Andrea Duncan, PhD (cand.), MBA, BScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.), Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream. Ms. Duncan has been an instructor in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy since 2000, and has held an appointment as Lecturer in the Dept. of OS&OT since 2013, providing in-class instruction, fieldwork development and supervision of MScOT students. Ms. Duncan has championed the unique and exciting role emerging fieldwork opportunities for students in the MScOT program, and has led the development and execution of the LEAP (Leadership, Emerging, Advocacy and Program Development) Placement Model. Ms. Duncan has been an enthusiastic early adopter of pedagogical innovation and technologies, and is involved in developing international education programs for occupational therapists. Additionally, she is the sole proprietor and principal operator of a consulting firm that provides education and curriculum development, marketing and group facilitation services to clients in the Canadian health care industry.
Ms. Duncan is completing doctoral studies at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto. Her research is focused on community mental health service delivery, educational scholarship and education as an intervention for vulnerable populations. View faculty web page.
Emily S. Ho, PhD, MEd, BScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.), Assistant Professor, Tenure Stream. Dr. Emily S. Ho received her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto in 2019. She is the Research Director and a Clinician Investigator in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at The Hospital for Sick Children. Dr. Ho’s scholarship focuses on understanding, fostering, measuring, and evaluating occupational engagement and functioning in young people with musculoskeletal conditions, specifically brachial plexus birth injuries and congenital limb differences. She strives to place the voice of youth with upper limb disabilities at the centre of her research, partnering with them through research initiatives that focus on physical and mental wellbeing to empower independent living.
Dr. Ho has established an international and national reputation for her research and professional activities around musculoskeletal conditions. Early in her career, she developed the Brachial Plexus Outcome Measure, which has been adopted as a national standard for measuring activity function in children with brachial plexus birth injuries. This measure has been used internationally and is undergoing cross-cultural translation in several countries.
Dr. Ho has been involved in the Dept. of OS&OT as a status only lecturer and research project supervisor for many years, and is the recipient of the Department’s 2020 Award for Excellence in Research Supervision. View faculty web page.
Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia, PhD, MPH, MScOT, OT Reg. (Ont.), Assistant Professor, Tenure Stream and Emily Geldsaler Grant Early Career Professor in Workplace Mental Health. Dr. Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia received his PhD in Interdisciplinary Health from the School of Rural and Northern Health, Laurentian University in 2013 with a focus on occupational health. Dr. Nowrouzi-Kia’s research program addresses workplace mental health focusing on prevention and occupational performance, return to work and workplace psychological injury, and occupational therapy interventions in mental health management and prevention. His research is motivated by efforts in the field of work disability prevention that extends beyond the efforts to prevent or cure diseases from a purely physical perspective towards more holistic approaches. The major tenets of his work take a biopsychosocial perspective to understand work disability and extend towards incorporating personal characteristics (e.g., psychosocial) and environmental (e.g., healthcare system, workplace, workers’ compensation system) factors in improving health outcomes.
Dr. Nowrouzi-Kia has held appointments in the Department since 2016 and is cross-appointed to the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. He is also CEO and founder of a private OT practice in Northern Ontario focusing on return to work, mental and physical health, and work disability prevention, and CEO and founder of a consulting group specializing in work disability management, prevention and population health. View faculty web page.