Dr. Yogesh Thakker

Availability

Available for media commentary, conference presentations, and teaching sessions on the psychiatry of developmental disorders, including intellectual disability, ADHD and autism, and on interventional psychiatry, including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and ketamine.

Area of Study / Keywords

Psychiatry Autism Spectrum Disorder Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Intellectual Disability Interventional Psychiatry

About

Dr. Yogesh Thakker is an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, and a Consultant Psychiatrist in Developmental Disability at Alberta Hospital Edmonton. He is also the founder and Medical Director of Manor Clinic, a multidisciplinary private mental health clinic in Edmonton (https://manorclinic.ca), and holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor at Parul University, Vadodara, India (2025).

He completed his MBBS and MD (Psychiatry) in India, followed by seven years of specialist psychiatry training in London, UK, where he was awarded Membership of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (MRCPsych, 2009) and a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in the Psychiatry of Learning Disability (2013). He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (FRCPC, 2019) and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, UK (FRCPsych, 2021). He also holds a one-year certificate in Managing in Health and Social Care from De Montfort University, UK.

His clinical and academic interests are in the psychiatry of developmental disorders, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Intellectual Disability, together with the assessment and management of co-occurring mental health conditions, and in interventional and novel treatments in psychiatry. He founded Manor Clinic in 2018 and has grown it into a multidisciplinary team of approximately 25 people, including five psychiatrists alongside psychologists, social workers, and autism and behavioural consultants.

He served as lead psychiatrist for the Community Outreach Assessment and Support Team (COAST) from 2015 to 2020, and as medical lead for the Adult Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Assessment Clinic at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital from 2016 to 2021. He was earlier involved in developing Autism Spectrum Disorder diagnostic services at The Kingswood Centre, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, and subsequently in Edmonton. Through his adjunct appointment at Parul University he contributes to international research collaboration and mentorship in psychiatry. He has additional interests in healthcare management and medical education.

Research

Chief investigator, "Community Treatment Orders: how are they implemented for people with mental illness and learning disabilities" - a web-based survey of 660 consultant psychiatrists in intellectual disability across England and Wales, approved by the National Research Ethics Service (NRES) Committee London - City Road and Hampstead. Responsibilities included protocol development, literature review, ethics application, data collection, analysis, and write-up.

Selected publications:

Thakker Y, Bamidele K, Ali A, Hassiotis A (2012). Mental health and challenging behaviour: an overview of research and practice. Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, 6(5), 249-258.

Thakker Y (2011). Challenging Behaviour (3rd edn). The British Journal of Psychiatry, 199, 520-521. doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.111.095026

Sabaratnam M, Thakker Y (2011). Fragile-X Syndrome. intellectualdisability.info.

Thakker Y, Gandhi Z, Sheth H, Vankar GK, Shroff S (2007). Psychiatric morbidity among inmates of the Beggar Home. International Journal of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, 11(2), 31-36.

Patel A, Sharma H, Thakker Y (2004). Body dysmorphic disorder: an unusual presentation of schizophrenia - a case report. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 46, 180-181.

Teaching

Teaching medical students and psychiatry residents in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta (Clinical Lecturer 2014-2018; Assistant Clinical Professor since January 2020).

Selected invited teaching and conference presentations:

"Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS): current evidence, clinical applications and practical referral considerations." Continuing Medical Education session for member physicians, Edmonton O-day'min Primary Care Network, 2 June 2026.

"Mental health in developmental disabilities: what GPs need to know." Continuing Medical Education session for member physicians, Edmonton O-day'min Primary Care Network, 14 April 2026.

"Dissociative Identity Disorder." Public education session, First Nations Telehealth Network (First Nations Technical Services Advisory Group), delivered by videoconference to First Nations communities across Alberta, 25 March 2025.

Panel member, "Science on Tap: Adult ADHD." Public science panel hosted by the Edmonton Space & Science Foundation, TELUS World of Science - Edmonton, Rec Room South Common, 23 March 2026.

"Adult Autism Spectrum Disorder: what general practitioners need to know." Continuing Medical Education session for member physicians, Edmonton O-day'min Primary Care Network, 10 March 2026.

"Autism Spectrum Disorder: practical identification, referral and post-diagnosis support." Session for behavioural health consultants, Edmonton North Primary Care Network, 21 January 2026.

"A psychiatrist's journey: bridging psychiatry across India, the UK and Canada." Parul University, Vadodara, India, 6 August 2025.

"Psychiatric insights into social behaviour post-COVID." BLAIM 2025, 1st International Conference on Mindfulness, Behavioural Science and Legal Innovation, hosted by the SCOPE Cell, Parul University, Vadodara, India (hybrid), 31 July 2025.

"Management of adult Autism Spectrum Disorder." Teaching session for family physicians, Edmonton Oliver Primary Care Network, June 2019.

Invited presenter, "Mental health conditions in people with developmental disabilities." 6th Annual Conference of the Centre for Autism Services Alberta Students' Association, University of Alberta, March 2019.

Panel member, "ASD diagnostic assessment in Alberta: innovations, opportunities and needs." Autism Alberta's Alliance launch event, Autism Society Alberta, October 2018.

Chair of the organizing committee, Alberta's first Innovations in Practice conference on dual diagnosis (developmental disability and mental health), March 2018; presented "Autism Spectrum Disorder and mental health problems."

Previous UK teaching included mentoring fifth-year medical students (Imperial School), supervision of core and higher specialty psychiatry trainees, and teaching for the North London Training Scheme in Psychiatry of Learning Disability, University of Hertfordshire, and University of East London.