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Sakina Rizvi

PhD, MACP, RP

Scientist

Email: Sakina.Rizvi@unityhealth.to
Tel: 416-864-6060 ext. 6489
Other: Arthur Sommer Rotenberg Suicide & Depression Studies Program

Research Programs

Biography

Dr. Sakina Rizvi is a Scientist and Psychotherapist in the Arthur Sommer Rotenberg (ASR) Suicide and Depression Studies Program at St. Michael’s Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Her research program aims to characterize the neurobiology of suicide risk and treatment resistant depression (TRD), primarily through the use of fMRI and PET neuroimaging. Within her biomarker research, she is evaluating brain reward and pain processing as markers to stratify depression and suicide risk, as well as treatment outcome. In addition to neuroimaging research, Dr. Rizvi develops and tests novel psychotherapies for suicide risk and depression. She also conducts patient-engagement research to create community-based suicide prevention strategies. Dr. Rizvi is actively involved in outreach and advocacy projects with an emphasis on providing mental health education to the community through the creative arts. She led the Storybook Project, a lived experience short story collection on the impact of suicide published in September 2021 as “What it Takes to Make it Through: Stories of Suicide Loss and Resilience”.

Recent Publications

  1. Lalovic, A, Hyde, M, Bergmans, Y, Morton, M, Razac, A, Nicoll, G et al.. Mitigating suicide risk with a single session of virtually-delivered psychotherapy: An open-label trial of Brief Skills for Safer Living. J Affect Disord. 2025;388 :119512. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2025.119512. PubMed PMID:40441633 .
  2. Elias, GJB, Iskin, SA, Beyn, ME, Omere, U, Rizvi, SJ, Ceniti, AK et al.. FDG-PET as a pre-operative biomarker for predicting and optimizing response to subcallosal cingulate area deep brain stimulation. Biol Psychiatry. 2025; :. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.05.009. PubMed PMID:40403825 .
  3. Bean, S, Dhanda, R, Graham, CA, Hoffman, D, Rodriguez-Lee, M, Ionescu, A et al.. Establishing content validity of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale. J Patient Rep Outcomes. 2025;9 (1):31. doi: 10.1186/s41687-025-00860-x. PubMed PMID:40069518 PubMed Central PMC11896914.
  4. Gholamali Nezhad, F, Tassone, VK, Khoo, Y, Wu, M, Lin, Q, Demchenko, I et al.. Lack of neuropsychological effects following short-term subcallosal cingulate gyrus deep brain stimulation in treatment-resistant depression: a randomised crossover study. BMJ Ment Health. 2025;28 (1):. doi: 10.1136/bmjment-2024-301408. PubMed PMID:40021211 PubMed Central PMC11873328.
  5. Tan, M, Friyia, S, Hurt-Thaut, C, Rizvi, SJ, Thaut, MH. Music-Based Cognitive Training for Adults with Major Depressive Disorder and Suicide Risk: A Pilot Study. J Clin Med. 2025;14 (3):. doi: 10.3390/jcm14030757. PubMed PMID:39941429 PubMed Central PMC11818315.
  6. Nogovitsyn, N, Ballester, P, Lasby, M, Dunlop, K, Ceniti, AK, Squires, S et al.. An empirical analysis of structural neuroimaging profiles in a staging model of depression. J Affect Disord. 2024;351 :631-640. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2024.01.246. PubMed PMID:38290583 .
  7. Vaccarino, SR, Wang, S, Rizvi, SJ, Lou, W, Hassel, S, MacQueen, GM et al.. Functional neuroimaging biomarkers of anhedonia response to escitalopram plus adjunct aripiprazole treatment for major depressive disorder. BJPsych Open. 2024;10 (1):e18. doi: 10.1192/bjo.2023.588. PubMed PMID:38179598 PubMed Central PMC10790221.
  8. Gorostowicz, A, Rizvi, SJ, Kennedy, SH, Chrobak, AA, Dudek, D, Cyranka, K et al.. Polish adaptation of the Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale (DARS) - validation in the clinical sample. Front Psychiatry. 2023;14 :1268290. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1268290. PubMed PMID:37817828 PubMed Central PMC10561247.
  9. Dimick, MK, Sultan, AA, Kennedy, KG, Rizvi, SJ, Forbes, EE, Sinyor, M et al.. Risk-Sensitive Decision-Making and Self-Harm in Youth Bipolar Disorder. J Clin Psychiatry. 2023;84 (5):. doi: 10.4088/JCP.22m14693. PubMed PMID:37672015 .
  10. Wang, S, Kennedy, SH, Salomons, TV, Ceniti, AK, McInerney, SJ, Bergmans, Y et al.. Resting-state neural mechanisms of capability for suicide and their interaction with pain - A CAN-BIND-05 Study. J Affect Disord. 2023;330 :139-147. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2023.02.147. PubMed PMID:36878406 .
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Affiliations & Other Activities

  • Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, University of Toronto
  • Scientific Associate, Department of Psychiatry, University Health Network