Simone Vigod
Vigod at Women's College Hospital
Academic background
EducationBSc, McGill University
MD, University of Toronto
Academic work
InstitutionsWomen's College Hospital

Simone Natalie Vigod is a Canadian scientist, Head of the Department of Psychiatry at Women's College Hospital and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She focuses her research on perinatal mood disorders and has conducted some of the largest studies worldwide on maternal mental illness around the time of pregnancy.

Education and training

Vigod graduated from McGill University in 1999 with her Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. She then earned her medical degree from the University of Toronto, where she completed her psychiatric residency in 2009, and an MSc in Clinical Epidemiology in 2011.[1]

Career

Following her residency in psychiatry, Vigod joined Women's College Hospital to continue her research on reproductive health.

In 2014, Vigod became the program lead for Women's College Hospital's Reproductive Life Stages (RLS) program. The aim of the program was to provide care to women with mental health issues across their reproductive life cycle. Under her leadership, the team created and evaluated Mother Matters, an online therapist-facilitated support group for women across Ontario with postpartum mental health issues.[2]

At the same time, she was also appointed the Shirley A. Brown Memorial Chair in Women’s Mental Health Research for a term of five years.[3] In this role, Vigod collaborated with an international team of women’s mental health researchers to develop a primer on PPDs.[4] In November 2018, Vigod was appointed the chief of psychiatry at Women’s College Hospital.[5]

While serving in these leadership roles, Vigod developed an online patient decision aid to help women make choices about antidepressant use in pregnancy.[6] In 2020, Vigod studied mental health support for mothers during the COVID-19 pandemic by looking at demographic data and mental health visits for more than 137,000 people in Ontario.[7] Following this, she was named the winner of The Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research as an outstanding mental health researcher enabling future exploration and discovery.[8][9]

She appears regularly in the media on maternal and pregnancy issues.[10] [11]

Current positions

  • Head, Department of Psychiatry, Women’s College Hospital
  • Shirley A. Brown Memorial Chair in Women’s Mental Health Research and Senior Scientist, Women’s College Research Institute
  • Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
  • Senior Adjunct Scientist, ICES, Toronto, Ontario

Awards and honours

  • The Royal-Mach-Gaensslen Prize for Mental Health Research (2021)
  • Shirley A. Brown Memorial Chair in Women's Mental Health Research (2018)[12]
  • Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), New Investigator Award (2015-2020)[13]
  • Ontario Mental Health Foundation New Investigator Award (2013-2016)[14]

References

  1. "Simone Vigod". psychiatry.utoronto.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  2. "Mental health support for moms when they need it". Women's College Hospital. April 4, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  3. "Dr. Simone Vigod appointed Shirley A. Brown Memorial Chair in Women's Mental Health Research". Women's College Hospital. January 4, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  4. "Dr. Simone Vigod collaborates with experts on postpartum psychiatric disorders". Women's College Hospital. June 4, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  5. "Dr. Simone Vigod appointed as new chief of psychiatry". Women's College Hospital. November 16, 2018. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  6. Vigod, S. N.; Hussain-Shamsy, N.; Stewart, D. E.; Grigoriadis, S.; Metcalfe, K.; Oberlander, T. F.; Schram, C.; Taylor, V. H.; Dennis, C. L. (May 2019). "A patient decision aid for antidepressant use in pregnancy: Pilot randomized controlled trial". Journal of Affective Disorders. 251: 91–99. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2019.01.051. PMID 30913472. S2CID 85530797. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  7. Pelley, Lauren (June 7, 2021). "More new mothers are seeking mental health supports amid overwhelming strain during the pandemic". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  8. "One of Canada's preeminent scientists in perinatal mental health research receives prestigious award". The Royal. October 6, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2022.
  9. "The Royal Ottawa research prize recognizes 'intergenerational impact' of a mother's mental wellness". ottawacitizen. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  10. "Women's College Hospital developing virtual support for new mothers". Toronto. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  11. Campbell, Don; Toronto, University of. "Studies on risks versus benefits of antidepressant use during pregnancy should be clearer". medicalxpress.com. Retrieved 2022-02-11.
  12. "StackPath". www.womensresearch.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  13. "StackPath". www.womensresearch.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
  14. "StackPath". www.womensresearch.ca. Retrieved 2022-02-17.
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