How Involuntary Hospitalizations Impact Post-Discharge Access to Care for Transgender and Gender Diverse Patients: A Mixed Methods Study
Transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people face systemic discrimination that increases their risk of mental illness and psychiatric hospitalization. Our previous research using Ontario health administrative data (at ICES) found that TGD patients were less likely to follow up with […]
Lead: June Lam
Affiliates: Paul Kurdyak
Dr. June Sing Hong Lam is a Psychiatrist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), an Associate Scientist with the Institute for Mental Health Policy Research at CAMH, and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), University of Toronto. Clinically, he works in the CAMH emergency department and the gender identity clinic.
Dr. Lam’s research focuses on access to mental health care for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people, with a particular emphasis on integrating population-based health administrative data and qualitative research. His mixed methods approach leverages both lived experience and large-scale data to inform equity-oriented health system change. Current projects examine pathways to and outcomes of acute psychiatric care for TGD individuals, system avoidance after hospitalization, and the evaluation of crisis response models such as Toronto’s Mobile Crisis Intervention Team (MCIT).
He has also contributed to advancing knowledge in other under-researched areas of 2SLGBTQIA+ health, including perinatal mental health in LGBTQ2S+ populations and the lived experiences of individuals who discontinue or reverse a gender transition (detransition). His work emphasizes translating research findings into clinical and policy recommendations to improve care.
Dr. Lam completed a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology at the University of British Columbia, his MD at McGill University, and psychiatry residency at the University of Toronto. He also completed a fellowship in transitional age youth and transgender health, and a PhD in Clinical Epidemiology and Health Care Research at IHPME. His research has been recognized with a CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s and Doctoral), as well as the University of Toronto Department of Psychiatry’s Academic Scholar Award.