Rate My Professor Benedikt Fischer

Benedikt Fischer is an Adjunct Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. He also serves as Senior Scientist at the Institute of Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, and holds the position of Chair in Addiction Psychiatry and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, with additional appointments at the Institute of Medical Sciences and the Centre for Criminology and Sociolegal Studies there, as well as in the Department of Psychiatry at the Federal University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He is the NPI of the CIHR-funded Ontario CRISM Node Team. Previously, Fischer held a CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Research Chair and directed the Centre for Applied Research in Mental Health and Addictions at Simon Fraser University from 2008 to 2015. He obtained his PhD in Criminology from the University of Toronto in 1998 and began his academic career as a Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Fischer's research focuses on the socio-behavioral epidemiology of illicit and psychotropic substance use and related health outcomes, including comorbidities such as mental health issues, pain, and infectious diseases, as well as evidence-based interventions and policy. His work often addresses marginalized and high-risk populations, including youth, street-involved individuals, correctional populations, and Indigenous communities, with emphasis on knowledge translation and implementation. He has authored or co-authored approximately 300 scientific publications and is a co-author of the books Cannabis Policy: Moving Beyond Stalemate (2010) and Drug Policy and the Public Good (second edition forthcoming). In 2016/17, he served as Senior Science Advisor to Health Canada’s Cannabis Legalization and Regulation Office and has held advisory roles with the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions and the Mental Health Commission of Canada Science Advisory Board.