Dr. Abraham (Rami) Rudnick and Dr. Amjad Bin Faidh
Presentation: Posttraumatic stress disorder and related biopsychosocial care: an overview
Abraham (Rami) Rudnick, MD, PhD, FRCPC, CCPE, CPRRP, MCIL, DFCPA, mMBA, is a practicing psychiatrist and a PhD-trained philosopher. He is a full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and he is cross-appointed to the Department of Bioethics and to the School of Occupational Therapy, all at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, Canada. He is the Clinical Director of the Nova Scotia Operational Stress Injury Clinic (NSOSIC) at the Nova Scotia Health Authority, a Canadian Certified Physician Executive, and a Certified Psychiatric/Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Practitioner. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Physician Leadership, and the founder of the Canadian Unit of the International Network of a UNESCO Chair in Bioethics (the unit was based at the University of Western Ontario, where he was the Chair of the Research Ethics Council and the founding Chair of the Division of Social and Rural Psychiatry). He was a member of the Board of Directors of Research Canada and the inaugural Chair of its Task Force on Racial and Indigenous Justice in Health Research and Related Innovation, and he is the Chair of the Public Policy Committee of the Canadian Psychiatric Association and the Co-Chair of the Policy and Health Issues Committee of Doctors Nova Scotia. He is a recipient of various Canadian and international recognitions, such as the Educator of the Year and the Leadership Awards of the Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University, the pioneer award in recovery research of Psychosocial Rehabilitation (PSR) / Readaptation Psychosociale (RPS) Canada, and the Michael Smith research award granted by the Schizophrenia Society of Canada, and he is a Distinguished Fellow of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. Some of his main areas of clinical academic expertise and related leadership experience are psychosocial care, including in relation to mental health interventions; bioethics, including in relation to mental health ethics; person-centered care, including with people who have mental health challenges; social justice, including in relation to social determinants of health; and digital health services, including in relation to mental health care. In these and other areas, he has published many papers, chapters and books, and presented and taught across the world, as well as led and provided organizational and systems consultation for service development and quality improvement initiatives. As part of this, he has been collaborating for the last 5 or so years with his NSOSIC co-leadership, clinicians, patients and others involved, including collaborative research, such as a recent world first publication on operational stress injury: https://doi.org/10.3390/encyclopedia3040095.
Dr. Amjad Junaid Bin Faidh, MD
Psychiatrist | Psychiatry Fellow, Dalhousie University
Dr. Amjad Junaid Bin Faidh is a psychiatrist currently pursuing a fellowship in Operational Stress Injury at Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS. She holds a medical degree (MBBS) from Taibah University, Saudi Arabia, and completed her residency in psychiatry through the Saudi Board. Dr. Amjad is also a licensed consultant in psychiatry, recognized by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties. She has work experience as a psychiatry associate consultant at the National Guard Hospital in Saudi Arabia, and her current clinical and academic interests focus on trauma-related disorders.
Christopher Mushquash
Dr. Sonia Detillieux
Presentation: Management of Common PTSD Comorbidities: Case Based Discussion
Dr. Sonia Detillieux is currently working as a psychiatrist at the Nova Scotia OSI clinic. She is collaborating with other members of the OSI clinic to do research on person centered care, intimate partner violence, and treatment options for nightmares. Dr. Detillieux studied medicine at UBC and did her residency in Victoria, BC. Prior to studying medicine, she completed her master’s degree in Ecology at UBC. In between all of that she had three lovely children who continue to inspire her.
Dr. Nyassa Navidzadeh
Presentation: Psychiatric disability assessment following psychological trauma of Afghan national humanitarian aid workers in an ongoing war zone
Dr. Nyassa Navidzadeh, psychiatrist since 2010, started her practice in the North West Territories in adult as well child and adolescent psychiatry followed by her practice in Quebec, Montreal 2011 in general, community and emergency psychiatry. Previously adjunct professor at University de Montreal, currently assistant professor at the Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine, working at the Nova Scotia Operational Stress Injury Clinic in Dartmouth. She has been working as a psychiatrist and mental health specialist with Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres since 2012 in multiple contexts such as during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, war zones such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, prison settings in Malawi, refugee camps in Bangladesh for the Rohinga crisis, refugee camps in Central African Republic, in Greece, Egypt and Libya in rehabilitation centers for victims of torture and in the Mediterranean sea with the Search and Rescue vessel on the world’s deadliest migration route at sea. She is also a certified MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) teacher since 2017 as well as a certified Mindfulness meditation teacher since 2021.
Dr. Margaret (Leigh) Meldrum, Rory MacIsaac, and Danielle Hopkins
Presentation: Navigating the Therapeutic Process: Supporting Clinicians and Patients in PTSD Treatment
Dr. Margaret (Leigh) Meldrum
Dr. Meldrum is a clinical psychiatrist working at the Nova Scotia Operational Stress Injury clinic, a specialized clinic providing care to military veterans and RCMP members. She is an assistant professor as well as the medical humanities coordinator for the Dalhousie University, Department of Psychiatry. In her role as a medical educator, Dr. Meldrum teaches on the impacts of trauma and stress to medical and postgraduate students at Dalhousie University. She lives in Halifax with her partner, seven-year-old daughter, and goldendoodle.
Rory MacIsaac
Rory is a registered nurse, practicing in mental health and addictions since 2019. He has experience in geriatric mental health as well as community mental health, and is currently employed with the Operational Stress Injury Clinic, serving current and former members of the Canadian Armed Forces and RCMP. In his spare time, Rory enjoys spending time in nature with his dog Suzie.
Danielle Hopkins
Danielle Hopkins is a Registered Nurse working on the intake team at the Operation Stress Injury Clinic. She started her career as a LPN in 2013 and then continued her education, graduating from the Dalhousie Nursing Program in 2019. She has been committed to working in MH and Addictions since the early days of her career and has worked on the Neurodevelopmental Stabilization Unit, Withdrawal Management Unit, Psychiatric Emergency Services, and the Halifax Community Mental Health Team. She feels especially passionate in working with Veterans, CAF members, and RCMP as she is a child of a Veteran and a current military spouse.
Academic Day 2025