Speaker
Francis Vergunst
Research Psychologist, Ste-Justine University Hospital and University of Montreal.
Biography
I am a research psychologist in child development and psychopathology at Ste-Justine University Hospital and University of Montreal. I am interested in the aetiology and course of mental health problems and how they shape socioeconomic and health inequalities across the life course.
My current work focuses on childhood behaviours – such as inattention, aggression, anxiety and prosocial traits – and their association with social and economic participation in adulthood, including the underlying mechanisms that explain these associations, which I examine using birth cohort studies. The aim of this work is to describe and define early predictors of poor life outcomes so we can improve identification for at-risk children and the development of prevention programs.
I have parallel research interests in climate change and mental health, sustainable healthcare, coercion in psychiatry, and the perception and treatment or animals. My work is funded by CIHR and FRQS postdoctoral fellowships.