Queen's University and the Department of Psychiatry, in partnership with The Rossy Foundation, are working together to launch a student mental-health research centre that will help improve student well-being at Queen’s and at other university and college campuses.
The U-Flourish Centre for Student Mental Health Research will begin work this September, thanks to a major donation from The Rossy Foundation.
The U-Flourish Centre represents a major investment in transdisciplinary education and research. The centre will expand capacity for student mental health research through national and international collaborations and be under the direction of Professor Anne Duffy (Department of Psychiatry), a pioneer in student mental health research, in partnership with students, faculty across disciplines, as well as campus and community stakeholders.
“On behalf of Queen’s University, I want to thank The Rossy Foundation for their generosity,” says Queen’s Health Sciences Dean Jane Philpott. “This investment will help us expand mental health research and resources that benefit students at Queen’s and beyond.”
The U-Flourish Research Centre will generate and translate evidence into resources, tools, educational assets, and integrated care models and pathways to support student well-being and mental health. The centre will help inform policy and build capacity in student mental health by training the next generation of educators, researchers, and academic clinicians in the field.
“This funding will build capacity for student mental health research and education, nationally and internationally, and allow us to take a quantum leap forward in translating findings from individual studies into a curated library of sustainable and scalable resources and support,” Duffy says. “This will help student well-being and mental health today and ensure further investment in applied student mental health research in the future.”
The centre’s initiatives will be designed to align with the recommendations of the National Standard and will collaborate closely with the Best Practices in Canadian Higher Education Network. The centre will expand the reach and impact of U-Flourish, a multi-disciplinary group of researchers based at Queen’s and partnering with Queen's Student Wellness to understand how best to support student well-being and mental-health research.
The new funding will boost capacity for data analysis and undergraduate and graduate student training, and help support student scholarships, international exchanges and collaborations, and pilot studies.
"I want to express my gratitude to The Rossy Foundation, which has supported numerous mental health programs at Queen’s and throughout Canada,” says Vice-Principal (Advancement) Karen Bertrand, Artsci’94. “The foundation and the university are working together to create a culture of wellness where students at Queen’s and on campuses across the country can reach their full potential.”
