Cindy-Lee Dennis PhD, FCAHS

Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis is a Professor in the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, with a cross-appointment to the Department of Psychiatry. She is the Heather Reisman Chair in Perinatal Nursing Research at Sinai Health and a Senior Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute.

Dr. Dennis is an internationally recognized leader in perinatal health research. For more than 25 years, her research has focused on rigorously developing and evaluating interventions and models of care that improve the health and well-being of mothers and fathers, with the ultimate goal of improving child and family health. She has extensive experience leading large cohort studies and randomized controlled trials, including national studies recruiting participants across Canada and evaluations of technology-enabled interventions designed to improve clinical effectiveness, accessibility, and equity. She is a leading international expert in maternal and paternal mental health and breastfeeding.

Dr. Dennis developed the Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale, the most widely used breastfeeding measure internationally. More than 5,000 researchers and health professionals in over 30 countries have requested the scale, which has been translated into numerous languages and incorporated into international standards and digital health applications. She subsequently developed a highly effective breastfeeding self-efficacy intervention designed to improve breastfeeding exclusivity.

Dr. Dennis currently leads several major national and international research initiatives. She is the Nominated Principal Applicant of the CIHR-funded Pan-Canadian Network for a Learning Health System in Perinatal Mental Health, which brings together researchers, healthcare systems, clinicians, people with lived experience, and other partners across Canada to accelerate the generation, implementation, and continuous improvement of evidence-based perinatal mental health care.

She also leads the $17-million HeLTI Canada (Healthy Life Trajectories Initiative), developed in partnership with the World Health Organization. HeLTI Canada is one of four harmonized cohort randomized controlled trials spanning preconception, pregnancy, postpartum, and early childhood, aimed at improving child health and preventing obesity and chronic disease. The other HeLTI trials are being conducted in Soweto, South Africa; Mysore, India; and Shanghai, China, providing a unique global perspective.

Dr. Dennis has an extensive record of scholarly productivity and international impact, with 394 peer-reviewed publications, more than 48,000 citations, and an h-index of 106. Her research has influenced measurement, intervention development, clinical practice, and approaches to perinatal health care nationally and internationally.

Her achievements have been recognized through several prestigious research chairs. She previously held a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Perinatal Community Health (2007–2018), the Shirley Brown Chair in Women’s Mental Health Research at Women’s College Hospital (2011–2016), and the Women’s Health Research Chair at St. Michael’s Hospital (2016–2023).

In 2018, Dr. Dennis was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in recognition of her contributions to health science. She also received the prestigious Marcé Medal from the International Marcé Society in recognition of her sustained achievements and international contributions to research in prenatal and postnatal mental health.”