BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Pier Bryden has been a staff psychiatrist at Sick Kids since 2001. She is a graduate of the University of Toronto, the University of Oxford and McMaster University. She has subspecialty certification in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry with the Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada.  Dr. Bryden is an associate professor at the University of Toronto, where she was a 2018 Recipient of the University’s prestigious President’s Teaching Award which recognizes sustained excellence in teaching, research in teaching and the integration of teaching and research.

Dr. Bryden is the Director of Professional Values for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Between 2013 and 2017 she was the Preclerkship Director for the MD Program where she co-led the most extensive curriculum renewal the program had experienced since 1992.

Her academic publications include papers on medical education, medical professionalism, and ethical and legal aspects of child psychiatry.  She is the co-author, with Dr. David Goldbloom, of a popular book on psychiatry, “How Can I Help: A Week in my Life as a Psychiatrist”, which was a Canadian non-fiction bestseller and nominated as one of ten books all Ontarians should read in 2017 by the Ontario Library Association. In January 2020, Dr. Bryden’s book “Start Here: A Parent’s Guide to Helping Children and Teens Through Mental Health Challenges”, co-authored with Dr. Peter Szatmari, was published by Simon & Schuster.

Dr. Bryden’s father, Ronald Bryden, was a theatre critic, dramaturge, and Professor of Drama at the University of Toronto and was a dedicated member of the Stratford Board for many years. Dr. Bryden has many fond memories of attending plays at the Festival with him.