Anthony Feinstein (born December 14, 1956) is a professor of psychiatry at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

and a

neuropsychiatrist Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neuro ...

. His research and clinical work focuses on people with multiple sclerosis,

traumatic brain injury A traumatic brain injury (TBI), also known as an intracranial injury, is an injury to the brain caused by an external force. TBI can be classified based on severity (ranging from mild traumatic brain injury TBI/concussionto severe traumatic br ...

and

Conversion Disorder Conversion disorder (CD), or functional neurologic symptom disorder, is a diagnostic category used in some psychiatric classification systems. It is sometimes applied to patients who present with neurological symptoms, such as numbness, blindnes ...

. He has undertaken a number of studies investigating how front-line journalists are affected by their work covering war and man-made and natural disasters.

Education

Born in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Dem ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Feinstein received his medical degree from the

University of Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

. He completed his Psychiatry training at the Royal Free Hospital in

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

. His MPhil and PhD degrees were obtained through the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. After obtaining his PhD, he worked as a Senior Registrar at the

Maudsley Hospital The Maudsley Hospital is a British psychiatric hospital in south London. The Maudsley is the largest mental health training institution in the UK. It is part of South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust, and works in partnership with the ...

in London before taking up an appointment at the University of Toronto where he is currently a professor of psychiatry and a clinician scientist at the

Sunnybrook Research Institute Sunnybrook Research Institute (SRI) is the research component of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario. It is one of the largest research centres in Canada and is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto The University ...

Multiple sclerosis

Over a three decade period, Feinstein's work has focused on determining brain imaging correlates of depression and pseudobulbar affect in people with MS. He has also developed computerized methods of detecting cognitive dysfunction, with a particular emphasis on the use of distracters. A third strand to his MS work relates to defining the cognitive and functional neuroimaging changes associated with the use of cannabis (marijuana) in people with MS. His research has been funded by the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, the Canadian Institute of Health Research and the Progressive MS Alliance.

Journalism work

In 2000 Feinstein obtained a grant from the

Freedom Forum The Freedom Forum is the creator of the Newseum in Washington, D.C., which it sold to Johns Hopkins University in 2019. It is a nonpartisan 501 (c)(3) foundation that advances First Amendment freedoms through initiatives that include the Power Sh ...

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

to undertake the first study exploring how war can affect the psychological wellbeing of front-line journalists. The results were subsequently published in the ''American Journal of Psychiatry''. Since then, he has completed studies investigating how journalists have been affected by the attacks of 9/11 in New York, the 2003 war in Iraq, the drug wars in Mexico, the 2007 election violence and Al-Shabab attack on the Westgate Mall in Kenya, the Civil War in Syria and state-sponsored violence directed towards the media in Iran.

Awards

Feinstein was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2000 to study mental health problems in post-apartheid Namibia. A documentary, Journalists Under Fire, based on his work with war journalists, produced by him (and directed by Martyn Burke), was short-listed for an Academy Award and won a 2012 Peabody Award. His series of articles for the Globe & Mail on Conflict Photograph was short-listed for a 2016 EPPY Award.

Publications

*''In Conflict'', (New Namibia Books, 1998, ) *''Michael Rabin, America's Virtuoso Violinist'' (Amadeus Press, 2005; second edition 2011, ) *''Dangerous Lives: War and the Men and Women Who Report It'' ( Thomas Allen Publishers, 2003, ) *''Journalists Under Fire: the Psychological Hazards of Covering War'' ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006, ) *''The Clinical Neuropsychiatry of Multiple Sclerosis'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer. Cambridge University Pre ...

, 1999; second edition 2007, ) *''Battle Scarred (Tafelberg Press'', 2011, ) *''Mind, Mood, and Memory: The Neurobehavioral Consequences of Multiple Sclerosis ( Johns Hopkins University Press, 2022, )

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Feinstein, Anthony 1956 births Academic staff of the University of Toronto People from Johannesburg Living people University of the Witwatersrand alumni South African psychiatrists The Globe and Mail columnists South African emigrants to Canada Alumni of the University of London