“Addressing youth mental health and reproductive health in an integrated way has the potential to reduce barriers to care and improve wellbeing. This work, supported by the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship, aims to improve sexual and reproductive healthcare for Ontario youth with psychosis, and improve mental healthcare for pregnant and postpartum youth.” – Dr. Lucy Barker
PSI Foundation is pleased to announce Dr. Lucy Barker as the recipient of the 2025 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship.
About Dr. Lucy Barker
Dr. Lucy Barker is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, a Psychiatrist and an Early Career Scientist at Women’s College Hospital, and an Adjunct Scientist at ICES.
Dr. Barker’s research focuses on the intersection of reproductive and mental health, and equitable access to mental health services. Her current work specifically aims to improve reproductive mental health services for adolescents and transition-age youth.
Dr. Barker has demonstrated productivity as an early career Clinician-Scientist (including 43 journal article publications, 19 as a first or senior responsible author). She has received numerous awards for her research, including a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Award, two Pat Martens Memorial Student Prizes in Maternal and Child Health Research (Canadian Association of Health Services and Policy Research), and the Dr. Jack V. Tu Memorial Award for Excellence (IHPME). She has also taken on leadership roles to improve mentorship in the field of reproductive mental health.
About the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship
Knowledge translation research aims at transitioning research discoveries to the real world to improve health outcomes. The PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship – valued at $300,000 for over two or three years – helps protect a promising new clinician investigator’s research time, allowing the Fellow to undertake high-impact translational research in Ontario.
Dr. Barker highlights the importance of salary support awards for physician researchers at the early career level.
“Salary support to conduct research and knowledge translation work is critical for early career physician researchers. The support provided by the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship will allow me time to conduct research, implement findings in clinical practice, supervise students, and engage with stakeholders including community partners and youth with lived experience. I am incredibly grateful for this support.”
Fellowship Funds to be Used to Improve Care for Youth in Ontario, Integrating Both Reproductive Health and Mental Health
Mental health problems and reproductive health are highly intertwined for youth. Youth who are pregnant or recently delivered a baby are at high risk of experiencing mental illness, and youth with psychosis have higher rates of abortion compared to their unaffected peers. Yet, services that incorporate both reproductive health and mental health for youth are lacking. This project aims to improve care that integrates both reproductive health and mental health for youth in Ontario.
The project has two overlapping components, both of which fill critical gaps in reproductive and mental health services for youth. In the first, Dr. Barker and her colleagues will use new knowledge from their research about the mental health of pregnant and postpartum Ontario youth to improve current services, and to implement and evaluate a new virtual therapy group for postpartum youth. In the second, Dr. Barker and her colleagues will implement and evaluate a sexual and reproductive health module they recently created for women, transgender, and non-binary youth receiving care within early psychosis intervention programs. Throughout, Dr. Barker and her colleagues will engage with youth with lived experience, community organizations, clinicians, and clinical and health systems leaders to incorporate diverse perspectives and maximize impact.
