Dr. W.L. Alan Fung
Title & Contact Info
Research Professor
Email: afung [at] tyndale.ca
Department: Psychology
Academic Credentials
ScD, Harvard University
SM, Harvard University
MD, University of Toronto
MPhil, University of Cambridge
BSc, University of Toronto
Certificate in Theology and Ministry, Princeton Theological Seminary
Areas of Specialization
Cultural and spiritual dimensions of mental health and psychotherapy; partnerships between mental health and faith communities; mental health promotion; interprofessional collaborations and education; medical humanities (especially ethics and education); neuropsychiatric epidemiology and genetics; neurodevelopmental, neurodegenerative and sleep disorders.
Biography
Dr. Fung is a physician board-certified in the specialties of psychiatry (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada), sleep medicine (American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology), and behavioral neurology & neuropsychiatry (United Council of Neurologic Subspecialties, USA). He is an Attending Physician at North York General Hospital, and chairs the Research Ethics Board of the Hospital. He is also a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Tyndale Counselling Services. He has strong clinical and academic interests in the cultural and spiritual dimensions of mental health and services - including the interface between spirituality/religion and mental health and illness, as well as partnerships between mental health and faith communities in promoting mental health.
Some examples of his international involvements in the field of spirituality/religion and mental health include serving as the Secretary of the Organizing Committee and Scientific Committee of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) International Congress in Spirituality and Psychiatry (December 2019); as the Secretary of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Caucus on Spirituality, Religion and Psychiatry; as a Board Member of the World Psychiatric Association (WPA) Section on Religion, Spirituality and Psychiatry; as a Steering Committee Member of the Mental Health and Faith Community Partnership in the United States since 2014; and as an Advisory Board Member of the Conference on Medicine and Religion (USA).
In Canada, he is a founding member of the Toronto-based Working Group for the Promotion of Mental Health in Faith Communities, and has been involved in various endeavours promoting dialogues between mental health and spiritual care professionals. He also serves on the Board of the Living Water Counselling Centre in Toronto.
A Co-Editor of the book “Ethical Considerations at the Intersection of Psychiatry and Religion” (Oxford University Press, 2018) and Principal Investigator of research projects related to spirituality and mental health in the Christian and Muslim communities in Canada, Dr. Fung is also a faculty member at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine and Collaborative Program in Neuroscience. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (in Psychiatry), as well as of the American Psychiatric Association.
Faculty Publications
- Ethical Considerations at the Intersection of Psychiatry and Religion (2018) (Book)
- Symptoms and Experience of Depression Among Chinese Communities in the West: A Scoping Review (2018) (Article)
- A Comprehensive Guide to Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Second Edition (2017) (Book)
- A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of coenzyme Q10 in Huntington disease (2017) (Article)
- Feasibility of computerized working memory training in individuals with Huntington disease (2017) (Article)
- Internet Safety Issues for Adolescents and Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (2017) (Article)
- Where is the client/patient voice in interprofessional healthcare team assessments? Findings from a one-day forum (2017) (Article)
- Effect of Deutetrabenazine on Chorea Among Patients With Huntington Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial (2016) (Article)
- Patterns of endurance and distress in Chinese-Canadian women with a history of suicidal behaviour (2016) (Article)
- Cognitive decline preceding the onset of psychosis in patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (2015) (Article)
- Movement disorders and other motor abnormalities in adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (2015) (Article)
- Pharmacological treatment of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome-related psychoses (2015) (Article)
- Practical guidelines for managing adults with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (2015) (Article)
- Response to clozapine in a clinically identifiable subtype of schizophrenia (2015) (Article)
- Chromosomal microarray analysis - a routine clinical genetic test for patients with schizophrenia (2014) (Article)
- Psychiatric disorders from childhood to adulthood in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: results from the International Consortium (2014) (Article)
- Principal components methods for narrow-sense heritability in the analysis of multidimensional longitudinal cognitive phenotypes (2013) (Article)