A former Charlottetown Rural High student is being recognized for her genetic research at the University of Toronto.

Chelsea Lowther was recently awarded a $100,000 research grant to continue her work to find out why those with intellectual disabilities are at greater risk for developing psychosis.

Lowther wants to know if there are genetic reasons that someone with intellectual disabilities is three times more likely to develop psychosis, such as schizophrenia, than the average person.

She said her research is helping patients to understand that mental illness is not their fault.

"You see with a lot of patients who develop schizophrenia, they're just wondering, 'Why me?' and to be able to provide them with information "This is why it happened. It wasn't anybody's fault,' brings a lot of closure," said Lowther.

"It really does fight against the stigma around mental health because I think a lot of people believe that mental health, we can kind of bring it on ourselves, and that is 100 per cent not the case."

Lowther said her work is rewarding since she not only gets to meet the patients taking part in her research, but is also able to return all the relevant data to the patients and their psychiatrists to help with treatment.