Dr. Heather Stuart has been fighting to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness since the late 1990s. Where, historically, studies of the stigma attached to mental illness focused on the beliefs held by the general public, Dr. Stuart has been working to describe and understand the experience of stigma from the inside — from the perspective of people who have a mental illness and their families — with the goal of reducing the stigma and ensuring that those who experience a mental illness can get the help and support they need. Dr. Stuart is the Bell Canada Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair.