CEO of Wellesely Institute
Dr. Kwame McKenzie is the CEO of Wellesley Institute, a research and policy institute that works to improve health and health equity in the GTA through action on the social determinants of health. He is an international expert on the social causes of illness, suicide and the development of effective, equitable health systems.
As a physician, researcher and policy advisor, Dr. McKenzie has worked to identify the causes of illness and in cross-cultural health for over two decades. He is an active, funded researcher of social, community, clinical and policy issues with nearly 200 academic publications including five books.
In addition to his post at Wellesley Institute, Dr. McKenzie is Director of Clinical Health Equity at CAMH. He is also a full Professor and the Co-Director of the Division of Equity Gender and Population in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto.
Dr. McKenzie is a member of the Ontario Government’s Mental Health and Addictions Leadership Advisory Council and sat on the Expert Advisory Group for Ontario’s Homelessness Strategy alongside numerous other committees. He has a respected track record for setting up award winning services, training clinicians and researchers, offering clinical care to some of the most marginalized patients, and helping to develop health policy for Governments in Canada, Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and United States.
Contact
Email: kwame.mckenzie@camh.ca
Dr. McKenzie is an international expert on the social causes of mental illness, suicide and the development of effective, equitable health systems. As a physician, psychiatrist, researcher and policy advisor, Dr. McKenzie has worked to identify the causes of mental illness, particularly in cross-cultural health, for over two decades. He is an active, funded researcher of social, community, clinical and policy issues, and has nearly 200 academic publications, including four books. Dr. McKenzie has set up award-winning services. In addition to developing health policy for governments, he continues to see patients and train clinicians and researchers. Dr. McKenzie has international experience in Africa, Europe, the Caribbean and United States.
- Towards Understanding the Relationship Between Psychosocial Factors and Ego Resilience Among Primary School Children in a Kenyan Setting: A Pilot Feasibility Study. -Ndetei D, Mutiso V, Maraj A, Anderson K, Musyimi C, Musau A, Tele A, Gitonga I, McKenzie K.
- Study of electronic records from a south London psychiatric trust suggests that the increased mortality from physical illness linked to depression varies between ethnic groups. - McKenzie K.
- Unmet Health Care Needs for Syrian Refugees in Canada: A Follow-up Study. - Tuck A, Oda A, Hynie M, Bennett-AbuAyyash C, Roche B, Agic B, McKenzie K.
- More than four walls and a roof needed: A complex tertiary prevention approach for recently homeless youth. - Kidd SA, Vitopoulos N, Frederick T, Leon S, Karabanow J, McKenzie K.
- Psychological capital and life satisfaction of refugees in Canada: Evidence from a community-based educational support program. - Bajwa J, Abai M, Couto S, Kidd S, Dibavar A, McKenzie K.
- World Health Organization life-skills training is efficacious in reducing youth self-report scores in primary school going children in Kenya. - Ndetei DM, Mutiso V, Gitonga I, Agudile E, Tele A, Birech L, Musyimi C, McKenzie K.
- Gender role strain, core schemas, and psychotic experiences in ethnically diverse women: A role for sex- and gender-based analysis in psychosis research? - Haarmans M, McKenzie K, Kidd SA, Bentall RP.
- Differences in Self-Reported Health and Unmet Health Needs Between Government Assisted and Privately Sponsored Syrian Refugees: A Cross-Sectional Survey. - Oda A, Hynie M, Tuck A, Agic B, Roche B, McKenzie K.
- Study protocol: Mobilizing Asian men in Canada to reduce stigma of mental illness. - Guruge S, Fung KP, Sidani S, Este D, Morrow M, McKenzie K, Wong JP.
- Pilot towards developing a school mental health service: Experiences and lessons learnt in implementing Kenya integrated intervention model for dialogue and screening to promote children's mental well-being. - Mutiso VN, Musyimi CW, Musau AM, Nandoya ES, Mckenzie K, Ndetei DM.
- Patient Characteristics, Length of Stay, and Functional Improvement for Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders: A Population Study of Inpatient Care in Ontario 2005 to 2015. - Chen S, Collins A, Anderson K, McKenzie K, Kidd S.
- Mental health of South Asian youth in Peel Region, Toronto, Canada: a qualitative study of determinants, coping strategies and service access. - Islam F, Multani A, Hynie M, Shakya Y, McKenzie K.
- The WPA-Lancet Psychiatry Commission on the Future of Psychiatry. - Bhugra D, Tasman A, Pathare S, Priebe S, Smith S, Torous J, Arbuckle MR, Langford A, Alarcón RD, Chiu HFK, First MB, Kay J, Sunkel C, Thapar A, Udomratn P, Baingana FK, Kestel D, Ng RMK, Patel A, Picker L, McKenzie KJ, Moussaoui D, Muijen M, Bartlett P, Davison S, Exworthy T, Loza N, Rose D, Torales J, Brown M, Christensen H, Firth J, Keshavan M, Li A, Onnela JP, Wykes T, Elkholy H, Kalra G, Lovett KF, Travis MJ, Ventriglio A.
- Psychosocial stressors contributing to emergency psychiatric service utilization in a sample of ethno-culturally diverse clients with psychosis in Toronto. - Rotenberg M, Tuck A, McKenzie K.
- Patients' Mental Health Journeys: A Qualitative Case Study with Interactive Computer-Assisted Client Assessment Survey (iCASS). - Ferrari M, Shakya Y, Ledwos C, McKenzie K, Ahmad F.
- Examining the impact of migrant status on ethnic differences in mental health service use preceding a first diagnosis of schizophrenia. - Anderson KK, McKenzie KJ, Kurdyak P.
- Health care needs and use of health care services among newly arrived Syrian refugees: a cross-sectional study. - Oda A, Tuck A, Agic B, Hynie M, Roche B, McKenzie K.
- The role of ethnicity in pathways to emergency psychiatric services for clients with psychosis. - Rotenberg M, Tuck A, Ptashny R, McKenzie K.
- Psychometric properties of the Ndetei-Othieno-Kathuku (NOK) Scale: A mental health assessment tool for an African setting. - Denckla CA, Ndetei DM, Mutiso VN, Musyimi CW, Musau AM, Nandoya ES, Anderson KK, Milanovic S, Henderson D, McKenzie K.
- Preconsult interactive computer-assisted client assessment survey for common mental disorders in a community health centre: a randomized controlled trial. - Ahmad F, Lou W, Shakya Y, Ginsburg L, Ng PT, Rashid M, Dinca-Panaitescu S, Ledwos C, McKenzie K.