Laura Sikstrom, University of Toronto

Research

Health Equity artificial intelligence Mental Health Care Psychiatry trust prediction teaming

Latest papers

Fairness analysis of machine learning predictions of aggression in acute psychiatric care.
Npj mental health research · 2026
Impacts of cognitive forcing and need for cognition on biased AI-assisted decision making about mental health emergencies.
Scientific reports · 2025
Ethical and legal considerations of artificial intelligence applications in psychiatric violence risk assessment: A scoping review protocol.
PloS one · 2025 · senior author

All 12 publications

Latest funding

Extreme heat risks and resilience among women caregivers experiencing poverty - A participatory, mixed methods study in urban Canada
SSHRC · 2026 · Co-investigator
$99,586
Enhancing Motivation for Smoking Cessation in Women Using a Gender-Informed AI Conversational Agent: Development and Feasibility Study
CIHR · 2025 · Principal investigator
$558,193
Trauma and Heritage: Ukrainian War Migrants in the Host-Region of Newfoundland
SSHRC · 2025 · Co-investigator
$75,661

All 8 grants and awards

12 publications.

01

Fairness analysis of machine learning predictions of aggression in acute psychiatric care.

Wang Y, Sikstrom L, Xiao R, Findlay Z, Zaheer J, Hill SL, Maslej MM

Npj mental health research2026

DOI: 10.1038/s44184-026-00194-6 PMID: 41772035

02

Impacts of cognitive forcing and need for cognition on biased AI-assisted decision making about mental health emergencies.

Vejandla S, Ray A, Sikstrom L, Ratto M, Zaheer J, Maslej MM

Scientific reports2025

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-025-30506-3 PMID: 41326577

03

Ethical and legal considerations of artificial intelligence applications in psychiatric violence risk assessment: A scoping review protocol.

Lee A, Buchman D, Hui K, Nunnelley S, Penney S, Rodak T, Zaheer J, Sikstrom L

PloS one2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0334649 PMID: 41118365

04

Harnessing digital health data for suicide prevention and care: A rapid review.

Bennett-Poynter L, Kundurthi S, Besa R, Joyce DW, Kormilitzin A, Shen N, Sunwoo J, Szkudlarek P, Sequiera L, Sikstrom L

Digital health2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1177/20552076241308615 PMID: 39996066

05

Knowledge User Engagement for Digital Health Data in Suicide Prevention: Lessons Learned for a Multinational Data Governance Framework.

Kundurthi S, Shen N, Besa R, Bennett-Poynter L, Sikstrom L

Studies in health technology and informatics2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3233/shti250006 PMID: 39968540

06

Co-Designing an Electronic Health Record Derived Digital Dashboard to Support Fair-AI Applications in Mental Health.

Szkudlarek P, Kassam I, Kloiber S, Maslej M, Hill S, Sikstrom L

Studies in health technology and informatics2025Senior author

DOI: 10.3233/shti250005 PMID: 39968539

07

Predictive care: a protocol for a computational ethnographic approach to building fair models of inpatient violence in emergency psychiatry.

Sikstrom L, Maslej MM, Findlay Z, Strudwick G, Hui K, Zaheer J, Hill SL, Buchman DZ

BMJ open2023First author

DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-069255 PMID: 37185650

08

Race and Racialization in Mental Health Research and Implications for Developing and Evaluating Machine Learning Models: A Rapid Review.

Maslej MM, Shen N, Kassam I, Rodak T, Sikstrom L

Studies in health technology and informatics2022Senior author

DOI: 10.3233/shti220281 PMID: 35673219

09

Conceptualising fairness: three pillars for medical algorithms and health equity.

Sikstrom L, Maslej MM, Hui K, Findlay Z, Buchman DZ, Hill SL

BMJ health & care informatics2022First author

DOI: 10.1136/bmjhci-2021-100459 PMID: 35012941

10

Increasing participation in research with therapy dogs: A qualitative study at a large urban mental health and addiction hospital.

Sikstrom L, Meyer T, Katz E, Choi MM, Darragh M, Cutler-Palma A, Conforti T, Kalocsai C, Soklaridis S

PloS one2020First author

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0238096 PMID: 32853258

Extreme heat risks and resilience among women caregivers experiencing poverty - A participatory, mixed methods study in urban Canada

Co-investigatorSSHRC2026Insight Development Grants

Principal investigators: Xue, Siqi

$99,586

Enhancing Motivation for Smoking Cessation in Women Using a Gender-Informed AI Conversational Agent: Development and Feasibility Study

Principal investigatorCIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Melamed, Osnat; Sikstrom, Laura

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Behavioural Counselling; Conversational Agent; Digital Storytelling; Gender; Health Behaviour Change; Motivational Interviewing; Tobacco Addiction; Women'S Health

$558,193

Trauma and Heritage: Ukrainian War Migrants in the Host-Region of Newfoundland

Co-investigatorSSHRC2025Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Lesiv, Mariya

Keywords: folklore; heritage; trauma; migration; diaspora; Ukrainian migrants

$75,661

Predictive Care: Co-designing a human(e)-AI system to advance equitable violence risk assessment in acute psychiatry

Nominated PICIHR2024Project Grant

Principal investigators: Sikstrom, Laura; Maslej, Marta; Zaheer, Juveria

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Computational Ethnography; Electronic Health Record; Health Equity; Human-Computer Interactions Research; Mental Health; Risk Assessment; Social Justice; Sociotechnical; Violence And Aggression

$696,152

Predictive Care: Co-designing a human(e)-AI system to advance equitable violence risk assessment in acute psychiatry

Nominated PICIHR2024PRIZE - Pr Gr. - PA: Health Serv./Policy Res. Rising Star Early Career Award

Principal investigators: Sikstrom, Laura

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Computational Ethnography; Electronic Health Record; Health Equity; Human-Computer Interactions Research; Mental Health; Risk Assessment; Social Justice; Sociotechnical; Violence And Aggression

$25,000

Productive Mistrust: Investigating the limits of human-AI teaming in the context of acute psychiatric care

Principal investigatorSSHRC2024Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Sikstrom, Laura F.

Keywords: trust; artificial intelligence; prediction; psychiatry; health equity; care; teaming

$62,448

Engaging Stakeholders and Planning for the Implementation of Virtual Care Competencies within Mental Health Care

Nominated PICIHR2022Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Principal investigators: Sikstrom, Laura

Keywords: Competencies; Continuing Professional Development; Education; Mental Health; Virtual Care

$10,000

Predictive Care: An Institutional Ethnography of Risk Assessment in an Acute Psychiatric Care Setting

Principal investigatorSSHRC2021Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Sikstrom, Laura

Keywords: Machine Learning; Mental Health; Bioethics; Health Equity; Care; Psychiatry

$60,936

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Department of Anthropology
Education
Department of Psychiatry
Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation
Other

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Health Equity Dear Professor Sikstrom, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Fairness analysis of machine learning predictions of aggression in acute psychiatric care." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "Enhancing Motivation for Smoking Cessation in Women Using a Gender-Informed AI Conversational Agent: Development and Feasibility Study" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]