Leslie E. Roos

• PSYC 7130 - Program Design and Evaluation 
• PSYC 7910/7954 - Clinical Psychology Practicum Supervision
• PSYC 8110 - Program Evaluation and Consultation

Dr. Leslie E. Roos is a clinician-scientist and tenured Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba. A licensed clinical psychologist, she leads research to advance child, youth, and family mental health across diverse communities. Dr. Roos joined the University of Manitoba in 2018 following her PhD at the University of Oregon and clinical residency at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto. A former Junior Fellow at Harvard’s Centre on the Developing Child (2016–2022), she led evaluation workshops for 400+ international teams. Her research program is supported by over $6M in PI funding and an additional $15M as co-investigator, driving scalable, equitable solutions for family mental health.

• PhD (Clinical Psychology), University of Oregon, 2018 
• MSc (Clinical Psychology), University of Oregon, 2013
• BSc Honours (Psychology), Brown University, 2010 
• BA (Visual Arts), Brown University, 2010

Research interests

• Family mental health
• eHealth and digital health
• Program development
• Mental health equity
• Community partnerships

Research summary

Dr. Roos co-leads the PRIME Initiative (Partnering for Research Innovation in Mental Health through eHealth Excellence) at the Children’s Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba, which strengthens family mental health supports through community-engaged research and the expansion of evidence-based practices. As the CIHR Chair in Implementation Science in Human Development, Child and Youth Health, Dr. Roos champions innovative, culturally grounded interventions, including eHealth solutions co-designed with Indigenous, newcomer, and immigrant communities.

Her program addresses critical gaps in access to care, focusing on parental mental illness and early-childhood origins of youth mental health disorders. She also consults and partners with policy and government-led initiatives to support high quality clinical services in response to identified needs. Dr. Roos has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications (3,300+ citations; h-index ~30), led 16 clinical trials, and developed three evidence-based programs, including the BEAM app for dual-generation mental health. Dr.Roos actively collaborates with qualitative, arts-based and mixed methods experts to advance participant-centred research, programs, and policies to best serve the needs of families.

Research affiliations/groups

Committed to community-embedded knowledge mobilization, Dr. Roos partners with organizations such as United Way, Family Dynamics, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. She also leads trainee-focused initiatives, including PRIME’s equity-focused grant program and CIHR training platforms like DIVERT and IMPACT, building capacity in mental health innovation, clinical trials, and implementation science.

• Research Scientist and Co-Lead Investigator - Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
• Lab Director - Full Heart Lab
• Lab Co-Director - Hearts & Minds Lab
• Themed Lead - PRIME

• Simpson, K. M., McHardy, R., Zhou, G., Levasseur-Puhach, S., Côté, C., Braun, M., Clement, F., MacKinnon, A. L., Nickel, N., Afifi, T. O., Giesbrecht, G., Giuliano, R., Katz, L., Kelly, L., Klassen, T., Lebel, C., Mushquash, A., Reynolds, K., Decaire, E., …  Roos, L. E. (2025). Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): Study protocol for a hybrid implementation-effectiveness trial of the BEAM app-based program for parents of young children. BMC Psychiatry, 25, 567.
• Penner, K. E., Roy, R., Hanlon-Dearman, A. C., Cheung, K., Katz, C., Schleider, J. L., Roos, L. E., & Cameron, E. E. (2024). “Bottom of my own list:” Barriers and facilitators to mental health support use in caregivers of children with neurodevelopmental support needs. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
• Penner-Goeke, L., Belows, M., Kristjanson, A., Andrade, B. F., Cameron, E. E., Giuliano, R., Katz, L. Y., Kelly, L. E., Letourneau, N., Mota, N., Reynolds, K., Zalewski, M., Pharazyn, A., & Roos, L. E. (2023). Protocol for a randomized control trial of the Building Regulation in Dual Generations Program (BRIDGE): preventing the intergenerational transmission of mental illness in at-risk preschool children. Trials, 24(1), 597.
• Xie, E. B., Freeman, M., Penner-Goeke, L., Reynolds, K., Lebel, C., Giesbrecht, G. F., Rioux, C., MacKinnon, A., Sauer-Zavala, S., Roos, L. E., & Tomfohr-Madsen, L. (2023). Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): an open-pilot and feasibility study of a digital mental health and parenting intervention for mothers of infants. Pilot and Feasibility Studies, 9(27), 1-13.
• Roos, L. E., Joyce, K. M., & Andrade, B. F. (2023). Do Maternal Internalizing Problems Influence Treatment Outcomes in Group-Based vs. Individualized Child Behavior Management Interventions? Group/Individual Treatment for Disruptive Behavior. Child & Family Behavior Therapy, 1-23.
• Pierce, S. K., de Castro Lima, H. L., Jain, B., Reynolds, K. A., Tomfohr-Madsen, L. M., & Roos, L. E. (2023). "Please, please not another lockdown - I can’t do it again.” The Stressors Discussed on Online Canadian Forums by Parents of Young Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Journal of Child and Family Studies, 32, 3653–3665.
• MacKinnon, A. L., Simpson, K. M., Salisbury, M. R., Bobula, J., Penner-Goeke, L., Berard, L., Rioux, C., Giesbrecht, G. F., Giuliano, R, J., Lebel, C. A., Protudjer, J., Reynolds, K., Sauer-Zavala, S., Soderstrom, M., Tomfohr-Madsen, L., & Roos, L. E. (2022). Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM): A pilot randomized controlled trial of an App-based program for mothers of toddlers. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 13, 880972.
• Salisbury, M. R., Roos. L. E., Horn, S. R., Peak, S. J., & Fisher, P. A. (2022). The effectiveness of KEEP for families of children with developmental delays: Integrating FIND video coaching into Parent Management Training—Oregon Model: A Randomized Trial. Prevention Science.
• Roos L.E., Kaminski, L., Stienwandt, S., Hunter, S., Giuliano, R., Mota, N., Katz, L.Y., Zalewski, M. (2021). The Building Regulation in Dual-Generations Program (BRIDGE): A Mixed-Methods Feasibility Pilot of a Parenting Program for Depressed Mothers of Preschoolers, Matched with Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills. Child Psychiatry & Human Development. Aug 4:1–17.
• Salisbury, M., Stienwandt, S., Giuliano, R., Penner-Goeke, L., Fisher, P. A., & Roos, L.E. (2020). Stress System Reactivity Moderates the Association Between Cumulative Risk and Children's Externalizing Symptoms. International Journal of Psychophysiology.
• Roos, L.E., Giuliano, R.J., Beauchamp, K.G., Berkman, E.T., Knight, E.L., Fisher, P.A. (2019). Acute Stress Impairs Children's Sustained Attention with Increased Vulnerability for Children of Mothers reporting Higher Parenting Stress. Developmental Psychobiology, 62(4): 532-543.
• Roos, L.E., Giuliano, R.J., Beauchamp, K.G., Gunnar, M., Amidon, B., & Fisher, P.A. (2016). Validation of Autonomic and Endocrine Reactivity to a Laboratory Stressor in Young Children. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 77, 51-55.

• Kayla Joyce, PhD dissertation, “Navigating the Crossroads Between Early Motherhood and Mental Health: Exploring the Role of eHealth in Addressing Mental Health and At-Risk Substance Use Among a Stigmatized and Understudied Population.” 2025.
  Keywords: Anxiety, At-risk substance use, Co-morbidity, Depression, Digital health, eHealth, Meta-analysis, Mothers
• Kaeley Simpson, MA Critical Thesis, “Predictors and Impacts of Engagement in an App-Based Social Support Forum: Exploring Maternal Depression, Anxiety, and Self-Compassion.” 2023.
  Keywords: social support, online forums, depression, anxiety, self-compassion, mothers
• Nicole Tongol, MA Critical Thesis, “Exploring Canadian Newcomer and Immigrant Parents’ Usage and Preferences for Mental Health Services.” 2024.
  Keywords: Newcomers, Immigrants, Family mental health, Parenting challenges, Service access, Service utilization
• Sydney Puhach, MA Critical Thesis, “Telling Stories of Resistance – Calling to Ancestral Strength: An Exploration of Mental Health Support Service Access and Adequacy for Indigenous Mothers in Manitoba.” 2024.
  Keywords: Indigenous, perinatal, mental health, service, adequacy
• Bobby McHardy, MA Critical Thesis, “Maternal and Child Mental Health: Evaluating Parenting as a Mechanism for Intergenerational Transmission of Mental Health Challenges.” 2024.
  Keywords: transdiagnostic, mental health, physiology, parenting, early childhood, family systems

• 2025 - Chair: Implementation Science Chairs in Human Development, Child and Youth Health, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• 2024 - Terry G. Falconer Memorial Rh Institute Foundation Emerging Researcher Award in the Social Sciences category, University of Manitoba
• 2023 - DIVERT Mental Health Fellowship, York University
• 2021 - Presidential Advisory Committee, University of Manitoba Community Outreach Award