Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Djavad Mowafagian Centre for Brain Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada 

Dr. Anthony Phillips is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at The University of British Columbia and Associate Member of the UBC Djavad Mowafagian Centre for Brain Health. He was the Founding Director of the UBC Institute of Mental Health and also served as Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction (INMHA) from 2009-17, and President of The International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) from 2012-14. From 1994-1999 Professor Phillips was Head, Department of Psychology, at UBC. His research interests are broadly based within the field of preclinical neuropsychopharmacology and systems neuroscience and he has published over 350 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He also holds two published patents. Pioneering research, which began shortly after his appointment at UBC, laid the foundation for discovering the role of Dopamine in the neural control of motivation and memory, with its clinical implications for understanding biological correlates of key aspects of mental ill-health, including substance misuse. Dr. Phillips has a long-standing interest in applying knowledge concerning normal brain-behaviour function to understanding the neural bases of mental illness. Working in close collaboration with Professor Yu-Tain Wang, the Wang-Phillips team has achieved many new insights into the role of long-term depression (LTD) in memory consolidation and cognitive flexibility. 

Dr. Phillips has also played a pioneering role in the fledgling biotech field in the mid-80’s as a founder and Treasurer of QLT one of Canada’s first biotech success stories. Recently he launched his 5th biotech startup called Resilience Biosciences Inc. to introduce new botanical-based non-opioid formulations to facilitate withdrawal from dependence on opioid drugs. A separate program of research and development is focused on the development of novel botanical formulations for treatment of cognitive impairments related to dementia and aspects of mental ill health (depression and schizophrenia). Dr. Phillips has been appointed to the Order of Canada, is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Canada and Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. His numerous awards for research innovation include a Steacie Fellowship from NSERC; a Canada Council Senior Fellowship; Inaugural UBC Killam Prize; CINP Arvid Carlsson Medal; CCNP Heinz Lehmann Award and CCNP Medal; Bill and Marilyn Webber Lifetime Achievement Award from the UBC Faculty of Medicine.