Cheryl Regehr

Cheryl Regehr is a Professor in the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, with cross-appointments to the Faculty of Law and the Institute for Medical Sciences at University of Toronto. She served as the Vice-President and Provost for the University of Toronto (2013-2023); Vice-Provost Academic Programs (2009-2013) and Dean of the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (2006-2009). She is a Senior Fellow of Massey College, and a Visiting Professor at the National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR) Policy Research Unit in Health and Social Care Workforce at King’s College London (UK). She has been elected as a Fellow of the British Academy of Social Sciences (2023), Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (2022), and as Fellow of the Canadian Institutes of Health Sciences (2023); was recognized with the Woman of Distinction Award in the Education category by the YWCA (2022); and received an Honorary Doctorate from Wilfrid Laurier University (2017).

Professor Regehr’s six books (Oxford University Press, Columbia University Press and University of Toronto Press), and over 160 scholarly articles focus on forensic mental health; trauma and recovery; and stress, trauma and decision-making in high stress professions. This research has been recognized with awards from the International Campbell Collaboration for Systematic Reviews and the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. Her research has been funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), Public Health Agency Canada (PHAC), and the Canadian Foundation for Innovation (CFI). Her current SSHRC-funded research projects involve testing a new model for improving professional decision-making in situations of risk and uncertainty; and understanding trauma in archivists. A further project explores cyber-violence against public health professionals during the COVID pandemic.

Professor Regehr’s practice background includes direct service in forensic social work and emergency mental health and in the administration of mental health programs, specializing in civil litigation and criminal court assessments of trauma victims and violent offenders, and organizationally based trauma interventions. She was the director of the Crisis Response Team at Pearson International Airport and served on the mental health advisory for the Department of National Defence and Veteran’s Affairs Canada, and the CIHR Mental Health Advisory Group for COVID-19.