Our Team Presents at the Equity Exchange 2026

On January 23, 2026, members of our team participated in Equity Exchange 2026, organized by the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Committee of the Douglas Research Centre. Team members presented posters, delivered short oral presentations, and facilitated a creative workshop. These presentations reflected the team’s commitment to co-design with youth and participative research, as well as to equity, inclusion, and diversity in mental health research.

Tovah Cowan delivered a short oral presentation on her postdoctoral work, Whose views? Lived experience involvement and geographic diversity in patient-reported measures used in early intervention in psychosis research. With Flavie Couillard, she also presented a poster titled Co-designing recommendations with youth: How to choose and use patient-reported measures in youth mental health services.

Matt Dal Bianco presented a short oral presentation based on his undergraduate thesis, Sexually Diverse and Gender-Expansive Youth in ACCESS Open Minds: Sociodemographic Characteristics and Clinical Severity at Presentation to Youth Mental Health Services.

Zirui Li delivered a short oral presentation based on her master’s work, Addressing Inequity in Youth Lived Experience Involvement in Research in Canada.

Camila Velez, Elisa Guichenal, Laura Cuartas Escobar, and Anya Valimahomed facilitated a creative workshop on art therapy titled Cultivating Reflexivity and Relational Accountability for Research Equity: An Art-Based Workshop.

Nora Morrison presented a poster on her PhD work, Self-Referral Pathways to Mental Health Services for Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

John Bedirian presented a poster based on his master’s project, What Makes Mental Health Care Exceptional for 2SLGBTQIA+ Youth?

Natalie Ma presented a poster based on an undergraduate project, Implications for Diversity Across Fields: Lessons Learned on Addressing Disparities in Breast Cancer Among Minority Women in North America.

Sarah Ben-Nouna presented a poster from her undergraduate research project, Key Features of Aire Ouverte, Quebec’s Provincial Integrated Youth Services Initiative: A Delphi Study, highlighting youth perspectives within the service.