New chair hopes to make Hamilton a leader in addictions research

McMaster University and St Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton have announced who will serve as the first chair-holder at the new Peter Boris Centre for Addictions Research.

Dr James MacKillop has a wide-ranging background in clinical psychology and has dedicated his career to improving addiction treatment.

It’s all been made possible by the family of Marta and the late Owen Boris. The philanthropists donated $7.6 million to establish the centre in memory of their youngest child, Peter, who struggled with alcohol dependence.

For MacKellop it’s a chance to make Hamilton a world leader in addictions research.

“My goal is to relatively quickly build a centre that is known internationally for really pushing the boundaries of what we know about addiction.”

“There have been tremendous advances in the past few decades in terms of research, but there’s a long way to go before we really develop optimal treatments, so my goal is to move the ball down the field.”

Addictions are the most common psychiatric condition. The centre will use different methods for their studies going forward, including human testing, brain imaging and genetics studies.