Salima Sulaiman, RN, MScN, PhD

Assistant Professor, Nursing

Salima Sulaiman

[email protected]

Dr. Salima Sulaiman is a Registered Nurse, Assistant Professor, and Researcher with interests in Maternal Perinatal Mental Health with a focus on maternal, paternal, and infant outcomes and e-health intervention. Prior to joining Brock University in 2021, she was a faculty member at the Aga Khan University School of Nursing. Dr. Sulaiman teaches at the graduate and undergraduate levels. She is an active member of the Maternal-infant Global Health (MiGHT) Research Team which focuses on exploring maternal mental health issues in Low-and- Middle-income-countries (LMIC). Her current research program is focused on improving the coparenting relationship in immigrant postnatal women.

Research Interests

  • Maternal Perinatal Mental Health
  • Postpartum Depression
  • Partners’ Perinatal Mental Health
  • Quantitative Research
  • Intervention Research

Professional affiliations and accreditation/certification

  • College of Nurses of Ontario
  • Canadian Nurses Association
  • Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario
  • Sigma The Tau International Nusing Society Rho Delta Chapter

Publications

1. Sulaiman, S., Dosani, A., Forcheh, N. Psychometric properties of the Coparenting Relationship Scale in primiparous mothers and partners in Karachi, Pakistan. Children. Accepted for publication. Sep 26, 2026.

2. Sulaiman, S, Dosani, A., Rose, M. S, Somani, R. Ali, G. (2026). Predictors of postpartum coparenting relationship among primiparous couples in Karachi, Pakistan. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1886830.

3. Forcheh, N., Tavangar, F., Ronksley, P. Khan, N.B., Nausheen, S., Lalani, S., Premji, S. S. and Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT)–Collaborators in Research) [Sulaiman, S.] (2026). Allostatic load scoring algorithms and timing of assessment: Comparative associations with preterm birth. AJOG Global Reports, 6(3), 100655.

4. Obilor, H. N., Oluwole, O., Ross-White, A., Premji, S. S., Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) Collaborators in Research) [Sulaiman, S.] and Global Alliance for Chronic Disease (GACD). Perinatal Depression – Canada Group. (2026). Mental health and mental health care of South and East Asian immigrant pregnant women residing in five OECD countries: A systematic review. Midwifery, 159, 104818

5. Al-Momani, M., Alzghoul, M. M., Shoqirat, N., Sulaiman, S. (2026). Motivations, and barriers to choosing nursing as a profession by Jordanian male students: A mixed-methods study. SAGE open Nursing. 13:12:23779608251413648. doi: 10.1177/23779608251413648.

6. Jarkas, D. A., Premji, S., S., Lalani, S., Nausheen, S., Babar, N., Ghani, F., Islam, N., Letourneau, N., Forcheh, N., Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT)–Collaborators in Research [Sulaiman, S.]. (2026). Mental health symptom clusters and network changes over the course of pregnancy: Links to biomarkers of allostatic load. Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 135, 106509.

7. Sulaiman, S, Ilona, S. Y., & Dosani, A. (2025). Psychometric properties of EPDS and PHQ-9 tools for partners of pregnant women in Karachi, Pakistan. Minerva Psychiatry, 66 (3), 144-151

8. Jude, M. S., … MIGHT [Sulaiman, S.) (2025). Distinct maternal DNA methylation associations with gestational age at early and late-midterm pregnancy in a Low- and Middle-Income Country: evaluation of biological, genetic, and psychosocial contributors. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 10; 25:1062. doi: 10.1186/s12884-025-08037-6

9. Sulaiman, S., Dosani, A., Yim, I. S., Lalani, S., Forcheh, N., Premji, S.S. and MiGHT (Maternal-infant Global Health Team)—Collaborators in Research (2025). A prospective cohort study on changes in psychosocial distress and preterm birth among pregnant Pakistani women. Journal of Affective Disorder Reports, 22, 100964, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadr.2025.100964.

10. Ali, G., Beigi, R., Voela, A., Lalani, N., Hamash, K., Sulaiman, S., Virani, G., Ongoji, K., Syed, H., Ali, S., Tharani, A., & Jimenez Paladines, A. I. (2025). SWAN: Self-Healing and Wellbeing Interventions Through Existential Advocacy and Narrative Inquiry. A pilot case study to promote maternal mental health in East London. Women’s Reproductive Health, 12 (4). 986-1007. DOI: 10.1080/23293691.2025.2508983.

11. Yim, I. S., Ali, N. A., Dosani, A., Lalani, S., Babar, N., Nausheen, S., Premji, S.S., MiGHT [Sulaiman, S.] (2024) Strengthening recruitment and retention: Mitigation strategies in two longitudinal studies of pregnant women in Pakistan. Maternal and Child Health Journal, 28, 1671–1676 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10995-024-03957-9.

12. Premji, S. S., Lalani, S., Ghani, F., Nausheen, S., Forcheh, N., Omuse, G., Letourneau, N., Babar, N., Sulaiman, S.,Wangirah, M., Ali, S. S., Islam, N., Dosani, A., Yim, I. S., MIGHT. (Sep, 2024). Allostatic load as a mediator and perceived chronic stress as a moderator in the association between maternal mental health and preterm birth: A prospective cohort study of pregnant women in Pakistan. Psychopathology 58 (1): 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1159/000540579.

13. Silke, O., Yim, I. S., Shaikh, K., Lalani, S., Ghani, F., Wanyonyi, S., … & the Maternal Infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) Collaborators in Research. (2023). Is HbA1c associated with birth weight? A multivariable analysis of Pakistani pregnant women. J Obstet Gynaecol Res. Advance online publication. http://doi.org/10.1111/jog.15706

14. Lalani, S., Premji, S. S., Shaikh, K., Sulaiman, S., Yim, I. S., Forcheh, N., Baber, N., Nausheen S., Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) Collaborators in Research (2023) Individual and collective contribution of antenatal psychosocial distress conditions and preterm birth in Pakistani women. PLoS 18(3): e0282582. https://doi. org/10.1371/journal.pone.0282582

15. Premji, S. S., Pana, G. S., Cuncannon, A., Ronksley, P. E., Dosani, A., Hayden, K. A., Lalani, S., Musana, J. W., Shaikh, K., Yim, I. S. and Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) Collaborators in Research [Sulaiman, S.] (2022) Prenatal allostatic load and preterm birth: A systematic review. Front. Psychol. 13:1004073. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1004073

16. Dosani, A., Yim, I. S., Shaikh, K., Lalani, S., Alcantara, J., Letourneau, N., Premji, S. S., and MiGHT Collaborators in Research [Sulaiman, S.,]. (2022). Psychometric Analysis of the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale and Pregnancy Related Anxiety Questionnaire in Pakistani Pregnant Women. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. 72:103066. doi: 10.1016/j.ajp.2022.103066. Epub 2022 Mar 16.

17. Premji, S. S., Khademi, S., Forcheh, N., Lalani, S., Shaikh, K., Javed, A., Saleem, E., Babar, N., Muhabat, Q., Jabeen, N, Nausheen,S., Ali, S. S., and MiGHT Collaborators in Research [Sulaiman, S.]. Psychological and Situational Factors Associated with COVID‐19 Vaccine Intention Among Postpartum
Women in Pakistan. BMJ Open, 12e063469.

18. Sulaiman, S., Premji, S.S., Tavangar, F., Yim,I. S., Lebold, M.., and MiGHT. (2021). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Preterm Birth: A Systematic Review. Maternal and Child Health Nursing.

19. Lalani, S., Dosani, A., Forcheh, N, Premji, S. S., Siddiqui, S., Shaikh, K., Mian, A.,Yim, I. S., the Maternal-infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) [ S. Sulaiman]. (2021). Collaborators in Research. Perceived stress may mediate the relationship between antenatal depressive symptoms and preterm birth: A pilot observational cohort study. PLOS ONE. 16(5): e0250982. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250982

20. Premji, S., MIGHT, [Sulaiman, S.] (2020). Comorbid anxiety and depression among pregnant Pakistani women: higher rates, different vulnerability characteristics, and the role of perceived stress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

21. Samia, P., Premji, S. S. Tavangar, F. […], the Maternal Infant Global Health Team (MiGHT) Collaborators in Research. [S. Sulaiman] (2020). Adverse Childhood Experiences and Changing Levels of Psychosocial Distress Scores Across Pregnancy in Kenyan Women. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(10), 3401.

22. Shaikh, K., Premji, S.S., Lalani, S., Forcheh, N., Dosani A., Yim, I. S., Samia, P., Naugler, C., Letourneau, N., & MiGHT Collaborators in Research. [Sulaiman, S.] (2020). Ethnic disparity and exposure to supplements rather than adverse childhood experiences linked to preterm birth in Pakistani women. Journal of Affective Disorder, 267, 49–56.

23. Premji SS, Shaikh K, Lalani S, Yim IS, Moore S, Akber Ali N, Aijaz S, Letourneau N, and MiGHT (2020). COVID-19 and Women’s Health: A low- and middle-income country perspective. Frontiers in Global Women’s Health, 1, 1-5 (Article 572158).

24. Dias, J. M., Kurji,Z., Gulamani, S., & Mithani, Y. (2015). Moving towards Preceptorship Model and Blended Learning Methodologies in Baccalaureate Nursing Education in Pakistan. International Journal of e-Healthcare Information Systems, 2 (1), 51-55.

25. Gulamani, S., Premji, S. S., Kanji, Z. K., Azam, S. I. (2013). Preterm birth a risk factor for postpartum depression in Pakistani women. Open Journal of Depression, 2 (4), 72-81

26. Gulamani, S, Premji, S. S., Kanji, Z. K., Azam, S. I. (2013). A review of postpartum depression, preterm birth and culture. Journal of Perinatal and Neonatal Nursing, 27 (1), 52-59.

27. Gulamani, S. S., Shaikh, K., & Chagani, J. (2013). Postpartum Depression in Pakistan: A Neglected Issue. Nursing for Women’ Health, 17 (2). 147-152.

28. Premji, S., and MIGHT team (2014). Perinatal Distress in women in low and middle- income countries: Allostatic load as a frame work to examine the effect of perinatal distress on preterm birth and infant health. Maternal And Child Health Journal, 18(4).

29. Shahirose S Premji, Ilona S Yim, Aliyah Dosani (Mawji), Zeenatkhanu Kanji, Salima Sulaiman, et al. (2015) Psycho-Bio-Behavioural Model For Preterm Birth In Pregnant Women In Low-And-MiddleIncome Countries. BioMed Research International, Article ID 450309, doi.org/10.1155/2015/450309

Teaching

  • Promoting Metal Health
  • Applied Nursing Research
  • Community Health Nursing
  • Quantitative Analysis

Student Opportunities

I am happy to support students who are seeking a supervisor for their master’s program. Please reach out to me via email and send me your cv and a one-pager research interest outlining your research intent/program before the application deadline