Who We Are
Yifeng Wei
PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Robert McWeeny
PhD student, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Andrew Baxter
MSW, School Mental Health Lead, Alberta Health Services
Mathew Reeson
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta, Little Warriors Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Centre
Emilie Desnoyers
PhD student, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Yifeng Wei
PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Dr. Yifeng Wei, MA, PhD, has worked as a researcher and school mental health lead with mentalhealthliteracy.org since 2008. She is currently associate professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alberta.Her research interests focus on promoting mental health literacy in schools (both secondary and post-secondary settings) to help students gain better understanding about mental health and mental disorders, reduce stigma against mental illness, obtain and maintain good mental health, and enhance help-seeking behaviors. She has made a significant contribution to school mental health research, program development, and education across Canada and around the world. Dr. Wei continues to work with school districts and education institutions to improve health outcomes for students and educators.
Dr. Wei has co-authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters, and one book on school mental health. She has led/co-led more than 30 school mental health projects, locally, nationally and internationally. She has also presented at regional, national and international scientific meetings and conferences. Dr. Wei was awarded the Canadian Institute of Health Research Doctoral Research Award in 2011 and the Dalhousie University President’s Award in 2011 and 2012.
Robert McWeeny
PhD student, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Rob McWeeny is a Ph.D student in the department of Psychiatry working under Dr. Yifeng Wei at the University of Alberta. His interests include bridging gaps between biological psychiatry, translational medicine, and public health. Rob believes in cultivating cross-ministry collaboration among public sectors to leverage resources toward shared mental health goals. Rob’s first career in education and subsequent academic-psychiatry training provide the team with added insight from both mental health and education domains. Rob has contributed to the provincial Mental Health Literacy Collaborative by working alongside the provincial health authority as a content contributor and research assistant. He is grateful to have opportunities to discuss MHL policy, content, and strategy on local, provincial, and national levels. Academics aside, Rob is an avid enjoyer of music, running, and coffee.
Andrew Baxter
MSW, School Mental Health Lead, Alberta Health Services
Andrew Baxter, MSW RSW, has worked in school-based and community mental health for over 18 years. During his time with Alberta Health Services, he has provided direct treatment for students from K-12, as well as consultation for their families and teachers.Andrew currently serves as the Team Lead for mentalhealthliteracy.org and the Alberta Mental Health Literacy Project. In these roles, he has worked to promote school mental health literacy among students, educators, parents, and mental health professionals at provincial, national and international levels. Andrew has delivered mental health literacy training to over 10,000 educators and supported school leaders from across Alberta and beyond in implementing the mental health literacy approach in their school districts to better address youth mental health needs. Responding to the many requests from educators, Andrew is currently coordinating the development of resources for mental health literacy suitable for students in elementary grades to complement the suite of resources developed for junior high and high school students. He is honored to be a member of the Indigenous Mental Health Literacy committee, supported through the Canadian Institute of Health Research. Andrew provides professional learning for educators through the University of British Columbia Faculty of Education Mental Health Institute and is an Adjunct Lecturer with the University of Calgary Department of Psychiatry. Andrew is actively making parenting mistakes with his two elementary-aged children.
Mathew Reeson
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alberta, Little Warriors Child Sexual Abuse Treatment Centre
Dr. Matt Reeson, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta. Matt has done extensive work exploring ways to improve child and adolescent mental health services, with a particular focus on the development of evidence-based practice and the implementation of routine outcomes assessment. He recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship where he led the development of an artificially intelligent virtual assistant aimed at improving access to mental health services and neurodevelopment and has published research investigating treatments and strategies to promote resilience and improve mental health in traumatized youth. Long-term, Matt hopes to use this knowledge base to inform clinical practice and become a trauma-informed clinician himself.
Through his research, Matt has discovered the importance of mental health literacy in proactively improving child and adolescent mental health services. He is honored to be included in the development of the National Child and Youth Mental Health Literacy Repository and to have the opportunity to contribute in improving youth mental health in Canada.
Emilie Desnoyers
PhD students, Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta
Emilie Desnoyers is currently a PhD student in the department of psychiatry at the University of Alberta. Her research focuses on digital implementations to the mental healthcare system that aim to help with efficacy and accessibility.
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