Our Team
Meet our established team of Research Professionals passionate to identify and assess risk and develop occupation-based interventions for preventing high-risk behaviours and improving mental and physical health in the workplace.
Assistant Professor
Emily Geldsaler Grant Early Career Professor in Workplace Mental Health
Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Member, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute
Faculty Researcher, Centre for Research in Occupational Safety and Health, Laurentian University, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Affiliate Scientist - Krembil Research Institute, University Health Network
Collaborating Scientist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Principal Investigator
Dr. Behdin Nowrouzi-kia
OT Reg. (Ont.), PhD, FRSA
0000-0002-5586-4282
Behdin Nowrouzi-Kia, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science, where he also holds the inaugural Emily Geldsaler Grant Early Career Professorship in Workplace Mental Health. Through an occupational lens, his research program is a systematic study of occupations in the areas of work disability prevention, return to work, and disability management. This approach is designed to produce results directly applicable to identify and assess risk and to develop interventions for preventing or improving high-risk behaviours in the workplace. Dr. Nowrouzi-Kia’s work 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.
Maryam Shahzad
Doctoral Trainee
Maryam is a clinical occupational therapist and doctoral student in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Maryam has experience in qualitative and knowledge synthesis studies in the areas of resiliency and brain injury and health behaviours of Indigenous and immigrant populations. She is interested in studying occupational disability and rehabilitation in diverse populations. She has clinical experience supporting the return to work and community integration of individuals with brain injury.
Donia Obeidat
Doctoral Trainee
​Donia is a Jordanian occupational therapist and a Ph.D. student in rehabilitation science at the University of Toronto. As an occupational therapist and a future scientist, Donia is mainly interested in the working environment and related disabilities, engagement in community, and improving quality of life.
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Raihana Premji
Research Assistant
Raihana is a research assistant at the ReSTORE Lab. She is currently in her 4th year at the University of Toronto Scarborough, specializing in Mental Health Studies. She joined the ReSTORE lab to strengthen her research skills and contribute to projects that aim at improving various mental health outcomes. Raihana is passionate about mental health advocacy, developing accessible interventions, and bridging research with practice to support individuals through compassionate care.
Sana Siddiqui
Co-op Student
Sana is a third-year co-op student at the University of Toronto Scarborough. She is currently specializing in Mental Health Studies. She joined the ReSTORE lab to gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be involved in research, including gaining practical skills and being a part of a research community. She is interested in using a clinical psychology lens to understand how social factors impact mental health. At the ReSTORE lab, she is particularly excited to learn about the potential influences of the workplace on mental health
Chloe Lau
Co-op student
Chloe is a third-year co-op student at the University of Toronto Scarborough, specializing in Mental Health Studies. She joined the ReSTORE Lab as a research assistant in 2025 to deepen her understanding of occupational therapy and its impact on mental health and rehabilitation. Building on her previous experience researching disability and personality pathology, Chloe is committed to advancing her skills in clinical research and plans to pursue graduate studies to further her academic and professional development.
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Javier Mencia Ledo
Research Assistant
​Javier is a research assistant at the ReSTORE Lab, where he first joined as a work-study student before receiving a grant through the Data Sciences Institute’s SUDS program to continue his research. He recently completed his degree in Statistics and Mathematics and is now pursuing an MSc in Biostatistics at UofT. His research interests focus on applied statistical methods and machine learning techniques, with a particular emphasis in health data science.
Avasa Sarawan
Volunteer
Avasa is a third-year student at the University of Toronto pursuing a Specialist in Health and Disease. She joined the ReSTORE Lab in the summer of 2025 to learn more about occupational health research and gain new research skills. She is excited about contributing to research focused on worker physical and mental health.
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Yiting He
KPE Placement Student
Yiting is a fourth-year Bachelor of Kinesiology student at the University of Toronto, specializing in the Behavioural Science stream. She has experience working with EEG and brain–behavioral sciences and is eager to strengthen her hands-on research skills through her role at the ReSTORE Lab. Yiting is passionate about understanding the connections between brain function and rehabilitation and aims to build on this foundation as she prepares for future graduate studies.
Yunxi Piao
Volunteer
Yunxi is a third-year student in the Mental Health Studies program at the University of Toronto Scarborough. With a prior degree in Bachelor of Mathematics from the University of Waterloo, she brings an interdisciplinary perspective combining statistical reasoning with mental health research. She joined ReSTORE Lab in 2025 as a Volunteer Research Assistant, supporting a genomic study and contributing to broader research development efforts. Yunxi is passionate about translating research into patient-centred care and hopes to pursue future training in medicine or clinical mental health to bridge the gap between science and practice.
Thinuri Welithotage
Work Study Student
Thinuri is second-year work study student at UofT specializing in Mathematics and its Applications with a focus in Probability and Statistics. She joined the ReSTORE Lab to explore how various statistical methods could be applied in relation to health and social data. Her research interests sit in the applications of data analysis within the health industry, with a particular focus on interventions aimed at improving mental health and cognitive outcomes.
Armaan Rehman Shah
Work Study Student
Armaan is a fourth-year Statistics student at the University of Toronto Scarborough, specializing in Machine Learning and Data Science. He joined the ReSTORE Lab to apply his skills in data analysis and machine learning to occupational health research, with an interest in how quantitative methods can support workplace mental health and disability prevention.
Grant Hamblin
Work Study Student
Grant is a third year computer science and statistics student at UofT working at the ReSTORE Lab through the work-study program. He joined the lab to explore the applications of statistics and data science into health research. His research interests lie within applications of machine learning to healthcare, data science, and natural language processing.
