Sara Mitchell
Research Assistant:
Dr. Mitchell is the Director of the Brain Medicine Program at the University of Toronto, an innovative fellowship and research initiative that promotes interdisciplinarity among brain-related specialties. Dr. Mitchell’s work leverages research and education embedded in clinical care through the Brain Medicine Clinic and its associated fellowship program. Through her research, Dr. Mitchell seeks to accelerate the pace of innovation in clinical care, medical training and knowledge translation, with a focus on the treatment of complex brain disorders, marked by overlapping cognitive, functional, mood, and behavioural manifestations. Dr. Mitchell’s research interests also extend to improving system level care for patients with neurodegenerative conditions, including dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, along with accessing novel biomarkers and therapies. She is the co-founder of the Neurology Quality and Innovation Lab, a QI hub focused on improving neurological care and education in QI along with digital health. Dr. Mitchell has been awarded the Young Investigator Award (2015) from the American Neuropsychiatric Association, along with the Early Faculty Quality Improvement Award (2022) and the Sunnybrook Education Advisory Council Innovative Curriculum Award (2022-2023) from Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Education
- BA (Honours), 2005, Psychology, McGill University, Canada
- MD, 2009, Doctor of Medicine, McMaster University, Canada
- MPH, 2016, Masters of Public Health, Clinical Effectiveness, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, United States
Appointments & Affiliations
- Affiliate Scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
- Director, Azrieli Brain Medicine Program, University of Toronto
- Staff Neurologist, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine (Neurology), University of Toronto
- Cross Appointment, Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
- Quality and Innovation-Clinician, Division of Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto
Research Foci
- Brain Medicine
- Complex Brain Disorders
- Functional Cognitive Disorders
- Neurodegenerative Disorders causing dementia including Alzheimer’s disease, frontotemporal dementia, Primary Progressive Aphasia and Parkinson-Plus conditions
- Neuropsychiatric Disorders
- Quality Improvement
Affiliated Labs & Programs
Selected Publications
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Saravi SFB, Mitchell SB, Levitt S. The Brain Medicine Clinic: two cases highlighting the advantages of integrative care. BJPsych Open. 2023 May 25;9(3):e92. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2022.631. PMID: 37227080; PMCID: PMC10228218. <
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Levitt, Sarah MSc, MD1; Henri-Bhargava, Alex MDCM, MScCH2; Hogan, David B. MD3; Shulman, Kenneth MD, SM4; Mitchell, Sara B. MD, MPH5. The Brain Medicine Fellowship: A Competency-Based Training Program to Treat Complex Brain Disorders. Academic Medicine 98(5):p 590-594, May 2023.
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DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000005156 <
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Al Hussona M, Maher M, Chan D, et al. The Virtual Neurologic Exam: Instructional Videos and Guidance for the COVID-19 Era. Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences / Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques. 2020;47(5):598-603. doi:10.1017/cjn.2020.96 < >
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Paula J. Gosse BSc, Charles D. Kassardjian MD MSc, Mario Masellis MD PhD, Sara B. Mitchell MD MPH. Virtual care for patients with Alzheimer disease and related dementias during the COVID-19 era and beyond. CMAJ 2021 March 15;193:E371-7. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.201938. <
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Hophing L, Tse T, Naimer N, Masellis M, Mirza SS, Izenberg A, Khosravani H, Kassardjian CD, Mitchell SB. Virtual Compared With In-Person Neurologic Examination Study. Neurol Clin Pract. 2024 Dec;14(6):e200339. doi: 10.1212/CPJ.0000000000200339. Epub 2024 Aug 16. PMID: 39185101; PMCID: PMC11341002. <