Ian Colman
Visiting professor
Background
Dr. Ian Colman is Professor at the School of Epidemiology & Public Health at the University of Ottawa, Canada, and Visiting Professor at the Centre for Fertility and Health. Dr. Colman, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Epidemiology, directs the Applied Psychiatric Epidemiology Across the Life course (APEAL) Lab, which investigates factors associated with depression, anxiety, and suicidal behaviour, with a particular interest in public health approaches towards prevention and intervention. In partnership with local and national agencies as well as researchers from several countries, he and his research team are studying population-wide health data for clues. This includes mental health assessments of thousands of Canadian, British, Dutch, and Norwegian children who have been followed for many years. Dr. Colman visited the Centre for Fertility and Health from August, 2019, to June, 2020, and worked with: 1) the MoBa study, to investigate how stressors early in life influence Norwegian mothers’ mental health, their relationship with their partner, and the mental health of their offspring, and, 2) the Studentenes Helse- og Trivselsundersøkelse (SHoT study) to investigate how social media and substance use are associated with suicidality in Norwegian university students. Dr. Colman has published more than 150 papers, including multiple papers in the British Medical Journal, the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Biological Psychiatry, and the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He also thinks that waffelfredag at the Centre is the greatest idea ever.