Frank Elgar is a psychologist with research expertise in social inequalities in health and in family influences on child mental health. He received his PhD in 2003 from Dalhousie University and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at Cardiff University (Wales). Prior to joining the Douglas Institute in 2011, he worked at the University of Manitoba and Carleton University.

Frank is cross-appointed to the Department of Psychiatry and the Institute for Health and Social Policy at McGill University and is a co-investigator with the Canadian team participating in the World Health Organisation - Health Behaviour of School-aged Children Behaviour in School-aged Children study. His research is a blend of psychology and social epidemiology. Through the HBSC network, he explores social and economic determinants of health and human development, focusing primarily on links between income inequality, social capital and population health. His other research examines the effects of financial stress and parental mental illness on child health.