Scientist profiles G-L

Administrative Assistant: Mélanie Dempster
Phone: 416-480-6030
Email: melanie.dempster@sunnybrook.ca 

Education:

• B.Sc., 1988, astronomy and physics, University of Toronto, Canada
• MD, 1995, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, U.S.

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Associate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Head, division of youth psychiatry, department of psychiatry, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
• Assistant professor, department of psychiatry, U of T

Research Foci:

• Nonlinear dynamics in psychiatric illness 
• Mobile computing in mental health

Research Summary:

Dr. Kreindler’s primary research interest is the application of physics and cognitive science to psychiatry to understand better the origin of psychiatric illness – in particular, mood disorders. He has been working on characterizing mood dynamics, drawing on developments in nonlinear dynamics (Mainzer 1996), fractal geometry (Mandelbrot 1982), self-organized criticality (Bak 1996; Jensen 1998), and time series dynamics (Sardà-Espinosa, 2019) to illuminate the mechanisms that underpin mood. This approach is uniquely relevant to child and adolescent mood disorders as well as mood disorders across the rest of the lifespan since it approaches mood as a dynamic process embedded in time.

His other research interests are the application of information technology to clinical psychiatry, with specific interests in the use of technology for mood measurement. He maintains an active interest in data security issues as applied to clinical practice.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Qian Y, Solano MJ, Kreindler D. Grouping of mood symptoms by time series dynamics. J Affect Disord. 2022 Jul 15;309:186-192. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2022.04.117. Epub 2022 Apr 22. PMID: 35461820 
2. Tang W, Kreindler D. Supporting Homework Compliance in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy: Essential Features of Mobile Apps. JMIR Ment Health. 2017 Jun 8;4(2):e20. doi: 10.2196/mental.5283. PMID: 28596145; PMCID: PMC5481663.
3. Schaffer A, Kreindler D, Reis C, Levitt AJ. Use of mental health telemetry to enhance identification and predictive value of early changes during augmentation treatment for major depression. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2013 Dec;33(6):775–81.
4. Romans SE, Kreindler D, Asllani E, Einstein G, Laredo S, Levitt A, Morgan K, Petrovic M, Toner B, Stewart DE. Mood and the menstrual cycle. Psychother Psychosom. 2013;82(1):53–60.
5. Manassis K, Mendlowitz S, Kreindler D, Lumsden C, Sharpe J, Simon MD, Woolridge N, Monga S, Adler-Nevo G. Mood assessment via animated characters: a novel instrument to evaluate feelings in young children with anxiety disorders. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2009 May;38(3):380–389. 
6. Kreindler D. Email security in clinical practice: ensuring patient confidentiality. Open Medicine. 2008; 2(2):e54–59.
7. Kreindler DM and Lumsden CJ. The effects of irregular sampling and missing data in time series analysis. Nonlinear Dynamics Psychol Life Sci. 2006 Apr; 10(2):187–214. 
8. Kreindler D, Lumsden CJ, Levitt A, Woolridge N. Portable mood mapping: the validity and reliability of analog scale displays for mood assessment via hand held computer. Psychiatry Res. 2003 Sep; 120(2):165–177.

Related News and Stories:

• Doctors at Sunnybrook Hospital are using an app to help patients with mood disorders (CTV news, 2014)
• Cell phones help teens monitor depression (The Toronto Star, Sept. 8, 2010)

Related Links:

• Centre for Mobile Computing in Mental Health
• The Society for Chaos Theory in Psychology and the Life Sciences
• CREST.BD (The Collaborative RESearch Team to study psychosocial issues in Bipolar Disorder)