Dr. Benedikt Fischer is a Senior Scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH, and Professor (status) in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto.
Areas of Research
Dr. Fischer’s research focuses on understanding the determinants, dynamics and consequences of substance use by investigating the epidemiology of illicit drug use; mental health and substance use; comorbidities and self-medication; urban and public health; crime and criminal justice; infectious diseases such as STDs and Hepatitis C; marginalized populations; socio-environmental determinants of health; prevention and treatment; and substance use law and policy.
Considered an international leader in his fields of research on illegal and prescription drug use, his expertise is in epidemiology, health/social harms and comorbidities (e.g., mental health, infectious disease), as well as in prevention, treatment and public health interventions for drug use in both general and high-risk or marginalized populations. His work takes an interdisciplinary approach with an emphasis on knowledge translation, and intervention and policy development, in a public health framework.
Dr. Fischer is the author of more than 250 scientific publications, including some 200 peer-reviewed journal articles and several co-authored books (including Oxford University Press’s Drug Policy and the Public Good and Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate). His extensive research collaborations span Canada as well as Latin America, Europe and Australia, and he has consulted with governmental and non-governmental agencies at local, national and supra-national levels. Dr. Fischer was a primary contributor to CAMH’s recent Legalization Policy Framework for Cannabis.
Dr. Fischer has also held numerous advisory board positions, such as with CIHR’s Institute of Neuroscience, Mental Health and Addiction, and the Mental Health Commission of Canada. He currently serves as an Associate Editor for the International Journal of Drug Policy.