Professor Dr. Sarah Dermody

Biography

Dr. Dermody is the Director of the Clinical Addictions Research Equity (CARE) Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University. She received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, focusing on Biological and Health Psychology, from the University of Pittsburgh and completed an accredited internship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. After graduation, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and subsequently became an Assistant Professor at Oregon State University. At Toronto Metropolitan University, she supervises MA and PhD students in Clinical Psychology and Psychological Science programs, teaching courses related to addiction and clinical health psychology. Dr. Dermody’s research investigates risk factors and treatments for substance use and addiction among youth and adults, specifically characterizing the risks associated with alcohol and cigarette use across the lifespan, optimizing addiction interventions to address co-occurring substance use, and identifying differences in substance use patterns and harms based on one's gender and sexual identities. Her research employs various methodologies, ranging from laboratory-based experiments, including substance self-administration, to advanced quantitative methods for analyzing longitudinal epidemiological data.

Research Interests