Our Team
The team members at Cardiac eHealth are made up of experienced and dedicated individuals from a wide variety of disciplines and backgrounds. We take pride in the diversity of our staff, with each member contributing their unique skills to the projects we are working on. Meet them below.
Dr. Rob Nolan
Director, Cardiac eHealth
Dr. Nolan is a Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Behavioural Cardiology Research Unit at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. He received his MA in Psychology from the New School for Social Research in New York, and his PhD from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. He also completed a post-doctoral fellowship on cardiovascular reactivity to stress with the Departments of Psychology and Cardiology at the Ottawa Hospital (General Site), in Ottawa, Canada.
Dr. Nolan has been at the University Health Network in Toronto since 1999. He holds appointments as Senior Scientist at the Toronto General Research Institute, and as Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Toronto.
His clinical research includes cognitive-behavioural influences on heart rate variability and baroreflex sensitivity with the use of biofeedback. More recently, his research has concentrated on an evidence-based protocol of automated digital counselling to promote health, quality of life, and social support for individuals at elevated risk for cardiovascular disease, or who are diagnosed with chronic heart failure, hypertension, or chronic kidney disease.
​
Dr. Janice Montbriand is a Scientific Associate and biostatistician in the Behavioral Cardiology Research Unit at the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada. With an extensive background in health psychology and epidemiology, she has conducted collaborative research on various chronic health conditions, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic pain. Her recent interests have shifted towards mixed-methods research aimed at quality improvement and the implementation of digital health programs for understanding and improving health and well-being in persons with chronic progressive conditions, particularly chronic kidney disease and CVD.
Scientific Associate
Wajiha Ghazi is a Clinical Research Analyst in the Behavioral Cardiology Research Unit at UHN with a background in medical and sport sciences. She holds dual Master’s degrees from the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo. Her previous research focused on understanding and assessing the physical function of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) using patient-reported outcomes. Wajiha is passionate about enhancing the health and well-being of patients with chronic diseases, empowering them through digital interventions, and advancing research on patient-reported outcomes.
Clinical Research Analyst
Olena Zubrytska holds an Honours Bachelor of Health Science degree from the University of Ottawa and is currently in her final year of the accelerated Nursing program at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about mental health research, particularly the intersection of psychological and societal factors on physical health outcomes. At the Cardiac eHealth lab, Olena contributes to the ODYSSEE for Kidney Health Study to explore the benefits of e-counselling on chronic health conditions.
Research Assistant
Erin is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto, majoring in Human Biology and Immunology with a minor in Physiology. Her research interests include health-related quality of life and patient engagement. At BCRU, she is primarily focused on the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) project investigating qualitative themes in activities that promote wellbeing.
Research Assistant
Jenelle is a fourth-year undergraduate student in the Psychology Specialist program at the University of Toronto. Her research focuses on mood disorders, with an interest in innovating approaches to enhance patient quality of life. Currently, she contributes to the MIDUS and ODYSSEE projects at BCRU, where she is involved in exploring factors that influence well-being in patients with chronic kidney and cardiovascular diseases.
Research Assistant
Alexis is a third-year undergraduate student in the Psychological and Health Sciences program at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include chronic disease prevention and management, community-based public health interventions, and the ways the social determinants of health impact health outcomes. She is contributing to the MIDUS project which investigates goal-directed activities that improve quality of life.
Research Assistant
Ivy Zhang is a third-year undergraduate student specializing in Psychology, majoring in Industrial Relations & Human Resources, and minoring in Applied Data Science at the University of Toronto. She is a research volunteer at the Behavioral Cardiology Research Unit, where she contributes to studies on psychosocial factors in cardiovascular health and kidney diseases. Her research interests lie in clinical psychology, with a focus on developing interventions for the prevention and treatment of mental health conditions.
Research Volunteer
Elaine is a BSc (H) student at Queen's University specializing in Global and Population Health. She is providing invaluable support to a wide range of projects at BCRU that include Goal-Directed Activities for Living Well in the MIDUS Survey, the ODYSSEE-Renal Replacement Therapy trial, and a multi-author book on a new Process-Based Model to Assess and Promote Well-Being. Her activities have included conducting literature searches, proofreading papers, organizing consent forms, and assisting patients in completing their consent forms.
Research Volunteer
Hannah is completing her PhD in Psychology at the University of Toronto. Her research activities center around aging and memory among older adults with amnestic mild cognitive impairment, as well as psychophysiology and interoception. At the BCRU, she is currently investigating how self-reported lifestyle activities that evoke psychosocial well-being are associated with cardiovascular and neurological health, with particular attention to cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic conditions, through her work on the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) project.
Student Researcher
Lab Alumni
Research Coordinators
Karly Gunson
Julia Wong
Jelena Surikova
Kelly Min
Adriana Mechetiuc
Rhoda Ortiz
Susan Barry-Bianchi
Arooj Khan
​
Research Assistants
Stephanie Sansone
Gabriel Fezza
Grace Yang
Nicolette Stogios
Jackie Bermudez
Miguel Rivera
​
Independent Research
Shreya Jha
Pavan Gill
Samir Durrani
Post-Doctoral Fellows
Rika Tanaka (Clinical)
Trevor Hart (Clinical)
Adrienne Kovacs (Clinical)
Ada Payne
​
PhD Students
Sophie Macrodimitris
Kim Corace
Sam Liu
Lephuong Ong
​
MSc Students
Chelsia Watson
Rachel Peiris
Fatima Syed
Hazel Lynn, MD
Bhagwanpreet Kaur
Kim Tremblay
​
Clinical Students
Debra Rotondi-Trevisan
Kaley Roosen
Lisa Vitesse
Student Volunteers
Grace Armstrong
Jiesi Zhang
Elma Chowdhury
Kevin Xiao
Elaine Liu
Cristy Liang
Andrea Ng
Mahtab Asadabadi, MD
Saadat Torabian, MD
Nazia Siddiqui
Arian Ravaei, MD
Firass Georgie, MD
Tiadora Mechetiuc
Lazar Joksimovic
Jessica Vasanthan
Thushara Vigneswaran
Nadia Warsi
Christine Bae
Nikolai Slepov
Rachel Lin
Jack Guan
Sonja Zdjelaric
Aroon Savaji
Carol Yip
Michael Tung
Ryan Chiu
Carly Spragg
Arnie Raima
Kevin Yu
Cathy Lu
Alan Lee
Fraser Amos
Lucas Cohen
Liban Ahmed
Marc Shenouda
Mehrnaz Samet
Arnie Raima