Srividya Iyer, Ph.D.
Srividya’s research and clinical interests are in youth mental health and early intervention, including for serious mental illnesses such as psychosis. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University. She is a Researcher at the Douglas Hospital Research Centre and a psychologist at the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis (PEPP) in Montreal. Srividya is supported by a CIHR New Investigator Salary Award, and had earlier received a salary award from the Fonds de recherche du Québec – Santé (FRQS). In 2017, she won the Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers and the Maude Abbott Prize for outstanding research accomplishments. She was also inducted into the College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada.
Srividya is the Scientific-Clinical Director of ACCESS Open Minds, a national youth mental health services research network established under CIHR’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research. In this role, she leads the development, implementation and evaluation of a transformation of youth mental health services at over 14 sites in six provinces and one territory. These sites serve urban, semi-urban, rural, Indigenous, immigrant, ethnic minority and homeless youths; university students; youths under state protection; and youths involved in the criminal justice system. She also co-directs ACCESS’s research, training and knowledge translation (KT) strategy and leads a vibrant collaboration of 200+ youths, families, service providers, researchers, policymakers and Indigenous communities.
Srividya is one of five key leaders of Frayme, a Network for Centres of Excellence for translating youth mental health knowledge internationally into practice and policy.
Srividya’s ACCESS and FRAYME roles build on her experience coordinating PEPP, one of Canada’s leading clinical and research program for early psychosis. They also form the core of her larger program of youth mental health research that is funded by CIHR and other funding bodies. Srividya has also been actively involved in mental health capacity building and research projects in India (in Kashmir, Chennai and Delhi).
In addition to a thematic focus on early intervention and youth mental health, Srividya’s program of research reflects her interests in using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods; engaging diverse stakeholders, particularly youth and family service users; implementation science; and building sustainable, collaborative clinical and research capacities in community contexts.
As a psychologist, Srividya gained extensive assessment and treatment experience in India, the United States and Canada. Her clinical interests are in mental health and early intervention service design and delivery, mental health care for disadvantaged groups, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness-based approaches, and clinical supervision and program leadership.
As a graduate student working with Will Spaulding, Srividya had the opportunity to gain extensive clinical and research experience in the areas of serious and persistent mental illnesses. She worked as a Psychology Extern for two years at the Community Transition Program at the Lincoln Regional Center. In her doctoral dissertation, she examined processes and outcomes of psychosocial skills training interventions offered to persons with serious mental illness.
Email: srividya.iyer@mcgill.ca
Selected Articles (underline signifies student)
Lee, C., Marandola, G., Malla, A.K., & Iyer, S.N. (2016). Challenges in and Recommendations for Working with International Students with First-Episode Psychosis: A Descriptive Case Series. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care.
Malla, A., Iyer, S.N., McGorry, P., Cannon, M., Coughlan, H., Singh, S., Jones, P., & Joober, R. (2015). From early intervention in psychosis to youth mental health reform: a review of the evolution and transformation of mental health services for young people. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology. Epub ahead of print.
Pruessner, M., Faridi, K., Shah, J., Rabinovitch, M., Iyer, S.N., Abadi, S., Pawliuk, N., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2015). The Clinic for Assessment of Youth at Risk (CAYR): 10 years of service delivery and research targeting the prevention of psychosis in Montréal, Canada. Early Intervention in Psychiatry. doi: 10.1111/eip.12300
Iyer, S.N., Jordan, G., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2015). Early intervention for psychosis: A Canadian perspective. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 203 (5): 356:64
Iyer, S.N., Boksa, P., Shah, J., Lal, S., Joober, R., Marandola, G., Jordan, G., Doyle, M., & Malla, A.K.. (2015). Transforming youth mental health: A Canadian perspective. Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine (Special Focus on Youth Mental Health: International Perspectives), 32 (1), 51-60.
Benoit, A., Malla, A., Iyer, S.N., Joober, R., Bherer, L., & Lepage, M. (2015). Cognitive deficits characterization using the CogState Research Battery in first-episode psychosis patients. Schizophrenia: Cognition, 2 (3), 140-145.
Rho, A., Traicu, A., Lepage, M., Iyer, S.N., Malla, A., & Joober, R. (2015) Clinical and functional implications of a history of childhood ADHD in first-episode psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 165 (2-3):128-33
Levy, E., Traicu, A., Iyer, S.N., Malla, A., Joober, R. (2015). Psychotic disorders comorbid with ADHD: An important knowledge gap. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 60 (3), S48-52
Lutgens, D., Iyer, S.N., Joober, R., Brown, T. G., Norman, R., Latimer, E., Schmitz, N., Baki, A. A., Abadi, S., & Malla, A. (2015). A five-year randomized parallel and blinded clinical trial of an extended specialized early intervention vs. regular care in the early phase of psychotic disorders: study protocol. BMC Psychiatry, 15:22
Iyer, S.N. & Malla, A. (2014). Early Intervention in Psychosis: Concepts, Current Knowledge and Future Directions. Santé Mentale au Quebec, 39 (2), 201-30.
Jordan, G., Lutgens, D., Joober, R., LePage, M., Iyer, S.N.*, & Malla, A.* (2014). The relative contribution of cognition and symptomatic remission to functional outcome following treatment of a first episode psychosis. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 75(6):e566-72. * Senior authors
Lutgens, D., Joober, R., Malla, A. & Iyer, S.N. (2014). The Impact of Caregiver Familiarity with Mental Disorders on Timing of Intervention in First Episode Psychosis. Early Intervention in Psychiatry. doi: 10.1111/eip.12121
Lutgens D, Lepage M, Iyer S.N., & Malla A (2014). Predictors of Cognition in First Episode Psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 152 (1), 164-169.
Jordan, G., Pope, M., Wallis, P. & Iyer, S.N. (2014). The Relationship between Openness to Experience and Willingness to Engage in Online Political Participation. Social Science and Computer Review. doi:10.1177/0894439314534590
Iyer, S.N., Banks, N., Roy, MA., Tibbo, P., Williams, R., Manchanda, R., Chue, P., & Malla, A.K. (2013). A qualitative study of experiences with and perceptions regarding long-acting antipsychotic injectable medications: Part I -Patient perspectives. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 58(5): 14S-22S
Iyer, S.N., Banks, N., Roy, M.A., Tibbo, P., Williams, R., Manchanda, R., Chue, P., & Malla, A.K. (2013). A qualitative study of experiences with and perceptions regarding long-acting antipsychotic injectable medications: Part II -Psychiatrist perspectives. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 58(5): 23S-29S
Pruessner, M., Béchard-Evans, L., Boekestyn, L., Iyer, S.N., Pruessner, J., & Malla, A.K. (2013). Attenuated cortisol response to acute psychosocial stress in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis. Schizophrenia Research, 146 (1-3): 79-86
Iyer, S.N., Ramamurti, M., Jeyagurunathan, A., Rangaswamy, T., & Malla, A.K. (2011). An examination of patient identified goals for treatment in a first-episode program in Chennai, India. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 5(4):360-5
Iyer, S.N., Loohuis, H., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2011). Concerns reported by family members of individuals with first-episode psychosis. Early Intervention in Psychiatry, 5(2):163-7
Pruessner, M., Iyer, S.N., Faridi, K., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2011). Stress and protective factors in individuals at ultra-high risk for psychosis, first-episode psychosis and healthy controls: A case control study. Schizophrenia Research,129(1):29-35
Iyer, S.N., Ramamurti, M., Rangaswamy, T., & Malla, A.K. (2010). Preliminary findings from a study of first-episode psychosis in Montréal, Canada and Chennai, India: Comparison of outcomes. Schizophrenia Research, 121(1-3), 227-233.
Béchard-Evans, L.*, Iyer, S.N., Lepage, M., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2010). Investigating cognitive deficits and symptomatology across pre-morbid adjustment patterns in first-episode psychosis. Psychological Medicine, 40, 749-59.
Vracotas, N.C., Iyer, S.N., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2010). The role of self-esteem in outcome in first-episode psychosis. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 58(1):41-6
Iyer, S.N., Boekestyn, L., Cassidy, C.M., King, S., Joober, R., & Malla, A.K. (2008). Signs and symptoms in the pre-psychotic phase: Description and implications for diagnostic trajectories. Psychological Medicine, 38, 1147-1156.
Iyer, S.N. (2007). Expanding the boundaries of psychology: International students in psychology graduate programs. International Psychology Bulletin, 11(4), 7-11.
Combs, D.R., Penn, D.L., Spaulding, W.D., Adams, S.D., Roberts, D.L., & Iyer, S.N. (2006). Graduate training in cognitive-behavioral therapy for psychosis: The approaches of three generations of clinical researchers. The Behavior Therapist, 29, 12-16.
Selected Book Chapters
Rothmann, T.L., Iyer, S.N., Peer, J.E., & Spaulding, W.D. (2006). Schizophrenia. In J.E. Fisher & W.T. O’Donohue (Eds.), Practitioner's guide to evidence-based psychotherapy (pp. 583-592). New York: Springer Science + Business Media.