“According to the Ontario Early Psychosis Intervention Program Standards, early phase psychosis (EPP) is defined as experiencing symptoms of a psychotic disorder between the ages of 14 and 35, who are either untreated or receiving treatment for 6 months or less. EPP can be a confusing time for a young person. The hallmark feature of psychosis is the difficulty in telling what is real and what is not. This often-persistent lack of insight has treatment implications for both the patient and their healthcare providers. Medication acceptance and adherence can be a challenge. The mainstay of treatment of psychotic illness includes antipsychotics. While effective, they carry a significant burden of metabolic syndrome, including weight gain and increased risk of diabetes. Concerns about the side effects, how long one must be on medication, or even simply accepting one has a mental illness that requires medication in the first place, can be common concerns and barriers to treatment. We lack tools to address these issues that are tailored to both prescribers and patients, especially those that include people with lived experience in the development process. As such, my proposed research will employ knowledge translation approaches to guide both patients and prescribers on psychosis treatment, as well as the prevention/management of metabolic side effects of antipsychotics.” – Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah
PSI Foundation is pleased to announce Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah as the recipient of the 2026 PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship.
About Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah
Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah (she/her) is a psychiatrist and clinician-investigator at the Department of Psychiatry at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto) and Scientist at Upstream Lab.
She specializes in early psychosis intervention, providing psychiatric care to transitional aged youth 14-35 years old with psychotic disorders. Her research is informed by her clinical practice serving this vulnerable population. Her projects focus upon shared medical decision-making in early phase psychosis and the prevention and management of metabolic side effects of antipsychotic medications.
About the PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship
Knowledge translation research aims at transitioning research discoveries to the real world to improve health outcomes. The PSI Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship – valued at $300,000 for over two or three years – helps protect a promising new clinician investigator’s research time, allowing the Fellow to undertake high-impact translational research in Ontario.
Dr. Sediqzadah highlights the significance of salary support awards for physician researchers at the early career level:
“This salary support award is an absolute game changer for early career researchers like me. Trying to fit in research activities between clinics, in the evenings or weekends, while also (in my case) raising two small children, is very difficult to do. PSI’s support will allow me to protect my time so that I can focus on my research and knowledge translation projects to benefit the mental health of Ontarians. I am so grateful.”
Fellowship Funds to be Used to Improve the Mental and Physical Health Outcomes for Youth with Early Phase Psychosis in Ontario
This Fellowship will fill specific gaps in early phase psychosis treatment, including the prevention/management of metabolic syndrome in psychotic illnesses.
Dr. Saadia Sediqzadah’s knowledge translation goals include developing the first patient decision aid for early phase psychosis that will be co-designed by people with lived experience (PWLE), their families/caregivers and healthcare providers. Additionally, her qualitative research on antipsychotic-induced weight gain will result in the development of an online tool tailored to PWLE and healthcare providers. At the heart of her projects is the inclusion of PWLE with psychosis, following the mantra “nothing about us without us”.
