Stuart grew up in Guelph, Ontario, where she spent most of her days with her administrator mother at a mental hospital.
[2] After graduating from the University of Calgary, Stuart earned a position with the World Psychiatric Association to start a program that focused on dealing with the prejudice attached to schizophrenia.
[2] In 2012, she was appointed the inaugural Bell Canada Mental Health and Anti-Stigma Research Chair.
[3] Stuart also chaired the World Psychiatric Association's Scientific Section on Stigma and Mental Health.
[4] By 2015, she helped launch the "Caring Campus Project" which aimed to reducing substance misuse amongst first-year male students, along with the related stigma.