Jean Addington is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Calgary. She holds the Alberta Centennial Mental Health Research Chair and the Novartis Chair for Schizophrenia Research at the University of Calgary. She completed her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University of Calgary in the schizophrenia field and has been actively involved as a researcher, clinician and educator for over 20 years. Dr. Addington was instrumental in founding the Early Psychosis Program in Calgary, Alberta and directed that program until her move to Toronto in July 2002. She also holds an adjunct professor appointment at the University of Toronto and at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto where from 2002 – 2008, she was responsible for developing research on the prodromal phase of schizophrenia.

Her major focus of research is the investigation and treatment of young people at high risk of developing psychosis and those in the early stage of psychosis. She was awarded a major National Institutes of Health (NIMH) Grant dedicated to developing models of prediction of conversion to psychosis and a major grant from Ontario Mental Health Foundation to develop a research program investigating psychological intervention for those at Ultra High Risk of developing psychosis. She has recently been awarded a major grant from NIMH as part of the North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS) research group. 

Dr. Addington was the Vice-President North America for the IEPA  from 2003-2006;  she organized and chaired the 4th IEPA Conference held in Vancouver in 2004 and is currently President of the IEPA.

As President, Dr. Addington brings to the IEPA her experience in developing early intervention services, her interest in integrating psychosocial and medical treatments and her efforts to advance the research, clinical, educational and advocacy priorities of the early intervention movement throughout the world.