In this conversation, Laura Sikstrom, a Medical Anthropologist and Project Scientist at The Krembil Center for Neuroinformatics at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and an AMS Healthcare fellow in Compassion and AI, speaks with Sean Hill, the Director of The Krembil Center for Neuroinformatics, Senior Scientist at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, and Professor at the University of Toronto. They discuss the meaning of fairness in mental health and the concepts used to support.

Dr. Laura Sikstrom is also an assistant professor (status-only) in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Sikstrom also co-leads the Predictive Care Team at CAMH, which focuses on the intricate intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and mental health care. By integrating computational techniques with ethnographic insights, this team investigates the potential and challenges of incorporating AI into mental health practice, with a focus on compassionate and equitable care. Dr. Sikstrom received funding from AMS Healthcare, Google, SSHRC and CIHR and is also a nominee for the prestigious Governor General’s Gold Award. 

Dr. Sean Hill is also a computational neuroscientist with experience in building large-scale computational models of brain circuitry. The Centre collaborates with clinicians and researchers, employing neuroinformatics, artificial intelligence, and multi-scale modeling, to develop data-driven definitions of brain disorders, predict patient trajectories, and transform mental health care. Dr. Hill applies large-scale data integration, neuroinformatics, multiscale brain modeling and machine learning to improve our understanding and treatment of mental health disorders. The Centre’s mandate is to accelerate global collaborations in brain science using the power of big data and brain modeling to fundamentally change how mental illness is understood.

Resources:

Sikstrom, Laura, Marta M. Maslej, Zoe Findlay, Gillian Strudwick, Katrina Hui, Juveria Zaheer,

Sean L. Hill, and Daniel Z. Buchman. 2023. “Predictive Care: A Protocol for a Computational

Ethnographic Approach to Building Fair Models of Inpatient Violence in Emergency

Psychiatry.” 

Sikstrom, Laura, Marta M. Maslej, Katrina Hui, Zoe Findlay, Daniel Z. Buchman, and Sean L. Hill.

2022. “Conceptualising Fairness: Three Pillars for Medical Algorithms and Health Equity.” 

What is ‘AI’ and what is it doing in psychiatry? A webinar presented at the RBC Patient & Family

Learning Space, CAMH, November 2, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVUs-BnGIOU

What happens to our brains when we get depressed? The Walrus, 2021, by Simon Lewsen.

https://thewalrus.ca/what-happens-to-our-brains-when-we-get-depressed/