William Gardner Senior Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
August 25, 2024
I worked for many years at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute (CHEO-RI) and the University of Ottawa (uOttawa) Department of Psychiatry. During that time, I was honoured to hold the Senior Research Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the CHEO-RI and the Department of Psychiatry. The Chair freed me from teaching and enabled me to focus on research.
As my cancer has progressed, I have had to reduce the proportion of my time spent working. Recently, I had to tell the CHEO-RI that, with great regret, I had to give up working altogether.
To my surprise, the CHEO-RI, the CHEO Foundation, and the uOttawa Faculty of Medicine announced that they were renaming the Chair I have held. It will now be the ‘William Gardner Senior Chair in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.’ 1
The YouTube video below records the ceremony commemorating the Chair’s renaming. (The photograph shows what I looked like before cancer.)
This video includes comments on me and my work by Dr. Jason Berman (the Director of the CHEO-RI), Alex Munter (CEO of CHEO), and three long-time friends: Jim Pope (Professor of Constitutional Law, Rutgers University), Dr. Kelly Kelleher (Distinguished Professor of Pediatrics, Ohio State University), and Dr. Kathleen Pajer (Chair of the uOttawa Department of Psychiatry).
Most of my research has been in collaboration with Drs. Kelleher and Pajer. So many things have to go right for a research project to succeed. Working with brilliant physicians and kind human beings like Kelly and Kathi has been my joy.
Dr. Berman asked me to discuss the primary themes of my research career. I encourage you to listen to my talk, but the one-sentence version is this. Although researchers have developed psychometric instruments, psychotherapies, and drugs that can benefit children and adolescents struggling with mental health disorders, we have not succeeded in organizing a healthcare system that will reliably deliver these treatments to the youth who need them most.
My research over the past two decades has focused on understanding why and what might be done to fix it. Unfortunately, this problem is currently unsolved.
The next person to hold the Chair will be recruited based on excellence in research in child and adolescent psychiatry; there is no expectation that they will study my topics.
A great and absolutely deserved honor, Bill. I'm sorry that you're no longer able to carry on with your work, but know that Kathi and Kelly will do so, as well as the countless colleagues you have influenced over your distinguished career. Thinking of you and Kathi.
Congratulations on this honor -- or honour! It's another way for your professional work to be remembered for many years to come.