Dr. Manuela Joannou, Founder and Medical Director of Project Trauma Support.
Dr. Manuela Joannou is a Family Physician and Emergency Physician currently practicing in Perth, Ontario. She is also the Founder and Medical Director of Project Trauma Support, a novel program that addresses PTSD and especially Moral Injury in military members, veterans and first responders.
Dr. Joannou graduated from the University of Ottawa with an honours degree in Biochemistry and Nutrition in 1986 and graduated from the University of Ottawa Medical School Magna cum Laude in 1990. She was awarded the Frank P. Kraft graduation award for Excellence in Family Medicine. She completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of Ottawa in 1992 and then achieved Special Competency in Emergency Medicine, also from the University of Ottawa in 1993. Dr. Joannou has worked in various Emergency Departments including the Ottawa General and Ottawa Civic Hospitals and in several community hospitals for 30 years. She had her own family practice for 20 years, and has provided locum coverage in primary care settings and hospitals.
Dr. Joannou has always had a special interest in psychotherapy and has been leading discussion groups and wellness programs and speaking at public events and conferences for the past 16 years. She developed an interest in PTSD and moral injury in first responders and military members/ veterans in 2014.
The idea for Project Trauma Support was a finalist in the Canadian College of Family Physician’s “Dangerous Ideas Soapbox” in 2016. Dr. Joannou also participated in an international working group that is studying moral injury among military and first responder populations. Dr. Joannou presented Project Trauma Support to an international audience of military medical officials from 15 countries at the Warrior Care in the 21st Century attached to the Invictus Games in Toronto in September 2017. She has also made presentations to the Canadian Medical Protective Association, the Police Association of Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police Association, and the Peer Support team of the Ontario Division of Corrections Canada among others.
Dr. Joannou was awarded the designation of Fellow of the Canadian College of Family Physicians (FCFP) in August 2019 for her work. She and her PTS colleagues developed a Canadian College of Family Physicians accredited course for Family Physicians who help first responders and military members/veterans with PTSD and Moral Injury in 2020.
