Boateng, Godfred O.
Dr. Boateng is an expert in the design and application of culturally relevant scalable methodologies to study the multidimensional factors and processes that shape health and health equity across spatial scales (household, community, institutional, national), and how they can be promoted and sustained. His research program is transdisciplinary and focuses on resource insecurity, health, and sustainable livelihoods; the socio-ecological determinants of cardiometabolic conditions in aging adults; social inequity in health systems; quantitative data analysis methods and survey scale development; and COVID-19 related health effects
Poirier, Mathieu J.P.
Mathieu Poirier is the Co-Director of the Global Strategy Lab, York Research Chair (Tier II) in Global Health Equity, and Assistant Professor of Social Epidemiology at the School of Global Health. His research ranges from evaluating international law to developing health equity metrics and generating policy-relevant research on socially and politically determined inequities in health. As Research Director for Global Legal Epidemiology with GSL, Dr. Poirier has led evaluations of global tobacco use and the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) published in the BMJ and Tobacco Control, while his global health equity research has been published in Social Science & Medicine, the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, Social Indicators Research, and Population Health Metrics, among others.
Weobong, Benedict
Dr. Weobong’s research involves instrument development, perinatal depression, alcohol and substance use, mental healthcare systems, and health promotion interventions. His research portfolio is informed by the principles of global mental health along three strands (developing and evaluating psychological treatments; implementation research to scale up evidence-based interventions for mental disorders in routine primary health care settings; and school-based health and wellbeing programmes), tied together through the innovative use of task-sharing strategies. His current research laboratory holds three important activities: developing a step-up care intervention to treat depression and anxiety among adolescents in Ghana (https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/african-youth-in-mind);evaluating the implementation of a routine health check-up programme for adolescents; and building a critical mass of global mental health researchers through doctoral and post-doctoral training (https://amari-africa.org) .
Ahmad,Farah
In her research, Dr. Ahmad aims to examine, adopt and implement eHealth technologies in primary care settings to mitigate resource constraints on the health system and address health inequities by empowering communities and healthcare providers for a ‘whole person’ approach and development of integrated models of care. To this end, Dr. Ahmad has examined an interactive, wait-room computer-assisted health-risk assessment (HRA) tool in a primary care settings. This randomized controlled trial demonstrated the tools’ effectiveness in raising discussion and detection of intimate partner violence and risk of compromised mental health during clinical encounters. The qualitative studies revealed provider and patient-acceptance of the tool. Dr. Ahmad examined the HRA through further studies and has now taken the concept to Community Health Centers serving vulnerable communities. Psychosocial Health is also a dominant stream of Dr. Ahmad’s research with a focus on partner violence and mental health/stress with several publications.
Appel, Lora
Our team is currently evaluating VR’s usability, safety and clinical effectiveness for people with various health conditions and in different healthcare settings. Examples include people living with dementia, people with epilepsy, and those in the intensive care unit. We are also studying potential benefits of VR in alleviating hospital staff burnout, as well as, for nursing and allied health professional training.
Berthelot-Raffard, Agnès
Her Current researches include Promoting Black Students’Mental Health: A Pan-Canadian Research and Intervention Project on Social Determinants of Health and Equity in Canadian Universities, Breaking the silence for the inclusion and the social participation of Black Students, Black Women’s Reproductive Health: Experience in the Healthcare System
Chaufan, Claudia
Prof. Claudia Chaufan, MD, PhD, works in the traditions of critical health, social, and policy studies. Her research in the social production and developmental origins of health and disease is strongly grounded in her medical training and former clinical practice, and is informed by the politics of public policy, the geopolitical economy of health, medicalization and social control, and propaganda studies. She has done research on diabetes, obesity, and Alzheimer disease. She currently researches the Covid-19 policy response.
Daftary, Amrita
Dr Daftary, Associate Professor at the School of Global Health, is a social and behavioural health scientist. She studies and intervenes on the social dimensions of infectious diseases, in particular tuberculosis (TB), applying qualitative methods. She works with TB affected communities, clinical trialists and decision-makers in South Africa, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Canada, as well as globally. Dr Daftary holds adjunct appointments at the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal and Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. She is Founding Director of the Social Sciences and Health Innovations for Tuberculosis (SSHIFTB) network.
Davis Halifax, Nancy Viva
Her research and teaching is oriented by body/s, illness, disability, and difference, as well as a feminist/queer/crip commitment to the articulation of what flickers at the threshold. she lives in a world wherein she embodies disability and illness. she imagines and is curious about life that is not lived as whole, separate and invulnerable but rather is lived through deep connections and ways of knowing that are off-centred, multiple, sensuous. In her research knowledge is returned to public, community space in order to bear witness to the lives that remain unacknowledged across contemporary institutions (Recounting Huronia cabaret, a day in the life; asleep in Toronto; Evangeline Banner Project).
Dinca-Panaitescu, Serban
He conducts research in medical informatics with emphasis on computer processing of physiological signals. His major research contributions are in the fields of preventive cardiology and developing software aiming at detecting the cardiovascular dysfunction in the sub-clinical phase.
Dolatabadi, Elham
Dr. Dolatabadi’s interdisciplinary research harmonizes innovations in health informatics and machine learning to address complex challenges influencing human health and to reduce health disparities. In particular, her interest revolves around the three core pillars of multimodal learning in health, health equity analysis using causal mechanisms, and ambient intelligence. She is actively involved in various application domains stemming from these pillars, including characterizing Post-COVID-19 Condition (PCC) in Canada, improving Youth Mental Health, building an Early Warning System for Mental Health Crisis, and responsible development and deployment of clinical AI models.
El Morr, Christo
Christo El Morr is a Professor of Health Informatics, his research subscribes to an Equity Informatics perspective; it covers Equity AI (e.g., patient readmission, disability advocacy), Patient-Centered Virtual Care (e.g., chronic disease management, mental health), Global Health Promotion for equity (e.g., equity health promotion), Human Rights Monitoring (e.g., disability rights, Gender-Based Violence).
Ginsburg, Liane R
Research interests revolve around how to share performance data, data on adverse events, and research findings more generally with health care managers and roviders in a way that promotes improvement. Current research is in the areas of patient safety culture and learning from patient safety events. Quality if care in Nursing home settings.
Granek, Leeat
Leeat Granek, PhD is a critical health psychologist in the School of Health Policy and Management, Faculty of Health. Her research expertise is in the areas of psycho-oncology, healthcare professional well-being, and grief and loss. Recent awards include the Sigmund Koch Award for Early Contribution to the Field of Psychology and Distinguished Early Career Contributions in Qualitative Inquiry Award, both awarded by the American Psychological Association. Dr. Granek has published more than 90 articles on her research in leading journals including Cancer, JAMA Archives, and Psycho-Oncology.
Hoben, Matthias
My research aims to understand and improve the health and wellbeing (quality of life) of individuals living with dementia, their family and friend care partners, and their paid caregivers. I am an active co-investigator in the Translating Research in Elder Care (TREC) program of research, led by Dr Carole Estabrooks, University of Alberta. In my role as the Helen Carswell Chair in Dementia Care, I evaluate day care programs for older adults living with dementia in the York region and beyond. To do this, I apply an integrated approach to knowledge translation – i.e., throughout the research process, I partner closely with individuals living with dementia, their family/friend care partners, paid care staff, continuing care settings, and decision makers. My research methods include advanced statistical analyses of large data sets (e.g., Alberta population level health data of long-term care and assisted living home residents); complex, pragmatic intervention studies; qualitative methods, such as semi-structured interviews or focus groups; mixed methods; and various types of literature syntheses.
Hoffman, Steven
The Lab’s interdisciplinary research and policy activities are currently organized around three interrelated programs focused on the 1) global governance of antimicrobial resistance, 2) global legal epidemiology, and 3) public health institutions. Professor Hoffman is additionally open to supervising students interested in all aspects of global health law, including doctrinal, empirical, applied and theoretical work. Students with and without law degrees are welcome to apply.
Morrow, Marina
Her Research includes Critical health policy; mental health reform; service provision; access to health services; mental health and social inequity; mental health, citizen engagement and social justice; neoliberal reforms; gender and health; intersectional theory and approaches in mental health.
Orbinski, James
Dr. James Orbinski is a professor and the inaugural Director of York University’s Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research. As a medical doctor, a humanitarian practitioner and advocate, a best-selling author, and a leading scholar in global health, Dr. Orbinski believes in actively engaging and shaping our world so that it is more just, fair and humane.
Reaume, Geoffrey
Current research includes Mad People’s History, Medical History, Critical Disability Studies, History of People with Disabilities, Class, Labour and Disability; Disability and the Left, Psychiatric Survivor/Consumer Movement, Archiving Psychiatric Survivor and Disability History, Health Care Ethics
Tsasis, Peter
Dr. Peter Tsasis is an associate professor at the School of Health Policy and Management at York University and a health systems researcher with expertise in intersectoral collaboration, learning health systems and systems transformation. He has published in many peer-reviewed publications in a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary scholarly journals. His active research output has been disseminated in a multitude of international peer-reviewed conference presentations and invited symposia to showcase new paradigms in shifting attention to critical new areas of research in complex systems science and global health.
Vorstermans, Jessica
Current research includesa International experiential and service learning and global citizenship; Critical Disability Theory; Human Rights, Disability and Equity; Disability and North/South relations.
Wiktorowicz, Mary E
Her research interests include Research areas: global health governance, global governance of stewardship to address Antimicrobial Resistance, policy networks, global health regime analysis, transnational pharmaceutical governance, governance and accountability for antenatal care in SSA, mental health policy
Wong, Hannah
Dr. Hannah Wong has a PhD in Industrial Engineering. She utilizes statistical regression modeling techniques, in conjunction with system dynamics computer simulation, to study problems important to clinicians, health care managers and policy makers. These include issues related to the growing frail elderly population and the large variation that exists in the use of expensive diagnostic tools and therapies. The goal is to guide the better design of policies to improve appropriateness and quality of care. If we can approach the challenges facing our health care system as “systems problems”, where undesirable behaviours of the system are a direct consequence of the system’s own structure, we may have a promising way to fundamentally address pressing local and global health care challenges.
Abdul-Sater, Ali
Dr. Abdul-Sater’s research program is focused on understanding how inflammation is regulated and on exploring ways to modulate the inflammatory response to devise new therapies for autoimmune diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis. Specifically, Dr. Abdul-Sater’s lab is interested in identifying novel regulators of inflammation and understanding the molecular mechanisms through which these regulators control innate immunity and the inflammatory response. They are currently pursuing several avenues of research, and they include:
1) Specific targeting of TRAF1 to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis and other inflammation-driven diseases.
2) Investigating the molecular mechanisms through which different exercise regimens regulate the immune response.
3) Assessing the role of individual Type I interferons in bacterial and viral responses.
Adegoke, Olasunkanmi A J
Research in my lab focuses on molecular mechanisms regulating skeletal muscle growth and metabolism. We examine how these are modified by diet and physical activity in health and diseases like obesity and diabetes. Skeletal muscle constitutes about 40% of body mass. Because healthy muscle consists mainly of proteins, an understanding of mechanisms regulating protein metabolism is fundamental to health and vital to prevention/ management of several chronic diseases. Indeed altered protein metabolism underlies or worsens conditions such as obesity, diabetes, cancers and diverse myopathies.
Ardern, Chris
Chris Ardern is an Associate Professor (School of Kinesiology and Health Science) and Affiliated Scientist at Southlake Regional Health Centre (Newmarket, ON). His primary research interests include the epidemiology of movement behaviors (sleep, physical activity, and sedentary time), obesity, and cardiometabolic risk. Secondary interests include the relationship between physical activity and i) the built environment; ii) microvascular disease, and; iii) dementia. Much of this work involves the harmonization of large national level surveys and routinely collected administrative and clinical data to examine relationships across time. As Director of the PA-REACH Lab, this work has focused on the use of risk algorithms, behavioural profiling, and geospatial approaches to the identification of high-risk subgroups of the population.
Belcastro, Angelo
My research areas focuses on understanding the ‘dose-response’ interaction underlying children’s physical activity/exercise patterns on the improvements in children’s body composition (fat mass and fat-free mass), muscular strength and power, cardiovascular/cardiorespiratory physiology and fitness, and developmental aspects of fundamental motor skills (FMS) and phyiscal literacy.
A second research focus is on understanding the multi-disciplinary approach underlying active play. This is accomplished through the delivery of a community-based children’s guided active play program – referred to as KinKids.
Birot, Olivier
Dr. Olivier Birot is a professor of physiology in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York University. His research and teaching focus on exercise and muscle physiology No with a particular interest in skeletal muscle angioadaptation in the context of exercise, extreme environments exposure (altitude, cold, air pollution), and chronic pathological conditions (diabetes, obesity). His research program has been funded by NSERC since 2007.
Ceddia, Rolando
My research focuses on understanding the physiological and molecular mechanisms that regulate glucose and fatty acid metabolism in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue as well as whole-body energy homeostasis. The major goal is to discover safe and effective new therapeutic approaches to prevent or reverse dysfunctional metabolic alterations that occur in obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. In my lab, we investigate the effects of exercise, nutrional manipulation, and pharmacological agents on glucose and lipid metabolism at the cellular, tissue, and whole-body levels. In vivo and in vitro experiments applying physiology, biochemistry, and cellular and molecular biology techniques are used. My research is currently funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), Natural Science and Engeneering Research Council (NSERC), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), and the Ontario Research Fund (ORF).
Cheng, Arthur
My primary research interest is investigating the cellular mechanisms of skeletal muscle weakness, fatigue, and post-exercise recovery. Our lab utilizes translational research approaches that scale from the single muscle fibre level up to the whole human level, with a unique ability to delineate how each step of excitation-contraction coupling in intact living single muscle fibres contributes to altered contractile force generation in healthy and diseased states. An overarching aim of our lab is knowledge translation: to utilize our knowledge base and specialized techniques toward identifying effective pharmacological, nutritional, or exercise interventions to improve skeletal muscle strength and fatigue resistance in healthy, aged, and diseased populations.
Chum, Antony
Our lab is focused on research in the area of social and environmental determinants of mental health and addictions. We make use of big data analysis and machine learning to help advance social epidemiological research, and the use of quasi-experimental methods for causal identification in population health research.
Cleworth, Taylor
Understanding the relationship between neurological and biomechanical processes involved in balance control; Perception of balance-related movement; Understanding visuomotor integration during human movement and mechanisms leading to mobility deficits, including aging, physiological and psychological processes.
Connor, Michael K
Dr. Connor’s research focuses on two areas. His graduate research focused on the molecular adaptations of skeletal muscle to alterations in contractile activity, while his post-doctoral fellowship was directed at researching the molecular mechanisms responsible for the development and progression of Breast and Prostate Cancer. Current research projects address cell cycle regulation in 2 model systems. 1) The paracrine relationship between adipocytes and mammary and protate epithelial cells, which ultimately underlies the molecular link between obesity and these cancers; and 2) The role of cell ceycle regulation in skeltal muscle development and differentiation.
Crawford, Dorota Anna
Our lab investigates the effect of abnormal lipid signaling during the critical embryonic period on proliferation, migration, aggregation, differentiation or synaptogenesis of brain cells and expression of early developmental genes.
Drake, Janessa D M
Her overarching research goal is focused on reducing the incidence and severity of workplace musculoskeletal disorders (see Current Research section for additional detail). Dr. Drake is currently funded by NSERC Discovery Grant, and by Ministry of Labour: Centre of Research Expertise for the Prevention of Musculoskeletal Disorders (CRE-MSD) grant.
Edgell, Heather
The Edgell lab at York University investigates human cardiovascular and autonomic function and will determine mechanisms behind the prevalence and lethality of cardiovascular disease in women to use this information to find potential avenues of treatment. In particular, the lab will focus on 1) autonomic, cardiovascular, and respiratory responses to physiological stressors and the changes in those responses due to sex and/or female sex hormones, 2) investigating the symptoms of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) throughout the menstrual cycle, and 3) investigating cardiovascular and autonomic function in ME/CFS and long COVID. We are also embarking on important research with the Toronto Rumsey Centre and Sunnybrook hospital investigating cardiac rehabilitation in male and female Type 2 Diabetes patients.
Erickson, Karl
Karl’s research addresses two primary questions: How does participation in sport and movement contexts contribute to psychosocial development and well-being?; and How can this contribution be optimized toward positive development, learning and growth? He is interested in the integration of performance, health and psychosocial outcomes, and how interpersonal processes in sport, particularly involving coaches and coaching, influence these developmental outcomes for youth. To this end, he strives to ensure his work is interdisciplinary, systems-oriented and community-based.
Eyawo, Oghenowede
My research interest is focused on precision-based global health and the application of epidemiological methods to examine patterns of morbidity, mortality, health inequities and their potential effects among vulnerable populations of children, women and men. Past and current work have focused on HIV, HCV, tuberculosis, other comorbidities, and the social, political, and economic determinants of health that lie at the crossroads of these diseases. I am also interested in the methodological aspects of study designs in observational and experimental epidemiology, and how to improve the use of linked health administrative data in research.
Fraser-Thomas, Jessica L.
Dr. Jessica Fraser-Thomas’ research focuses on children and youths’ development through sport, with a particular interest in positive youth development, psychosocial influences (i.e., coaches, family, peers), and sport participation trajectories over the life course. Currently she is working on projects exploring preschoolers’ introductions to organized sport, and characteristics of programs that may facilitate development within special populations and communities. She is a member of LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, the PYD SportNET research group, and MSLE Launchpad research group. She has published over 70 peer reviewed articles and book chapters, and co-edited Health and Elite Sport: Is High Performance Sport a Healthy Pursuit? She is a recipient of the Canadian Society for Psychomotor Learning and Sport Psychology Young Scientist Award and the Province of Ontario Volunteer Service Award, and YMCA Canada’s Program Innovation Award.
Gage, William
The neuromuscular control and biomechanics of postural control and of joint stability, currently with a focus on the knee joint. Understanding mechanisms related to sensory-motor dysfunction and normal aging which might interrupt these levels of control, and the potential impact of changes in neuromuscular control (local factors) on the development and progression of osteoarthritis.
Grace, Sherry L.
Prof. Grace’s research centers on optimizing post-acute cardiovascular care in low-resource settings, to improve patient outcomes (including mental health). She has held >65 grants and contracts worth ~$20 million to support this research. She has led the development of cardiac rehabilitation clinical practice guidelines, position statements, quality indicators and global surveys. She has published >325 papers, cited >20,000 times, such that her h-index is >70 and she is among the top 2% most-cited researchers globally in any field.
Gunter, Rebecca L.
My research is focused on understanding the promotion of health behaviours and the development of optimally effective health promotion messages targeting psychosocial predictors of behaviour. I am particularly interested in physical activity promotion among special populations (e.g., people with disabilities) as well as children and youth. My research has focused on understanding the role of supportive others such as parents, teachers and coaches, in youth physical activity promotion. More recently, my research has focused on understanding optimal strategies for knowledge mobilization through community partnerships.
Haas, Tara L.
The Haas lab examines blood vessel growth (angiogenesis) in skeletal muscle and in adipose tissue. We utilize biochemical, cellular and molecular biological approaches to study the stimuli and signalling pathways that cause endothelial cells to initiate angiogenesis as a result of exercise or changes in metabolic status (ie. energy overload). A second key area of investigation is to identify and define the regulation of inhibitory signals that block appropriate angiogenesis in the skeletal muscle of individuals with diabetes and/or peripheral artery disease.
Hamadeh, Mazen J.
1) myotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS; Lou Gehrig’s disease): Effects of caloric restriction, antioxidant supplementation and exercise on functional, disease and molecular outcomes in ALS, with emphasis on sex differences. 2) Gender differences in metabolism during exercise in lean and obese women and men. 3)Vitamin D and calcium intake and their relationship to type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). 4)Functional foods and their effects on health and disease.
Hayhurst, Lyndsay
Her research interests include sport for development and peace (SDP); gender-based violence and sexual and reproductive health in/through SDP; digital participatory action research; trauma-and violence-informed approaches to SDP; cultural studies of girlhood; postcolonial feminist theory; global governance, international relations and corporate social responsibility; SDP in Indigenous communities; and the gender, sport and environment nexus.
Henriques, Denise Y P
We simulate sensorimotor systems on computers to identify issues and to reveal the implications of different theories. Then we test competing theories using neuroimaging and behavioural experiments: presenting human subjects with multisensory stimuli and recording their responses — eye, head and limb movements — at high resolution in 3D.
Hurley, Jaclyn
My area of expertise is musculoskeletal biomechanics where research interests include investigating mechanisms of musculoskeletal injury and developing effective exercise rehabilitation strategies for chronic musculoskeletal conditions that commonly accompany age, notably rotator cuff pathologies. My research uses a wide variety of experimental-based methods, with tools that include three-dimensional optimal motion tracking, surface and intramuscular electromyography, ultrasound, and magnetic resonance imaging, in addition to computational modelling. My long-term research vision is to investigate variability in musculoskeletal anatomy and mechanics as it relates to injury prevention and rehabilitation.
Hynes, Loriann M.
Concussion injuries plague amateur and professional sports enthusiasts alike. Regardless of the level of sport, those who have suffered a concussion experience similar sequelae. Our understanding of what causes the signs and symptoms of concussion is far greater today than ten years ago, but there is still much work to be done. Further investigation into the role of the neck soft tissue in relation to concussion symptomology will expand our understanding of this invisible injury. Based on experience from working with athletes at various levels of sport, the Whiplash and Concussion Injury Lab takes a unique approach to the identification, assessment and rehabilitation of these injuries.
Josse, Andrea
Dr. Andrea Josse is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, Faculty of Health, at York University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada). Her human research program spans 2 main areas, one focusing on longer-term lifestyle modification intervention strategies that include the provision of protein and micronutrient-rich dairy foods to improve body composition, body weight, bone health and cardiometabolic outcomes. The other focusing on the immediate/short-term physiological responses following the post-exercise consumption of different wholefoods, nutritional supplements and individual nutrients on bone metabolism and inflammation to improve exercise recovery and musculoskeletal outcomes. She also investigates links between the physiological responses of bone, muscle and inflammation following single nutrition and/or exercise stressors including high-intensity/impact exercise and the provision of a high-fat/sugar meal. Dr. Josse has published 68 peer-reviewed papers, and herself or her trainees have presented 77 abstracts at national/international conferences. Her research program is supported by a variety of government and organization funding sources. Dr. Josse is highly committed to supporting trainee development in the areas of basic and applied human nutrition and exercise physiology in both an exercise performance and health context as well as in a disease risk reduction/clinical context. As such, she works closely with registered dietitians and personal trainers in her research studies.
Kalu, Michael
Michael’s research is comprehensive, intersecting the multifactorial (cognitive, environmental, financial, physical, psychological, personal and social determinants), multifaceted (self-reported and objective measures – real-life mobility measure and lab-based), and multidisciplinary aspects of mobility assessment, prevention, and intervention among older adults across various care settings, from hospital-to-home transition to community and long-term care facilities. Michael’s research explores the socio-cultural considerations of older adults’ mobility to co-develop mobility-adapted physical activity for “apparently healthy” black older adults or those with neuromuscular conditions using technology (AI) collected mobility data. He continued to maintain interest in exploring strategies (e.g., education and practice frameworks) to enhance the transdisciplinary approach to older adult social/functional health grounded in physiotherapy practice philosophies. Michael’s methodological expertise includes systematic/scoping reviews (including other reviews), qualitative inquiries, co-production, mixed/multi-method approaches, consensus methodologies and emerging/adapted methodologies employed in low resource countries.
Kuk, Jennifer L.
Characterizing obesity and related health risks (cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes) and examining the influence of diet, physical activity using both clinical interventions and epidemiological approaches.
Macpherson, Alison
Dr. Macpherson’s current research interests relate to the prevention of childhood injuries. Particular areas of interest include injuries in sports and recreation, including hockey and playground injuries, injury indicators, evaluation of public policies related to injury, and injuries in First Nations and Inuit communities.
Meisner, Brad A.
As an interdisciplinary gerontologist, Brad’s research focuses on the interaction of biological, psychological, and social dimensions of aging, adult development, and older adulthood. He is particularly interested in aging adults’ experiences in leisure and recreation as well as the impact of age-based stigma (ageism) on the health and lives of aging adults. In his research, Brad uses collaborative and applied approaches as well as mixed- and multi-methodologies.
Michaels, Jonathan
Our mission is to improve our fundamental understanding of how the brain generates movement by linking models of motor control to computations in the brain and by discovering new ways to interface skilled artificial systems with brains. Our ultimate goal is to improve restoration of arm and hand function lost to trauma and disease.
Mochizuki, George
Neurologic injury can negatively impact one’s ability to interact with their environment and to engage in activities of daily life. Dynamic balance control – the ability to prepare for and respond to bouts of postural instability – is an essential motor skill that enables effective participation in daily activities. Injury to the central nervous system impairs balance control, leading to increased fall risk and subsequent injury, which can ultimately impact recovery. My research program focuses on advancing understanding of the specific balance deficits that are observed following neurologic injuries such as concussion and stroke. In addition, this research program aims to advance techniques for assessing and remediating relationships between physiological biomarkers of injury and the balance control behaviours they govern.
Paris, Michael
Broadly, my research focuses on understanding the interactions between neural control and skeletal muscle properties during contraction in humans. To study the neuromuscular system, many models of human muscle structure and function are utilizied such as natural adult ageing, muscle fatigue, and exercise rehabilitation. I am particularly interested in understanding how the neuromuscular system has adapted in sarcopenic older adults with poor muscle function and strength, in order to develop and test the efficiacy of exercise related therapies for improving structure and function. We will utilizie a wide array of human neurophysiological techniques, including electrical nerve stimulation, intramuscular and surface electromyography, and muscle imaging (ultrasonography), to better characterize the interactions between the central and peripheral nervous systems. A large emphasis is placed on understanding motor unit physiology and how this fundamental control unit is altered under various acute and chronic adaptations.
Penney, Tarra
Dr Penney’s program of research focuses on examining the impact of globalization on human and planetary health through studying the consequences of national policies implemented within complex political, social and commercial systems. Specifically she is focused on generating population level evidence for addressing the role that the food system plays in driving global threats to health including obesity, undernutrition, zoonoses and climate change. She uses systems thinking and draws on multiple methods from epidemiology, social and political science to evaluate national policy and explore opportunities within the commercial sector to transition toward healthy, sustainable and equitable food systems. Tarra is also interested in methodological aspects of generating evaluative evidence for undersstanding the consequences of policy change. In particular, developing transdisciplinary approaches to understand how and why policies work or fail to improve policy learning, reduce the potential for epistemic errors and build and maintain public trust in science.
Perry, Christopher
Dr. Christopher Perry is an Associate Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science and Associate Director of the Muscle Health Research Centre at York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His laboratory aims to understand how mitochondrial stress contributes to muscle weakness in a variety of disorders with a current focus on cancer cachexia and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Ongoing work examines how certain muscles demonstrate dynamic resliency during cancer in an attempt to slow the progression of muscle weakness. Our team has also explored several pharmacological compounds that partially restore muscle health in a mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy and cancer cachexia by preserving mitochondrial metabolism. The lab also investigates how exercise improves muscle metabolism in humans and uses this information as the ‘mechanistic template’ for restoring healthy muscle function in diseases. Through collaborations, our team supports assessments of mitochondrial stress responses and muscle dysfunction in people with type 1 diabetes. By working with clinical and industrial partners, the ultimate goal of the lab is to identify metabolic and redox stress-based mechanisms of muscle weakness and apply these findings towards the development of therapeutics that may help people improve muscle health, functional independence and quality of life.
Phillips, Devin
Dr. Phillips’ research program focuses on healthy aging and biological sex-differences, and their interrelationships with cardiorespiratory and neuromechanical function, perceived breathlessness, and exercise performance. Additionally, his research evaluates the feasibility and efficacy of novel treatments that can be used in conjunction with exercise training to reduce breathlessness and improve physiological function, exercise performance, and quality of life, in adults living with cardiorespiratory disease.
Riddell, Michael
My research interests center on the effects of exercise and stress on diabetes and metabolism. While we know exercise is good for people living with diabetes, since it promotes good health, it can sometimes make blood sugar control more difficult. Most of the time, prolonged moderate-intensity aerobic exercise causes low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), while more intense and competitive exercise can cause high blood sugar (hyperglycemia). My lab tries to develop new strategies and therapies for people living with diabetes to exercise more effectively and with better blood sugar control. We have both pre-clinical (animal models) and clinical studies (human participant volunteers) of diabetes, exercise, hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia.
Ritvo, Paul
Ethnic differences in perception of physical activity. Physical and psychological strength in male youth from modest socioeconomic backgrounds. Health behaviour change in the prevention and treatment of chronic disease, particularly cancer. Emphasis on intervention delivery via group therapy, telephone, print and interactive internet programming. Further emphasis on evaluating effects through innovative approaches to quality of life assessment.
Rotondi, Michael
Working with Indigenous community partners, my primary research area is the development and application of new statistical methods, specifically, respondent-driven sampling, to improve the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples living in urban areas. In partnership with Indigenous health partners, researchers and community members, I am co-leading a CIHR-funded research study to measure the rates of testing, incidence and vaccination for COVID-19 in First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples living in Toronto, London, Thunder Bay and Kenora. I am also co-leading a second CIHR-funded study to develop statistical techniques to combine the results from several urban Indigenous health databases that used respondent-driven sampling in a valid way. Where appropriate, this approach will provide Indigenous community partners an improved and more precise understanding of the health of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples living in Canadian cities. Beyond urban Indigenous Health and my wide-ranging contributions to respondent-driven sampling techniques, I also lead other biostatistical research projects, including in areas such as type 1 diabetes, burn injuries, clinical trials and systematic reviews.
Roudier, Emilie
While we start to better understand how environmental factors influence the health of our arteries, the macrovascular bed; it remains unknown how the interaction between environmental factors and genetic background influence the endothelial phenotype of our smallest blood vessels, the microvascular bed. Using approaches of molecular and integrative physiology, my research program aims to better understand how the interplay between non-modifiable genetic background and modifiable environmental risk factors can influence the microvascular health.
Safai, Parissa
Parissa Safai (she/her) is a Full Professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science in the Faculty of Health at York University. Her research interests focus on the critical socio-cultural study of sport at the intersection of risk, health and healthcare including the social determinants of athletes’ health. Her interests also centre on sport and social inequality with focused attention paid to the impact of gender, socio-economic, and ethnocultural inequities on accessible physical activity for all.
Scimè, Anthony
The Scimè lab is focused on understanding the molecular, cellular and physiological aspects for how metabolism is involved in stem cell fate choices particularly in muscle and adipose tissue. Stem and progenitor cell fates have a profound impact on health and disease progression. Adipose and muscle tissue are inextricably linked to many metabolic pathways, and their dysregulation are associated with many complications and disease. No more so than in the ever-increasing prevalence of disorders such as type II diabetes, obesity, cancer and sarcopenia. A key component of muscle and adipose tissue function is provided by their stem cells that are necessary for tissue development, maintenance and disposition. At the cellular level stem cell fate choices of quiescence, activation, differentiation and self-renewal are bio energetically balanced through proper regulation of metabolic pathways. Ongoing studies are 1) to determine the role of cellular metabolism on stem cell fate choices in various tissue types 2) to assess the role of whole body stressors, such as exercise and diet on stem cell behavior and 3) to find the impact of altered metabolism on cancer stem function and micro environment.
Sergio, Lauren E.
The Motor Control Lab at York University is affiliated with the Centre for Vision Research, the VISTA and Connected Minds programs, and the School of Kinesiology and Health Science. We are also associated with York’s graduate and undergraduate Neuroscience programs, the Dependable Internet of Things NSERC Create Program, and the York University Centre for Aging Research (YU-CARE).
Singh, Sachil
Dr. Sachil Singh is an Assistant Professor of physical culture and health technologies in datafied societies. His main areas of research are medical sociology and surveillance. More specifically, his research examines algorithmic bias and unintended racial outcomes that affect patients. He is also Associate Editor of the highest ranked interdisciplinary journal Big Data & Society.
Tamim, Hala
Dr. Tamim main research interests are in the areas of maternal and child healt, and adolescent health risk behaviours. As an epidemiologist, she has worked in several other research areas including molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, diabetes and pharmacoepidemiology. In the area of maternal and child health, her research has covered a variety of topics including c-section, Group B strep, consanguinity and congenital abnormalities, breastfeeding, pre–conceptional folic acid intake, predictors of social support and parenting among teen and advanced aged mothers among others. The focus in the area of adolescent health risk behavior has been mostly on smoking, weight control measures, and predictors and outcomes of early menarche. Currently, funded by SSHRC, she is conducting a study that assesses the integration of new parent Syrian refugees resettling in Canada by studying their transition pre versus post migration and comparing it to families that remain residing in Lebanon.
Adam, Simon
Simon Adam is a critical social scientist. His program of scholarship focuses on mental health–its various institutional and discursive dimensions, the consumer/survivor/mad experience, and alternative and counter-hegemonic ways of conceptualizing mental illness, suffering, and crisis. His work considers what is currently termed ‘mental illness’ as largely a product of social, economic, and political apparatuses, while examining how medicalization pathologizes what is often known as ‘the human condition.’ Simon works with various communities, including psychiatric survivors and psychiatric consumers/survivors, the mad community, and neurodivergent people.
Biondi, Mia
Mia Biondi, PhD, NP-PHC, received her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from McGill University, with postdoctoral fellowships at Toronto General Research Institute and the National Microbiology Laboratory. During her postdoctoral fellowships Mia completed her clinical training at Western University to become a Registered Nurse and then Nurse Practitioner.
Clinically, she is a practicing Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner; and oversees focused practices in urban street outreach and rural and remote communities, in HIV prevention, hepatitis B & C, and mental health across the province of Ontario, Canada. In her free time, she volunteers as a primary care NP to support persons who are at-risk of or are being trafficked.
Buick, Catriona
Dr Buick is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health at York University and holds the Women’s Health Clinical Research appointment as an Oncology Nurse Clinician Scientist at the Odette Cancer Centre/Sunnybrook Research Institute. She is also the current Vice-President for Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology. The focus of her ongoing work is to identify supportive care and preventative health needs of those at risk or diagnosed with reproductive or HPV-related cancers with the goal to help tailor interventions for screening and modifiable behaviors amongst high-risk patients.
Choiniere, Jacqueline A
My current research interests are focused on the long-term residential care sector. This sector serves as an important context in which to look at how upstream political, economic and social forces are influencing the conditions of care and the conditions of work. Issues such as women and work, the value of care, and health care reform directions – in particular how the concept of accountability is pursued, are all key issues of concern in my work.
Coatsworth-Puspoky, Robin
Dr. Robin Coatsworth-Puspoky, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, York University, Toronto received her PhD in Nursing from University of Alberta. Her research focuses understanding older persons with multiple chronic conditions’ experiences of unplanned readmission to hospital within 30 days of discharge and transitional care models. She has worked with teams in medicine units, mental health units, and with undergraduate students to implement and evaluate Gentle Persuasive Approaches in Dementia Care Program to enhance safety and improve the care of older persons. Her research interests include mental health and illness, nurse-client and peer support relationships in mental health, Gentle Persuasive Approaches in Dementia Care, knowledge translation, transitional models of care, ageism, teamwork, social justice and unplanned readmission to hospital within 30 days of discharge.
Da Silva, Celina
My research program focuses on innovation in simulation and e-learning education geared for nursing and interdisciplinary students. I evaluate the design, refinement and effectiveness of educational interventions on student’s acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes. More recently, through collaborative work with Nipissing University and the University Institute of Ontario, my interests have evolved to studying the impact of e-mentorship interventions on student outcomes such as, self-efficacy and empowerment in the post-secondary domain.
Dastjerdi, Mahdieh (Fay)
As a nurse, teacher, researcher, and immigrant, I have worked closely with diverse/underserved and marginalized populations in my research. Specifically, my focus has been on immigrant and refugee populations. Since 2008, in my role as an assistant professor and as an associate professor since 2014 at York University, I have been engaged in teaching and leading different research projects related to the quality of life and well-being of older adult immigrants, as well as focusing on the mental health and well-being of racialized immigrant women and exploring intimate partner violence (IPV) in immigrant women living in Canada using qualitative and mixed/multi methods through an intersectional lens.
Epstein, Iris
Dr. Epstein’s research illuminates the ways in which relationship and technology can support or hinder accommodation and the teaching and learning of practice-based skills. Dr. Epstein program of research enhance the accessibility to resources and inclusion of health professional students who identify with disability. Another thematic research area that Dr. Epstein explores is focused on translating evidence/creating change through knowledge mobilization. She uses processes of engaged scholarship designed to share resources and responsibilities, inform the development of theory and enhance its impact on policy, programs and practice.
Fox, Mary T.
Professor Fox’s program of research focuses on developing knowledge on how to support functioning in older adults during illness and recovery. She is leading several studies examining various hospital-to-home transitional care interventions for different populations that have been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Haghiri-Vijeh, Roya
Roya Haghiri-Vijeh (She/Her/Hers) is an assistant professor and researcher in the School of Nursing on the treaty lands and the territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. As a first-generation settler and an uninvited guest on this land, Roya is grateful for the opportunity to live and work here. Her scholarship, underpinned by Gadamerian Hermeneutics, interpretive phenomenology, and mixed methodologies is focused on underserved populations and individuals who identify at the intersection of identities. In particular, her focus is to enhance and advance the health and social care needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ migrants, youths, and older adults. Roya works, collaborates, and volunteers with various organizations (Please see below).
Khanlou, Nazilla
Nazilla Khanlou, RN, PhD is the Women’s Health Research Chair in Mental Health in the Faculty of Health at York University and Professor in its School of Nursing. She is the Academic Lead of the Lillian Meighen Wright Maternal-Child Health Scholars Program. Professor Khanlou’s clinical background is in psychiatric nursing. Her overall program of research is situated in the interdisciplinary field of community-based mental health promotion in general, and mental health promotion among youth and women in multicultural and immigrant-receiving settings in particular. She applies intersectionality-informed frameworks, using diverse research methods, in community-based research. She is founder of the International Network on Youth Integration (INYI), an international network for knowledge exchange and collaboration on youth, and Editor-in-Chief of INYI Journal. She has published articles, books, and reports on immigrant youth and women, and mental health.
Killackey, Tieghan
Dr. Tieghan’s research uses mixed-methodologies to improve patient and family experiences within chronic illness care, with specific emphasis on enhancing patient autonomy and supporting self-management through transitions using technology and virtual care. Tieghan holds a certificate in Advanced Training in Qualitative Health Research Methodology, specialized training in bioethics from the Joint Centre for Bioethics in addition to being certified as a cardiovascular care nurse from the Canadian Nurses Association. Tieghan is also passionate about patient and family engagement and has received certification through the Family Engagement in Research course at McMaster University. She is an active member of CONNECT (Cardiac Surgery International Nursing & Allied health Professional Research Network), the Health Hub in Transition (Children’s Healthcare Canada), the Canadian Heart Failure Alliance, the Canadian Nurses Association, and others.
Kurtz Landy, Christine
Her research focuses on women’s health during the reproductive years and examines health inequities in mothers and children who experience low socioeconomic status, nurse home visiting, maternal and newborn health outcomes and health service need and access, labour pain and decision making regarding delivery method. She has done some research in nursing student education in critical appraisal and evidence based practice. She has a keen interest in implementation science.
Lee, Tsorng-Yeh
Psychosocial and cultural aspects of infertility: comparison between immigrant and non-immigrant infertile couples. The attitudes and concerns of seeking pregnancy in women with a history of breast cancer. The taboo of preparing advance directives for terminally ill Chinese cancer patients and their families.
Lum, Lillie
Her research program is characterized as being socially relevant, advancing social justice for vulnerable populations such as skilled immigrants, highly interdisciplinary, and based upon theoretically pluralistic frameworks. In particular, the major themes include promoting equitable access and participation in the health system through institutional change, removal of barriers, increasing the leadership capacities of international health professionals and enhancing educational opportunities for adult immigrant students.
MacDonnell, Judith Ann (Judy)
Judy has over two decades of public health nursing background plus experience in the hospital and education sectors. Her research program has focused on health access and equity, gender and its intersections with race/racism, sexuality, age, generation, ability. Her scholarly work is interdisciplinary and uses qualitative approaches or mixed methods. Topics include community nursing, feminist/critical pedagogy, cultural diversity, access and equity, health services, nurses’ health, professional career/work dynamics, political practice, women’s activism, sexual diversity, mental health promotion, policy processes, mothering, intimate partner violence and violence broadly conceptualized.
Moradian, Saeed
Saeed’ program of research focuses on reducing the burden of complex cancer symptoms (fatigue, breathlessness, pain, treatment side effects) and improving the quality of self-management support in the cancer system. His research has explored novel methods and innovative techniques to find more effective ways in controlling and managing complex symptoms in cancer patients. Most his recent studies and contributions focus on interventions using e-technology to empower patients to manage their symptoms and improve patient-professional interactions.
O’Grady, Caroline
Dr. O’Grady’s primary areas of research include:
*Mixed qualitative and quantitative research methodologies and methods
*Family Co-occurring Mental Health and Addictions (concurrent disorders) Support and Education Interventions Research
*The Impact of stigma by association on parents of elementary, high school and university students with mental health concerns
*International Virtual support / education research for families affected by concurrent Disorders
*Interventions research for families affected by concurrent disorders suffered by an elderly family member
Peisachovich, Eva Hava
Eva’s research focuses on exploring, developing, and implementing pedagogies within simulation-based environments, including simulated persons (SPs), immersive realities, and serious games. These innovative methods are designed to enhance the professional competence of higher education students and ease their transition into the workplace. Her program emphasizes fostering interpersonal communication skills, particularly empathy and emotional intelligence, through these diverse mediums. Committed to humanizing education, Eva leverages simulations and immersive technologies to deliver high-quality experiential learning to students in both academic and community settings. She is particularly dedicated to integrating empathy and emotional intelligence into post-secondary curricula and professional development programs through a variety of innovative interventions.
Rodney, Ruth
Dr. Ruth Rodney’s research focuses on violence prevention and health promotion primarily using critical qualitative methodologies to examine how communities can create environments that support healthy relationship development. She is an academic fellow at the Centre for Critical Qualitative Health Research at the University of Toronto and currently serves as a grant reviewer for the Youth Opportunity Fund that focuses on funding Black and Indigenous led community projects addressing systemic barriers in Ontario.
Seto Nielsen, Lisa
Dr. Seto Nielsen’s research interests integrate the areas of palliative care, home care, death and dying, vulnerable groups, racialized immigrants, and the health care system. Her approach to research is informed by critical social theory, such as postcolonialism and intersectionality, and critical qualitative methodologies.
Van Daalen-Smith, Cheryl
Her interests lay in the health and quality of life of girls and women, with a particular interest in the role of oppression on well-being. Inclusion as a key variable in all she explores, van Daalen-Smith’s goal is always emancipatory. Her work calls nurses and others to call into question assumed truths that create distance between people and which create grief and misery. Her recent work explored the lived experiences of electroshock for women in Canada. Other inquiries include feminist analyses of girls anger; lived ableism for girls living with Spina Bifida, and Women’s Self Esteem. On her rescue farm, she quietly observes the gentle beauty of the animal-human bond and the myriad lessons in ‘her little brown barn’.
She is currently exploring women’s experiences with psychiatric hospitalization, and calls upon her beloved profession to join her in asking ‘tough questions’ and in listening to the voices of those who are otherwise unheard.
Adler, Scott A.
The relation between visual, perceptual and cognitive processes in young infants’ formation of future-oriented cognitive expectations for the spatial, temporal, and content information of visual events, and the interface between these expectations and memory processes. Development of infants’ ability to selectively attend to singular items in visual arrays of multiple objects, including mechanisms for active inhibition. The development of object recognition and the processes involved in infants’ control and execution of eye movements.
Aitken, Madison
Dr. Aitken’s research focuses on improving youth psychotherapy outcomes by understanding how evidence-based therapies bring about change, and by testing new interventions targeting factors that predict poor treatment response. She is also interested in innovative approaches to increasing the real-world relevance of psychotherapy outcome measures. Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and the Cundill Centre for Child and Youth Depression.
Bebko, James M
Dr. James Bebko is a Registered Psychologist with a long-standing commitment to the fields of autism and developmental disabilities, as well as deafness, having worked with children, adolescents and families for more than 25 years. He is Professor and former Director of the Clinical-Developmental Psychology Programme at the Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, Canada. He has been a Visiting Professor at Universities in Japan, France and the United States. Dr. Bebko has published research articles in some of the major research journals in autism, child development, deafness, and language disorders, and has been an invited speaker at a variety of regional and international conferences. He has been a consulting psychologist to many community agencies serving children with autism and developmental disabilities, as well as providing diagnostic, assessment, and consultation services directly to families.
Bialystok, Ellen
Research examines the effect of experience on cognitive ability across the lifespan. The primary experience examined is bilingualism but musical training is also a focus. Studies examine effects on cognitive development and cognitive aging. Developmental studies include the relation between language and cognitive development, literacy, and bilingualism. Research methodologies include both behavioural and neuroimaging approaches.
Bohr, Yvonne
Our research focuses on the well being and optimal development of infants, children, youth and their parents. We study attachment and parenting practices in diverse cultural contexts, including migration, and Indigenous/rural, as well as digital cultures. We are interested in prevention and interventions that optimize mental health in all children and youth. Our investigations address the prevention of relationship ruptures in families, and client-centred treatment of disorders such as anxiety and depression. We value our relationships with community-based mental health services which facilitate ongoing knowledge exchange activities, as they pertain to evidence-based practice in clinical settings. We belong to the Faculty of Health’s LaMarsh Centre for Child and Youth Research, and benefit from exceptional research resources.
Boritz, Tali
Dr. Boritz’s research primarily focuses on psychotherapy process and outcome, with particular emphasis on the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and complex trauma. Her research aims to identify therapeutic factors (e.g., interpersonal, narrative, emotion processes) associated with therapeutic change, including therapist characteristics and behaviours linked to treatment outcomes. A current focus of this research is on alliance rupture and repair in BPD treatments, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of psychotherapy training and practice. Dr. Boritz is also focused on the advancement of psychotherapy training through innovations in training methods.
Brown, Donald V.
In its broadest conception, Dr. Brown’s interdisciplinary research program integrates perspectives from critical theory, philosophy of science, and science and technology studies to better understand social identity-based scientific practices and knowledge production in psychological science. He is deelply interested in understanding the movement of social identity knowledge through the porous boundary between science and society.
Cheng, Joey
Dr. Joey Cheng’s research examines the psychological underpinnings of social hierarchy, overconfidence, and competition. She explores questions such as: How do people rise to influence in groups? What vocal signals do people use to communicate status? What causes people to become overconfident? What are the social costs and benefits to being competitive?
Connolly, Jennifer A
Dr. Connolly is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and the current Department Chair. Broadly speaking she studies adolescent development and mental health with a central focus on the role of role of relationships in promoting resilience, especially those who are under stress and have experienced adversity. Within this research framework her research examines 1) the intersection of romantic relationships and gender based violence. And 2) how a person’s closest relationships, with caregivers, friends and romantic partners, promote coping and resilience or conversely undermine positive adaptation. In partnership with community agencies (York Region Children’s Aid Society and York Region Police) she is conducting research on sex trafficking of underage girls, including identification of risk factors and evidence-based early intervention
Crawford, John Douglas
For the past 25 years his work at the York Centre for Vision Research has focused on the control of visual gaze in 3D space, eye-hand coordination, and spatial memory during eye movements. This has resulted in over 160 papers in publications such as Nature, Science and Annual Review of Neuroscience, and has garnered numerous awards, including the 2004 Steacie Prize and 2018 York President’s Research Excellence Award (PREA). He has trained over 60 graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, so far guiding more than 25 of these into long-term research, clinical and teaching positions. He founded the York Neurophysiology Labs, the York Graudate Diploma Program in Neuroscience, and the Canadian Action and Perception Network (CAPnet), and co-founded the ‘Brain in Action’ International Research Training Program, with partners in Germany. Currently, he is the Scientific Director of the CFREF-funded program, Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA).
DeSouza, Joseph
My specific research interests lie within the realms of converting multisensory signals of vision, audition and touch into motor movements of the eyes, hand & body and how these mechanisms are modulated by various mechanisms of short and long term cognitive control, attention and suppression. I use a cognitive and systems neuroscience approaches using the technologies of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), magnetoencephalography (MEG), eyetracking and electrophysiology.
Desrocher, Mary E
Dr. Desrocher’s training is in neuropsychological assessment and neurorehabilitation. Her current research explores autobiographical memory, executive functions, and social cognition, as well as mental health correlates of cognitive difficulties. Clinical populations of study include children and adolescents with stroke, early neurological injuries, epilepsy, and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder.
Eastwood, John D
Actively involved in two areas of research. Primary research program explores how the emotional state of an observer, and also the emotional significance of environmental information, influences the deployment of attention. Secondly exploring the experience of boredom, and individual differences that impact on susceptibility to boredom. Within these areas, I am focused on gaining a better understanding of basic psychological processes, as well as examining issues that relate more specifically to clinical psychology.
Elder, James Harvey
Our research seeks to improve machine vision systems through a better understanding of visual processing in biological systems. Recent focus has been on natural scene statistics, perceptual organization, contour processing, shape perception, single-view 3D reconstruction, attentive vision systems, and socially-aware robotics.
Fergus, Karen
My research focuses on the coping and adaptation processes of individuals affected by life threatening illness in general, and cancer specifically. I have a strong interest in intimate relationships and how couples adjust to illness, adversity, and loss. I employ qualitative methods in order to derive in depth understanding of these experiences. These findings in turn inform the development of psychotherapeutic and psychoeducational interventions (individual, couple, group, and online) intended to reduce distress and suffering associated with illness.
Fitzpatrick, Skye
Her current research focuses on identifying ways to optimize, expedite, and broaden access to BPD and PTSD treatments on their own and as they co-occur. In the interest of optimizing and expediting borderline personality disorder (BPD) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) treatments, Dr. Fitzpatrick has become particularly focused on harnessing the power of relationships through the development and study of conjoint or dyadic interventions. In the interest of broadening access to BPD and PTSD interventions, she has become interested in developing and studying online, peer-delivered, and brief interventions.
Flett, Gordon L
Dr. Flett’s research interests include the role of personality factors in depression, health problems, and interpersonal adjustment. Research on perfectionism compares personal and interpersonal aspects of perfectionism, including perfectionistic self-presentation. This research adopts a life-span perspective in the sense that the role of personality in health and mental health is studied in children, adolescents, middle-aged individuals, and the elderly.” Other research examines the protective role of feelings of mattering to other people, and the role of risk and resilience factors in well-being.
Flora, David B.
I study quantitative methodology for psychological research, primarily focusing on latent variable models for psychometric data and longitudinal data. I also study the use and interpretation of effect size statistics more broadly. Some of the methods I’m interested in include exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (especially with categorical data), structural equation modeling, latent growth curve models, and item response theory. I have applied these methodologies to research on a variety of topics in psychology.
Freud, Erez
The Freud Lab at York University investigates the intricate mechanisms underlying visual perception and visuomotor control. Utilizing advanced methodologies such as motion tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and behavioral experiments, the lab focuses on understanding these processes in diverse populations, including young adults, children, and patients. The aim is to uncover how visual information is processed and translated into visual perception and motor actions, contributing to both theoretical knowledge and practical applications in health and psychology
Friendly, Michael
The development of methods for statistical graphics and data analysis, with particular emphasis on graphical methods for categorical data. More detailed information on this work can be found in Michael Friendly’s home page. Exploratory data analysis, interactive computing and psychological scaling. Human memory and learning, in particular with the organization and structure of information in memory and the relation between semantic memory and learning.
Goel, Vinod
I am interested in understanding and explaining human behavior. The traditional view is that this is to be done in terms of models of rationality (with tweaks here and there). After exploring such models for several decades, I have come to the view that rationality is tethered to, and modulated by, evolutionary older systems such as the autonomic, instinctive, and associative systems. These ideas are laid out in a new book entitled “Reason and Less: Pursuing Food, Sex, and Politics” (MIT Press, 2022) As such, my current focus is on empirically exploring models of tethered rationality.
Goldberg, Joel
Dr. Goldberg’s current clinical and research interests surround stigma and mental illness, psychological assessment, cognitive rehabilitation and social cognition in schizophrenia.CBT for psychosis, EEG correlates of shyness and emotion perception in schizophrenia, smoking management and healthy lifestyles in schizophrenia, functional outcomes and ‘recovery’ in schizophrenia, development of a ˜voices’ questionnaire, moral injury and psychosis
Green, Christopher
Members of my laboratory are working on the history of psychology, especially on the development of statistical methods in the discipline. This includes both the origin of statistical methods in psychology and finding evidence of the misuse of statistics in recent decades. These problems tie in with the current “replication crisis” in psychology. We are also looking at broader theoretical sources of difficulty in psychological research.
Harris, Laurence
My research concentrates on how information from multiple senses is combined to create our perception of 3D space, our body, and our movement and orientation. The lab uses virtual reality with conventional head mounted displays but also specially created environments such as a room built on its side. Some of my previous research has taken place on the International Space Station to cancel the effects of gravity and underwater to cancel tactile cues to orientation.
Hynie, Michaela
I conduct interdisciplinary multi-method community-based research on social determinants of health with communities experiencing social conflict, social exclusion, or forced displacement and migration. This work includes the development and evaluation of social, institutional and/or policy interventions that can improve health and well-being through improving access to healthcare or other services, improving living conditions, and enhancing social and economic inclusion.
Katz, Joel D
Current Research focuses on psychological, emotional, and biomedical factors involved in acute and chronic pain with a particular emphasis on:
- understanding the processes involved in the transition of acute, time-limited pain to chronic, pathological pain;
- pre-emptive analgesia and other preventive pharmacological interventions designed to minimize acute postoperative pain
- pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to minimize pain and stress in hospitalized infants
- gender differences in acute postoperative pain and analgesic consumption
- comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder and chronic pain
- pain and anxiety in children
- placebo analgesia
Keough, Matthew
Dr. Keough’s research focuses on improving our understanding of the etiology and treatment of addictive behaviour, including both substance use and behavioural addiction (e.g., problem gambling). His work is mechanism-focused and is rooted in motivational models of personality and cognitive theory. He uses laboratory-based experiments, correlational studies, and prospective designs to identify who is at risk for addiction and the mechanisms underlying this risk. One specific aim of his work is to elucidate coping or self-medication pathways to substance use among young adults. Moreover, he is currently conducting a series of randomized clinical controlled trials to examine new treatments for addiction and co-occurring mental health issues (e.g., depression and anxiety).
Kohler, Peter J.
The Kohler Visual Neuroscience Lab focuses on the domain of mid-level visual processing, which begins in primary visual cortex ~100 ms after stimulus onset, and then unfolds over the next several hundred milliseconds, in several, mostly topographically organized visual brain areas. In this deceptively short time-span, the visual system infers information about the shape, location and movement of the elements in the visual world, but also resolves the perceptual organization of the scene: figure-ground relationships, perceptual grouping, constancy operations and much more. These distinct classes of information are encoded by separate neural populations, but are also deeply interdependent, and in many cases represented at multiple stages of visual processing. We probe this dynamic and complex network of brain areas in humans using functional MRI, EEG and visual psychophysics, to better understand how the brain builds the visual scene representation that is the foundation for our vivid visual experience of the world.
MacDonald, Suzanne
My area of research is animal behaviour. I work with lots of different species, both in the field in Kenya and Canada, and also at zoos. My interests are in memory and cognition, especially spatial cognition, in primates and other animals
Mar, Raymond A.
The MAR Lab researches a diverse range of topics, that often cluster around the following central questions:
1. How is one’s experience with narrative fiction (e.g., novels, movies, plays) similar to a cognitive and emotional simulation of social experience?
2. What are the cognitive, social, and emotional outcomes of exposure to narrative fiction, both in the short-term and over one’s lifetime?
In general, we examine how imagined experiences can affect real-world cognition and emotion, but we also study a variety of the other research questions.
Mills, Jennifer
My research interests are in the area of body image and eating disorders. I study malleable risk factors for disordered eating, including body dissatisfaction and dieting. I am particularly interested in the factors that influence how women perceive their bodies and the psychological consequences of social media use. Other recent research projects include the study of women’s reactions to eating disorder prevention messages, motivational interviewing as an adjunct to hospital treatment of eating disorders, and the nature and risk factors of “orthorexia nervosa” or a pathological obsession with clean or healthy eating.
Muise, Amy
In the SHaRe Lab, we apply theories and methods from social psychology to understand how couples can have happier, more fulfilling relationships and more successfully navigate conflicts of interest. Our work tests the motivational, perceptual, individual difference, and behavioural factors that are associated with sexual desire, satisfaction, and the maintenance of relationships. We aim to understand how people select romantic partners, develop and maintain relationships and navigate challenges and transitional periods in diverse relationships.
Muller, Robert Tom
At the Trauma & Attachment Lab, under the direction of Dr. Robert T. Muller, we study the treatment of interpersonal trauma in children and adults, using an attachment theory framework. We examine trauma therapy outcome and process. We look at what trauma therapies work, and why. And we’re interested in the psychotherapy relationship and what helps improve treatment response. Dr. Muller’s team is addressing these issues in several collaborative clinical-research projects.
Pathman, Thanujeni (Jeni)
Her research interests are in cognitive development and developmental cognitive neuroscience. Dr. Pathman studies the development of memory. She is especially interested in learning about the development of contextual memory (e.g., memory for time and space), semantic memory, and the development of the processes and neural substrates involved in episodic and autobiographical memory.
Pepler, Debra J
Research interests include early interventions for substance using women and their young children, interpersonal family violence prevention, Children in families at risk, bullying prevention, wellbeing in Indigenous communities, human-robot interaction, prevention and intervention. For twenty years, Dr. Pepler focused on what went wrong in relationships. Her focus over the past 10 years has shifted to the importance of healthy relationships for healthy development.
Perry, Adrienne
She supervises a large number of graduate students both academically and clinically in the York University Psychology Clinic. Her research focus is in the area of autism and developmental disabilities including assessment/diagnosis, family issues, and intervention effectiveness, particularly intensive behavioural intervention.
Pettit, Michael
Michael Pettit is a historian of the human sciences and a critical psychologist.His current research focuses on the critical history of mental health over the past hundred years. This project focuses the history of professional psychology in the English-speaking world, including its entanglements with libertarian thought, the promotion of new personal liberties, and advocacy for consumer choice in the medical marketplace. This project examines how these political demands shaped the kind of care psychologists provided. It also explores how radical alternatives to professionalism like community care challenged the field’s narrow individualism. Fundementally this project asks, what kind of freedom did psychology promise and for whom? A related project involves a “reparative” history of mental health which draws upon psychologies of liberation to retheorize prominent concepts like trauma, resilience, and empowerment.Finally, he frequenly engages in public-facing work (such as fiction and podcasting) as other means of pursuing critical psychology questions about the relationship among minds, bodies, culture, and politics.
Pierce, Lara
Lara uses developmental cognitive neuroscience tools to explore how variation in the early environment impacts the development of neural systems. She uses language as a model system, and identifies mechanisms by which specific variables (e.g., those associated with socioeconomic variation and early life stress) shape both early neurodevelopment and the early language environment. She also investigates the role that individual differences (both environmental and physiological) play in the development of language and cognitive abilities and aims to uncover how early neurodevelopmental variation contributes to later learning. She uses tools such as electroencephalography (EEG/ERP), language recordings, and behavioural assessments in infants and children to address these questions.
Pillai Riddell, Rebecca
Dr. Pillai Riddell is the Director of the Opportunities to Understand Childhood Hurt Laboratory at York University, Canada. She is a Tier 1 York Research Chair in Pain and Mental Health. She also is Chair of the External advisory board of the Sick Kids Pain Centre and a member of the advisory board for Sick Kids Infant Mental Health Promotion Program. As both a basic behavioural scientist and a clinical psychologist, Dr. Pillai Riddell leads a world-renown research program in infant and young child pain that seeks to understand pain from psychological, social, and a biological perspectives. Her work as a clinical psychologist focuses on supporting parents of babies and young children. Among her award-winning research accomplishments, her lab built the largest cohort in the world studying young child and parent interactions in vaccinations over the first five years of life. Her research focuses on parent-infant interactions during painful procedures, particularly the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Dr. Pillai Riddell is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, member of the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, the 2019 American Pain Society’s Jeffrey Lawson Award for Advocacy in Children’s Pain winner, and recipient of Canadian Pain Society’s 2020 Outstanding Mentorship Award.
Prime, Heather
Dr. Prime’s research program uses a family-based approach to understanding mental health and development in children and youth. We emphasize the importance of family relationships as a key mechanism through which risk and/or resilience is transmitted in families. We consider contextual factors that influence children and their families, such as socioeconomic disadvantage, early adverse experiences, and global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.
Rawana, Jennine
Dr. Jennine Rawana has broad research, clinical, and teaching interests in adolescent mental health and well-being. Specifically, her research interests are in three main areas. First, she examines the risk/vulnerability and protective (e.g., psychological strengths) factors that are related to mental health issues, particularly depressive symptoms, primarily in adolescence and secondarily in emerging adulthood. Second, she studies the development of emotion regulation across adolescence and emerging adulthood. Finally, she examines the promotion of mental health and school engagement in strength-based programs in schools. Within this area, she also uses a participatory community-based research framework to develop, implement, and evaluate strength-based and mentoring programs that promote the mental health and educational outcomes of Indigenous youth. Across these research areas, Dr. Rawana and the REACh lab, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, research assistants, and volunteers, have adopted a positive psychology approach that focuses on promoting individual and contextual factors that protect against the development and maintenance of mental health, well-being, and student success. She also strives to broaden our understanding of these issues among Indigenous youth in Canada. Please see the REACh lab website for more information.
Rodrigo, Achala H.
My work falls broadly within the sphere of understanding how higher-order aspects of cognition (e.g., cognitive control, social cognition, etc.) translate into behaviour. One focus is on understanding the complex relationship between executive dysfunction and clinically relevant behavioural constructs (e.g., interpersonal problems, impulsivity, etc.). Another focus is on understanding and quantifying factors that may impact aspects of executive function, and in turn influence behavioural outcomes. For example, examining the impact of psychological distress (e.g., trauma-related distress, anxiety, etc.) on behaviour regulation, and how that relationship might be reflected in real-world outcomes (e.g., quality of relationships, treatment adherence, health-care utilization, work performance, etc.). My lab uses a multi-method approach that looks across self/informant-report, neuropsychological assessment, and brain-based biomarkers (e.g., fNIRS, EEG, fMRI, etc.).
Rosenbaum, R. Shayna
Shayna Rosenbaum is a Professor and York Research Chair in the Department of Psychology and Vision: Science to Applications (VISTA) Program at York University and is an Associate Scientist at the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest. She is registered as a Clinical Neuropsychologist with the College of Psychologists of Ontario. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Toronto in 2004 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Rotman. She has published extensively on the topics of memory and decision-making, and has received awards for her neuroimaging and patient research, including a Sloan Research Fellowship and early career awards from the Canadian Association for Neuroscience, Canadian Society for Brain Behaviour and Cognitive Science (CSBBCS), and International Neuropsychological Society. Her research is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. She is an elected member of the Royal Society of Canada College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists and is a past member of the Board of Trustees of the Ontario Science Centre.
Rutherford, Alexandra
I use critical historical and qualitative approaches to analyze the development and contemporary status of the human sciences. I am interested in how psychologists have used their scientific ‘expertise’ to impact society and how, in turn, social and political factors have shaped the nature of this expertise and its influence. In my current project I examine the relationship between feminist psychology and policy in the United States from the 1940s-present.
Steele, Jennifer
We examine the development and consequences of racial prejudice and gender stereotyping in childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Some of our research takes an intersectional approach, recognizing the unique experiences of discrimination that people can face based on their multiple identities. Other lines of research are designed to help us better understand when biases are more likely to be expressed and how they might be overcome. A number of our studies make use of implicit measures, including those found at Project Implicit, a non-profit organization where Dr. Steele is on the Scientific Advisory Board.
Steeves, Jennifer
York Research Chair in Non-invasive Visual Brain Stimulation. Visual neuroscientist using neuroimaging (MRI) and non-invasive neuromodulation techniques to study the visual brain in healthy individuals and rare neuro-ophthalmological patients. Currently serving as Associate Vice-President Research at York University.
Stevens, W. Dale
His program of research broadly investigates the neurocognitive specialization, organization, and interaction of brain systems that underlie human conceptual processing, and the related processes of memory and perceptual abstraction. He uses a combination of behavioral, neuropsychological, and neuroimaging methodologies (e.g., MRI) to elucidate how cognitive abstraction underlies our ability to grasp, retain, and retrieve information in the form of conceptual knowledge. He also investigates how these processes are affected by healthy aging, and by developmental and neurological disorders.
Struthers, C. Ward
My primary area of research concerns social motivation or the scientific study of how we evaluate and judge ourselves and others and then use those evaluations and judgements to guide our social interactions. I use a broad range of theories and research methods from social, personality, and evolutionary psychology to understand how individuals negotiate and repair their relationships following interpersonal transgressions. My research is primarily focused on answering questions associated with how, why, and when intrapersonal and interpersonal factors associated with victims and transgressors influence their respective post-transgression responses such as seeking revenge, harboring grudges, forgiving, and apologizing. From an applied and practical perspective, this research will help pave the way to promoting functional uses of revenge, forgiveness, grudges, and apologies toward the goal of reconciliation between individuals and groups whose relationships have been damaged by transgressions. Given that social bonding is fundamental to the ongoing success of individuals and groups, the knowledge gained from this research has far reaching implications and applications for societal challenges such as bullying, discrimination, divorce, domestic violence, gang violence, hate crimes, terrorism, conflict resolution, and reconciliation
Till, Christine
Dr. Till’s research bridges developmental neurosciences and children’s environmental health with a focus on understanding how exposures to environmental contaminants can impact neurodevelopment, including cognitive and behavioural outcomes. She is currently leading multi-disciplinary studies examining the effects of exposure to fluoride and other neurotoxicants on maternal thyroid functioning and child neurodevelopment. Dr. Till and her research team are determined to improve child health outcomes through prevention of risk.
Wardell, Jeffrey
Dr. Wardell studies substance use behaviour, especially cannabis and alcohol use, in populations at risk for substance-related problems (e.g., young adults, people living with HIV). His research examines how personality, cognitive, social, and biological factors interact to increase risk for, or provide protection against, negative consequences and health risks of substance use. A current focus of his research is understanding the predictors and consequences of combined use of cannabis and alcohol. He also has a current line of research investigating the (blurred) boundaries between medicinal and recreational cannabis use.
Weiss, Jonathan
Dr. Weiss is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, and a Clinical Psychologist. His research focuses on mental health in autistic people or people with intellectual disabilities across the lifespan. He conducts studies into how people with developmental disabilities access mental health care, and is interested in their service needs, use, and experiences. His work is also focused on understanding and supporting family wellness when at least one family member has a developmental disability. He is interested in program development and evaluation, and in particular on the impact of Special Olympics on the psychological well-being of participants, and of psychosocial interventions to promote resilience and improve the mental health of children and adults with developmental disabilities.
Westra, Henny Alice
My current research is focused on improving and evaluating training in psychotherapy. I am especially interested in evaluating training focused on process-sensitivity including acuity and responsivity to resistance and ambivalence markers. The development of therapist skill using deliberate practice methods is also of interest. In addition, my research is focused on the application of Motivational Interviewing (MI) to anxiety disorders and the integration of MI with Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) for anxiety. My collaborators and I have conducted several clinical trials to examine the efficacy of MI-CBT. My research is focused on understanding resistance in psychotherapy, especially disharmony in the therapeutic relationship, lack of collaboration, and disengagement.
Wilcox, Laurie
In my basic research program, I use psychophysical methods to reveal properties of the neural mechanisms which underpin stereoscopic depth perception. A recurring theme in my basic research is the stereoscopic interpolation of surfaces and the impact of this on suprathreshold depth perception. I am also interested in how and when stereoscopic depth information is used in more complex environments (both virtual and physical). I also have a strong interest in industry collaboration and have a number of ongoing projects with companies (Qualcomm) and organizations (VESA, DRDC).
Wiseheart, Melody
We study methods for improving educational outcomes, including the spacing effect. We are developing and validating a new socioeconomic status scale.
Wojtowicz, Magdalena
The overall objective of my research program is to improve our understanding of cognitive dysfunction, psychological functioning, as well as mechanisms of compensation and recovery, in patients suffering from neurological disorders. My current research efforts are focused on mild traumatic brain injury and sport-related concussion in civilians, service members and veterans, as well as student and professional athletes. I am pursuing projects focused on 1) understanding how pre-morbid factors influence concussion risk and recovery, and (2) examining potential long-term consequences of multiple concussions and exposure to repetitive head trauma over the lifespan.
Zhang, Xijuan
Our lab’s research program consists of three streams: 1) developing new methods for computing point or interval estimates of fit indices in structural equation modelling (SEM); 2) developing new scale formats with better psychometric properties; and 3) improving social science researchers’ understanding of statistics by writing a series of tutorial and teaching papers. The first stream is the primary research focus. The second and third streams naturally evolve from the first stream as we discover and address new problems in my research. Our experiences in applied research (e.g., item format projects) give us unique insight into the type of methodological problems that applied researchers encounter, and thus inspire us to conduct methodological research (e.g., SEM fit indices projects) to address these problems. Our methodological research, in turn, makes us realize the misconceptions in the existing literature and thus inspires us to write tutorial and teaching papers to address these misconceptions. Together, with these three research streams, we hope to reach a wide range of audiences and make a substantial impact in both the applied and methodological fields.
