Congratulations to Dr. Emily Jenkins, who will be inducted into the Canadian Academy of Nursing with the 2024 cohort of fellows during a virtual ceremony on October 24, 2024.
October 3, 2024
Dr. Emily Jenkins, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Socioecological Approaches to Mental Health and Substance Use, is also the Scientific Director of Wellstream, the Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child & Youth Mental Health & Substance Use, and the School's newest Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing. Her work takes a strengths-based, preventative approach, aiming to improve mental health and reduce substance use harms at both community and population levels, particularly among youth and populations who experience social and structural vulnerabilities.
Using participatory methods, Emily collaborates with policy makers and individuals who have lived experience to produce relevant, actionable evidence. Her research addresses urgent health issues, such as creating interventions to support youth engagement in policymaking, reducing substance use harms, and enhancing mental health systems. Emily’s work during the pandemic focused on monitoring the mental health impacts of COVID-19.
Supported by national and provincial grants, Emily’s research in youth mental health and substance use emphasizes youth involvement in policy as a mental health promotion tool. Her work has gained significant attention and has led to frequent media interviews and consultation roles, such as her testimony before the Senate of Canada on Bill C-45 (the Cannabis Act). She also shares her findings creatively, such as through the award-winning film series See the Lives, where Emily was the BC lead in a project that collaborated with parents who lost children to substance use.
Emily remains committed to ensuring her research has real-world impacts. One recent example is Wellstream for Schools, a project to create national standards, developing and launching Canada-wide programs to support education professionals with resources and strategies to address mental health and substance use issues effectively from kindergarten to Grade 12.
