2018 Dr. Samarthji Lal Award for Mental Health

Congratulations to Dr. Benjamin Goldstein, Director of the Centre for Youth Bipolar Disorder at Sunnybrook, who is the recipient of the 2018 Dr. Samarthji Lal Award for Mental Health from the Graham Boeckh Foundation.

The Dr. Samarthji Lal Award recognizes an outstanding researcher working in a Canadian institution in the area of psychiatry, with a special focus on major mental disorders. The recipient must demonstrate scientific excellence and innovative “out-of-the-box” thinking that will contribute in a concrete way to bringing hope and relief to patients. $25,000 is awarded to the institution of the award winner.

His team’s unique approach centres on bipolar disorder being a psychiatric condition with brain and body implications. Dr. Goldstein uses imaging and biomarkers to get a better understanding of the potential impact of blood vessel problems for bipolar disorder.

“I’m extremely grateful to receive the Samarthji Lal Award and I’m grateful to the Graham Boeckh Foundation,” says Dr. Goldstein. “Our decision to focus on the vascular-bipolar link in adolescents was a real risk a decade ago, and receiving this award is validating the decision taken at that time.”

Dr. Goldstein adds, “It’s an honour to receive this award in the context of many peers making many great discoveries, and I think it says that through our research we’ve done a lot in the Canadian landscape to bring much needed attention to this important topic.”