CAMH Tops list of Mental Health Research Hospital Rankings

In December 2023, Research Infosource released its 2023 rankings (based on the 2021-22 fiscal year) for Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals.

CAMH has once again topped the list as the country’s leading mental health research hospital. During the 2021-22 fiscal year, CAMH reached $86.6 million in research spending, a new record high and an 8.7 per cent increase over the prior year, reflecting the continued importance of mental health and addictions research to CAMH’s overall mandate. Looking forward, CAMH anticipates additional growth and productivity, with its research-related spending for 2022-23 reaching $100 million.

In the 2023 rankings, CAMH maintained its position within its sub-category of medium-sized hospitals at 3rd overall in ‘researcher intensity,’ the amount of research spending per researcher. CAMH also maintained its 2nd place position for ‘hospital intensity,’ which analyzes research spending as a percentage of total hospital spending.

Overall, CAMH came in 15th among the country’s top 40 leading research hospitals, funding a variety of research mainly through four major cohort studies currently underway. Some of the areas focused within CAMH research include cannabis, alcohol, psychedelics, treatment-resistant depression, COVID-19's impact on the brain and nervous system, dementia, posttraumatic stress disorder, postpartum depression, schizophrenia and psychosis.

Some of 2023’s stand-out research stories include:

• A study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry identified elevated levels of inflammation in the brain of patients who reported persistent symptoms of long COVID.
• The Canadian Alcohol Policy Evaluation (CAPE) Project released its latest report evaluating alcohol control policies nationwide and in all 13 provinces and territories, revealing a failing grade of 40 per cent for Ontario.
• A research study entitled Culturally Adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Canadians of South Asian Origins provided recommendations and resources to implement culturally adapted mental health treatment for South Asian people.
• A CAMH-led study of national suicide rates in 33 countries in the Americas was the first to examine key contextual factors associated with higher rates of suicide.
• CAMH-led pre-clinical studies using a small molecule drug have shown promise as a potential new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Check out the complete list of Canada’s Top 40 Research Hospitals in 2023.