OPA Board of Directors
Executive Committee
Chair
Dr. Karen Shin
Dr. Karen Shin is the current Chair of the Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA). In her clinical and professional role, she is Chief of Psychiatry at St. Michael’s Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and Associate Professor at University of Toronto (UofT) . Dr. Shin is on the Schizophrenia and Psychosis Advisory Table and the Toronto Region Coordinated Access Engagement Table for Ontario Health's Mental Health and Addictions Centre of Excellence. As co-lead of the Mental Health and Law Reform Task Force of the OPA, she has published and presented on issues related to legislative reform for hospital-based mental health care. Her clinical focus is in adult general psychiatry, with experience in inpatient, outpatient and community outreach psychiatry. One of her areas of special interest is in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and she continues to be actively involved in training learners in the UofT Department of Psychiatry residency program.
Past Chair
Dr. Angela Ho
Dr. Angela Ho is a psychiatrist in Toronto working on a case management team for marginally-housed individuals with psychotic, substance use and trauma disorders. She also has a part-time practice focused on family/couples therapy. Dr. Ho is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. She was President of the Ontario Psychiatric Association 2022-2024 and is Co-Chair of the OPA Education Committee. She previously served on the Ontario Medical Association Priority & Leadership Group and OMA Section on Psychiatry Executive. She formerly sat on the Board of Directors for Inner City Health Associates.
Chair-Elect
Dr. Shabbir Amanullah
Dr. Shabbir Amanullah, DPM(C.I.P), MD (NIMHANS), FRCPsych, CCT, FRCPC, DFCPA, is President, Oxford County Medical Society and immediate Past President, Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry.
He is Chair and Scientific Chair of the Indo Canadian Psychiatric Association, and is on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Psychiatric Association.
He is a Consultant Psychiatrist at Woodstock Hospital.
Dr. Amanalluh’s areas of interest include physician health, autism and ADHD in the elderly, lewy body dementia, and the role of synthetic cannabinoids in dementia.
Secretary
Dr. Valérie Primeau
Valerie Primeau, MD, FRCPC, is a bilingual psychiatrist practicing in North Bay, Ontario. Passionate about quality improvement, leadership, and advocacy, she currently serves as the Medical Director of the Department of Psychiatry and Head of Service for Community Mental Health and Addictions at North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC). Dr. Primeau has played a key role in the treatment of concurrent disorders, including leading NBRHC’s implementation of medically-supervised withdrawal management. She also led the rural implementation of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) Integrated Care Pathway for treating alcohol use disorder and depression.
Dedicated to serving vulnerable populations, Dr. Primeau is the physician lead for the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine (RAAM) clinic and the Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) program. She contributed to the Ontario Health EPI Task Group and participated in the EPI-SET research project with CAMH, which aimed to expand the NAVIGATE evidence-based treatment model for EPI across Ontario. She was the recipient of the NOAMA Clinical Innovation Opportunities Funding for a research project on Substance use stigma among first responders and emergency department staff.
A committed advocate for medical education, Dr. Primeau has presented at numerous provincial and national conferences. She has served on the Ontario Health Alcohol Use Disorder Quality Standard Advisory Committee and was the Clinical Lead for the Withdrawal Management Standards with Addictions and Mental Health Ontario (AMHO). She is an active member of the Executive Committee of the Ontario Psychiatric Association (OPA), the Policy Committee of the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine (CSAM), and the Section of Addiction Psychiatry at the Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA). Recently, she became a founding board member and treasurer of the Canadian Academy for Addiction Psychiatry (CAAP).
Directors
Dr. Renata M. Villela
Dr. Renata M. Villela, Hon BSc, MD, FRCPC, DFAPA, completed her residency training at the University of Toronto and has been working in Thornhill for over a decade as a community adult psychiatrist in private practice focusing on long-term psychotherapy. She was named as one of the top doctors of 2023 by Post City Magazine.
Dr. Villela is committed to mental health advocacy. Dr. Villela has been involved in leadership positions across several organizations in Ontario, with roles such as Ontario Psychiatric Association Psychotherapy Initiative Lead & Former President, Ontario Medical Association Section on Psychiatry Past Chair & District 5 Secretary/Priority & Leadership Group Delegate, Coalition of Ontario Psychiatrists Past Co-Chair, and Ontario District Branch of the American Psychiatric Association Former President. She has also written multiple journal articles on the importance of and evidence for long-term psychotherapy. She has futher engaged with the media across several platforms such as: YouTube's Psychotherapy Saves video campaign, CP24's 2021 Doctors Day segment, Toronto Star articles on physician burnout and on psychotherapy, NewsTalk1010 Ontario Votes show on the shortage of psychiatrists, and Reader's Digest Best Health Magazine's article on the link between depression and inflammation.
Dr. Lyndal Petit
I work as a consult liaison and outpatient perinatal psychiatrist at the Ottawa Hospital, General Site where I also lead the Consult Liaison Team. Academically, I am an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa, the undergraduate education site director at the General Site and a regular medical student and resident supervisor and lecturer. I joined the OPA because of its mental health advocacy and leadership. In 2020, I joined the OPA's Mental Health Law Reform Task Force, and I was impressed with how individuals, families and frontline physicians came together to identify areas needing mental health law reform and areas that would improve patient access to care. I joined the OPA Council to move these important issues forward.
Dr. Sephora Tang
Dr. Sephora Tang works as a general adult psychiatrist at the Ottawa Hospital. She is an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa and Postgraduate Site Education Director at the Ottawa Hospital’s General Campus where she teaches and supervises medical students and residents. In her clinical work, she provides care to patients with complex mental health and medical needs. Her concern for the care of vulnerable and marginalized people has led her to become involved in grassroots advocacy that has brought her to speak before the Canadian Senate as an expert witness, as well as in various media channels. She joined the OPA with a desire to advocate at a higher level for systemic change. She hopes her engagement will help to improve the delivery of mental health care in Ontario by highlighting under-recognized psychosocial determinants of health, and advocating for the development of necessary infrastructure to deliver coordinated mental health and primary health care. She collaborates closely with some of the brightest leaders in mental health care and medical education, and hopes to bring her energy and passion in these areas to the OPA to further a shared vision of improving the mental health of our communities.
Dr. Dilkhush Panjwani
Dr. Dilkhush Panjwani is an assistant professor at the University of Toronto’s department of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist at Trillium Health Partners. He is immediate past president of the Indo-Canadian Psychiatric Association. Dr. Panjwani has vigorously promoted dignity for those suffering from mental health issues and workplace injuries, dedicated his career to helping patients without access to care, and advocated to end the social stigma of mental illness. He has also promoted pluralism by connecting diverse community organizations and initiating interfaith and intercultural dialogue. He was awarded the Specialist of the Year Award by the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, and appointed to the Order of Ontario in recognition of his outstanding contribution and achievements.
Dr. Kerstina Boctor
Dr. Kerstina Boctor is an early career Psychiatrist. She finished her main residency training in Saskatchewan, and her fellowship in geriatric psychiatry at the University of Toronto. She is currently working at Michael Garron Hospital on both the inpatient and outpatient Psychogeriatric units, and in her spare time, she works at under-serviced communities in northern Ontario. She also enjoys research and teaching, with a special interest in the behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), movement disorders, and impulse control disorders in the elderly.
MIT Directors
Dr. Gurvir Rai
Dr. Gurvir Rai is a psychiatry resident at the University of Ottawa, and master's student at McGill University. He is the founder and chair of the South Asian Canadian Mental Health Foundation. His interests include transcultural psychiatry, forensic psychiatry, mental health law reform, and culturally adapted cognitive behavioural therapy. Outside of his professional pursuits, he enjoys writing poetry, playing guitar, watching hockey, and hiking.
Directors' Duties and Responsibilities
Summary:
Directors function within the mandate of the OPA Constitution and By-laws, and are responsible, collectively, to govern and lead the Association by:
- Determining the vision, mission, values or beliefs of the Association;
- Setting and approving goals and objectives including overall operating and financial plans designed to achieve certain goals and objectives;
- Identifying and managing any and all risks to the Association;
- Verifying the integrity of internal control and management information systems;
- Ensuring cost-effective, efficient operations within legal requirements, ethical and quality standards;
- Monitoring communications within and outside the Association;
- Recruiting, orienting and training new Council members; and,
- Adopting a strategic planning process to determine short term and long term goals and objectives for the Association.
Directors serve for a three-year term. Two Directors shall be Members-in-Training, elected for a term of two years, one Member-in-Training to be elected in each succeeding year.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Prepares for and attends all meetings of the Board and the Annual General Meeting and any other General and Special meetings of the Association;
- Establishes and reviews documents such as the values, vision and mission of the Association;
- Complies with the Constitution and Bylaws and policies of the Association and ensures compliance by others;
- Reviews strategic plans, goals and objectives, financial information and the annual budget;
- Formulates and approves policies and procedures;
- Actively promotes and supports the Association and its activities;
- Discloses a conflict of interest to the Board as soon as he/she becomes aware of the conflict;
- Remains informed about Association issues and concerns and Board matters;
- Identifies the needs of the members, emerging issues and opportunities for the profession of psychiatry;
- Contributes to the Association’s newsletter;
- Recruits new members;
- Fulfills other assignments as Chair or committee members, and other duties as required.
Qualifications:
- Full Member of the Association (9 of the positions) or Member-in-Training (2 of the positions) Elected to office, or, through vacancy only, by appointment.
