Continuing & Professional Studies, Palo Alto University

Dr. Tonia Nicholls was promoted to full Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in 2017. She is also the Scientific Director of Forensic Research with British Columbia Mental Health and Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS). She holds several cross-appointments, including the School of Population and Public Health, UBC and is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychology, Simon Fraser University. She is Past-President of the International Association of Forensic Mental Health Services (2023-2025). She was Editor of the International Journal of Forensic Mental Health Services for five years (2019-2023). She received the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals Chris Hatcher memorial award in 2002, the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Professional Psychology (2004), and the Canadian Psychological Association President’s New Researcher Award (2004). The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Career Scholar Award (2007-2012), She also held a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator salary award (2011-2016) and a MIND Foundation Young Investigator award (2012). She received the Canadian Institute of Health Research Scholar award (2015-2022, 2M CDN). Dr. Nicholls was the BC lead on a team that received the 2017 Canadian Psychological Association Criminal Justice Section Significant Contribution Award. She is an author of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START, adult version) and the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version (START:AV). The measures have been translated into 12 languages. She has conducted >130 workshops and supported large-scale implementations and evaluations with teams in civil, correctional and forensic contexts (e.g., Australia, Canada Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, the UK, and US . She has consulted extensively with civil, forensic, and correctional sites on topics including environmental design, mother-baby programs, seclusion reduction, models of care, unique needs of women, and deaths in custody. Dr. Nicholls’ research and knowledge translation examines the needs of complex behavioral health populations and methods to assess and prevent crime, violence, victimization, and related outcomes. She has published over 150 peer -reviewed articles and chapters in this area and presented > 300 conferences presentations and 22 invited Keynotes.

Dr. Gray is the Clinical Lead, Programming and Research, in the Secure Treatment Unit at the Brockville Mental Health Centre in Ontario and is a Postdoctoral Fellow with the Département de Psychiatrie et d’addictologie at Université de Montréal. He is also an Adjunct Research Professor with the Department of Psychology at Carleton University and is the Secretary-Treasurer for the Criminal Justice Psychology Section of the Canadian Psychological Association. Dr. Gray obtained his Ph.D. in Clinical-Forensic Psychology from Simon Fraser University and completed his predoctoral Clinical Forensic Psychology Internship Program through British Columbia Mental Health & Substance Use Services. He received the Senate Medal for Outstanding Academic Achievement from Carleton University (2012) and a Doctoral Fellowship through the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2012 – 2016), and has received certificates of academic excellence and student research awards from the Canadian Psychological Association. His clinical experience includes working with justice-involved adolescents, federally incarcerated men, provincially incarcerated men with severe mental illness, and individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD). Dr. Gray’s primary areas of research include violence risk assessment and assessing change in risk, forensic mental health, self-injurious and suicidal behaviour, intimate partner violence, firesetting, and the application of novel statistical techniques in examining predictive validity. Dr. Gray has served as an ad hoc reviewer for journals such as Criminal Justice and Behavior and Sexual Abuse and has co-authored 16 articles, eight book chapters/encyclopedia entries, and one technical report. In addition, he is a certified trainer for the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA), has provided training on meta-analysis and assessing violence risk in youth, presented 10 conference talks, and has co-authored over 50 conference presentations/posters. Dr. Gray is also the lead author of the Change in Violence Risk Protocol (CVRP), a structured professional judgment-based framework for rating and formulating change in risk, and has published on the validity of the START:AV in predicting violent and self-injurious behaviour among adolescents undergoing residential treatment.