Faculty profile

Cindy-Lee Dennis

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ProfessorNutritional SciencesUniversity of Toronto

Cindy-Lee Dennis

Professor

Nutritional Sciences

Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing

University of Toronto

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Scholar ORCID

Supervision signals

Professors usually supervise graduate students in their department's programs.
127 publications in the last five years, latest in 2026.
Senior (last) author on 15 recent papers, a sign of leading a research group.
Principal investigator on 8 research grants (8 CIHR), most recently in 2024.
Supervised 3 trainees who won CIHR awards, most recently in 2026.

These signals come from public records, including CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions. Ask the professor or the graduate program whether they are taking new students.

Academic metrics

270

Publications

826

Citations

h-index

145

Collaborators

Grants

Publications by year

Counts cover the works listed on the university profile; citation counts come from Dimensions.

Education

Profiles and links

University Profile Google Scholar iDORCID

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Signals and details

Research

Read how they describe their research on their University of Toronto profile.

Maternal and newborn care Electronic health (e-Health)Health care effectiveness and outcomes

Latest papers

Prospective Economic Evaluation Alongside the Telephone-Based Nurse-Delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression Trial.
American journal of perinatology · 2026
Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.
Archives of medical research · 2026 · senior author
Postpartum obsessive compulsive symptom onset: Modelling vulnerability longitudinally.
Journal of anxiety disorders · 2026

All 270 publications

Latest funding

Healthy Life Trajectory Initiative: HeLTI Canada
CIHR · 2026 · Supervisor
$6,000
Healthy Life Trajectory Initiative: HeLTI Canada
CIHR · 2025 · Supervisor
$6,000
A pragmatic, individualized, e-health lifestyle intervention to optimize cardiometabolic health in pregnancy planning women and their partners: setting the stage for improved intergenerational health across diverse Canadian communities.
CIHR · 2024 · Principal investigator
$20,000

All 39 grants and awards

From the 150 most recent of 270 publications.

Prospective Economic Evaluation Alongside the Telephone-Based Nurse-Delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression Trial.

Hay S, Dennis CL, Ravitz P, Grigoriadis S, Maddalone E, Dukhovny D, Zupancic J

American journal of perinatology2026

DOI: 10.1055/a-2708-5194 PMID: 41067235

Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.

Dol J, Goyal D, McQueen K, Dennis-Grantham A, de Sousa JCG, Singla DR, Nkurunziza A, Dick JA, Birken C, Dennis CL

Archives of medical research2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1016/j.arcmed.2026.103447 PMID: 42184595

Postpartum obsessive compulsive symptom onset: Modelling vulnerability longitudinally.

Rector NA, Hawley LL, Dalfen A, Mei-Dan E, Grigoriadis S, Kassardjian K, Saragosa A, Katz DE, Dennis CL, Kennedy JL, Richter MA

Journal of anxiety disorders2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.janxdis.2026.103220 PMID: 42691589

Examining the effect of newborn feeding method on postnatal length of stay and healthcare utilisation among Neonates With In-utero SSRI Exposure (NeoWISE): a retrospective cohort study.

Cantin C, Li W, Snelgrove-Clarke E, Corsi D, Dennis CL, Ross-White A, Brogly S, Gaudet L

BMJ paediatrics open2026

DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2026-004689 PMID: 42552081

Reliability and Repeatability of At-Home Parent-Reported Height and Weight Measurement of Young Children.

Rae S, Keown-Stoneman C, Pullenayegum E, Ong F, Dennis CL, Hamilton J, Maguire J, Birken CS

Childhood obesity (Print)2026

DOI: 10.1177/21532176261474683 PMID: 42544552

Using ChatGPT for thematic analysis of qualitative interviews in cultural research: a methodological investigation.

Umer M, Asif M, Xue S, Jones BDM, Dennis CL, Naeem F, Mulsant BH, Husain MI

Asian journal of psychiatry2026

DOI: 10.1016/j.ajp.2026.105071 PMID: 42361541

Effectiveness of Family Interventions in Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Umer M, Burgos M LA, Syed N, Xu C, Rodak T, Dennis CL, Naeem F, Mulsant B, Husain MI

Bipolar disorders2026

DOI: 10.1111/bdi.70135 PMID: 42312868

Antenatal depressive symptoms impair offspring neurodevelopment by inducing maternal gut microbiota dysbiosis during pregnancy.

Zhou F, Wang L, Zhao Y, Hu C, Meng Y, Fan J, Fraser WD, Baillargeon JP, Ouyang F, Lye SJ, Dennis CL, Shen J, Wu Y, Huang H

Gut microbes2026

DOI: 10.1080/19490976.2026.2672188 PMID: 42141775

Traumatic brain injury, interpersonal violence, and postnatal mental illness: population-based study.

Brown HK, Saunders N, Chan V, Mollayeva T, Patrikar A, Fung K, Barker L, Colantonio A, Cohen E, Dennis CL, Ray JG, Wodchis WP, Vigod SN

Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2026

DOI: 10.1007/s00127-026-03090-8 PMID: 42053637

Postpartum Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Nonbirthing Parents in Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Dol J, Chambers CT, Cameron E, Dennis CL, Goldberg JM, Parker JA

The Journal of perinatal & neonatal nursing2026

DOI: 10.1097/jpn.0000000000000991 PMID: 42390842

Healthy Life Trajectory Initiative: HeLTI Canada

SupervisorCIHR2026Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

Principal investigators: Nkrumah, Dorcas

Keywords: Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative; Intervention Studies; Non-Communicable Diseases

$6,000

Healthy Life Trajectory Initiative: HeLTI Canada

SupervisorCIHR2025Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA)

Principal investigators: Edo, Bride

Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease; Family-Level Data; Intervention; Mentalhealth; Non-Communicable Diseases; Obesity; Public Health Nurses; World Health Organization

$6,000

A pragmatic, individualized, e-health lifestyle intervention to optimize cardiometabolic health in pregnancy planning women and their partners: setting the stage for improved intergenerational health across diverse Canadian communities.

Principal investigatorCIHR2024Tm Gr.: Emb. Diversity to Achieve Prec./Health Eq-Nutrition/Metabolic Health-LOI

Principal investigators: Comelli, Elena M; Marini, Flavia; Birken, Catherine S; Dennis, Cindy-Lee E; Miliku, Kozeta

Keywords: Cardiovascular Disease; Diabetes; Individualized Lifestyle Intervention; Nutrition; Preconception; Prevention; Randomized Controlled Trial

$20,000

Maternal Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (m-ADHD): Mental Health, Pregnancy and Infant Outcomes

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Vigod, Simone N; Brown, Hilary; Zipursky, Jonathan S

Keywords: Adhd; Postpartum; Pregnancy

$604,352

MOVIN: A pragmatic randomized controlled trial of a scalable collaborative care model for perinatal mental healthcare delivery

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Vigod, Simone N; Ivers, Noah M

Keywords: Anxiety; Collaborative Care; Depression; Postpartum; Pregnancy

$1,510,875

Pregnancy Outcomes and Care of Women with Physical-Mental Multimorbidity

Co-investigatorCIHR2023Project Grant

Principal investigators: Brown, Hilary; Ray, Joel G; Vigod, Simone N

Keywords: Physical-Mental Multimorbidity; Population-Based Data; Pregnancy Care; Pregnancy Outcomes; Qualitative Interviews

$558,112

An economic evaluation of scalable methods to improve mental healthcare for perinatal women

Co-investigatorSSHRC2022New Frontiers in Research Fund - Exploration

Principal investigators: Singla, Daisy

Keywords: Perinatal mental health; Telemedicine; Non-specialist providers; Health systems; Psychotherapy

$125,000

Impact of Maternal Multimorbidity on Pregnancy Outcomes

Co-investigatorCIHR2022Operating Grant: Data Analysis Using Existing CDN Databases and Cohorts

Principal investigators: Brown, Hilary; Ray, Joel G

Keywords: Health Administrative Data; Multimorbidity; Pregnancy

$74,993

Collaborative Care Initiated Prior to Conception by Public Health Nurses for the Prevention of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus in Canadian Women

Co-investigatorCIHR2022Project Grant

Principal investigators: Retnakaran, Ravi R

Keywords: Gestational Diabetes; Lifestyle Intervention; Pre-Pregnancy; Prevention; Public Health Nurses; Women'S Health

$345,000

Early Interventions to Support Trajectories for Healthy Life in India (EINSTEIN)

Co-investigatorCIHR2021Team Grant: Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative (HeLTI) - India

Principal investigators: Matthews, Stephen G; Sellen, Daniel W; CHANDAK, GIRIRAJ R; Comelli, Elena M; Krishnaveni, Ghattu V; Kumaran, Kalyanaraman; Shah, Prakeshkumar; Suryanarayana, Kumar G; Wade, Mark

Keywords: Cardiometabolic Outcome; Child; Cohort Studies; Dohad; India; Intervention; Lifecourse; Mental Health Outcome; Preconception; Pregnancy

$2,190,000

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2024

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Maternal and newborn care Dear Professor Dennis, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "Prospective Economic Evaluation Alongside the Telephone-Based Nurse-Delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression Trial." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "A pragmatic, individualized, e-health lifestyle intervention to optimize cardiometabolic health in pregnancy planning women and their partners: setting the stage for improved intergenerational health across diverse Canadian communities." (2024), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Profile data last refreshed on September 25, 2026 from the university directory, publication records and CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding.

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Cindy-Lee Dennis

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

Prospective Economic Evaluation Alongside the Telephone-Based Nurse-Delivered Interpersonal Psychotherapy for Postpartum Depression Trial.

Influence of Paternal Preconception Health on Miscarriage and Time to Pregnancy: A Scoping Review.

Postpartum obsessive compulsive symptom onset: Modelling vulnerability longitudinally.

Examining the effect of newborn feeding method on postnatal length of stay and healthcare utilisation among Neonates With In-utero SSRI Exposure (NeoWISE): a retrospective cohort study.

Reliability and Repeatability of At-Home Parent-Reported Height and Weight Measurement of Young Children.

Using ChatGPT for thematic analysis of qualitative interviews in cultural research: a methodological investigation.

Effectiveness of Family Interventions in Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review.

Antenatal depressive symptoms impair offspring neurodevelopment by inducing maternal gut microbiota dysbiosis during pregnancy.

Traumatic brain injury, interpersonal violence, and postnatal mental illness: population-based study.

Postpartum Anxiety and Depression Symptoms in Nonbirthing Parents in Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study.

An economic evaluation of scalable methods to improve mental healthcare for perinatal women

Frequent collaborators

Sophie Grigoriadis

Simone Vigod

Justine Dol

Flavia Marini

Eyal Cohen

Catherine Birken

Jennifer Abbass-Dick

Amy Cheung

Valerie Taylor

Deborah Da Costa

Nicole Letourneau

Stephen Lye

Mark Wade

George Tomlinson

Gideon Koren

Mark Wade

Phyllis Zelkowitz

Patricia Mousmanis

Kelly Metcalfe

Margaret Richter

Kenneth Fung

Astrid Guttmann

Susitha Wanigaratne

Vincy Chan

Neil Rector

Tatyana Mollayeva

Sarah Carsley

Jill Hamilton

Natasha Saunders

Eleanor Pullenayegum

Ryan Van Lieshout

Robyn Stremler

Monica Parry

Stephanie Atkinson

Angela Colantonio

Jonathon Maguire

Benicio Frey

Laurent Briollais

Laura Anderson

Dina Brooks