Dr. Patricia Di Ciano is a scientist with the Institute for Mental Health and Policy Research at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). She is also an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. She is a full member of the School of Graduate Studies.
She received her PhD in BioPsychology from the University of British Columbia. After completing her degree, she moved to the UK to pursue a post-doctoral position at the University of Cambridge as a NSERC post-doctoral fellow. She then worked as a research associate and senior research Associate before taking up a position as a lecturer at Swansea University. After re-locating to Toronto, she worked at CAMH as a project scientist before starting an independent scientist position in 2019.
Areas of Research
Dr. Di Ciano has a multi-disciplinary background and her general research area is clinical trials and regulated studies into the safety of cannabis and other substances of abuse. She has experience with positron emission tomography (PET) imaging and has also studied the addictive properties of a number of substances including cocaine, heroin, nicotine and amphetamine. Her research has been supported by the Ministry of Transportation, Transport Canada, WomenmindTM the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), CAMH, the CAMH Foundation and the University of Toronto. Her work is aimed at understanding the impact of cannabis on driving, cognition and related outcomes. Dr. Di Ciano is also investigating the relative safety of different routes of cannabis administration, using cognitive, pulmonary, toxicological and pharmacokinetic outcomes.
Publications
View Dr. Di Ciano’s publications on Google Scholar.