Team
Our team consists of a cross-disciplinary group of researchers from universities across Canada.
Brenda Vrkljan, PhD, O.T. Reg. (Ont.)
Principal Investigator
Professor, McMaster University
Brenda is a Professor of Occupational Therapy in the School of Rehabilitation Science where her research addresses the link between out-of-home mobility and participation in later life with specific focus on medical fitness to drive. She is the Scientific Co-Lead for the McMaster Collaborative for Health & Aging.
Sayeh Bayat, PhD
Co-Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor, University of Calgary
Sayeh is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical and Geomatics Engineering in the Schulich School of Engineering at the University of Calgary. Her research integrates innovative methods from engineering, machine learning, and geographic information science to create context-aware solutions for healthcare.
Ruheena Sangrar, PhD
Co-Investigator
Assistant Professor, University of Toronto
Ruheena is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy (University of Toronto). Her research and teaching interests are aimed at developing interdisciplinary interventions that reduce barriers to community mobility, participation, and belonging in later life, particularly at the intersection of health, social, and transportation sectors.
Isabelle Gélinas, PhD
Co-Investigator
Associate Professor, McGill University
Isabelle is an Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the School of Physical and Occupational Therapy at McGill University. She is a researcher at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation in Montreal. Her research program focuses primarily on issues related to different forms of transportation mobility, including driving, to enable community participation for adults with disability and older adults. She has also developed a web-based graduate certificate program on driving rehabilitation.
Yu-Ting Chen, PhD
Co-Investigator
Assistant Professor, National Cheng Kung University
Yu-Ting is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy at the National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan. Her research interests are in older scooter rider evaluation and cross-cultural comparison of driving behaviors.
Matthew Brown, MSc
Research Consultant
McMaster University
Matt is a geospatial analyst and researcher. His research background is in the field of transportation geography, wearable technology, and geospatial data science with a particular emphasis on using GPS data to illuminate trends in travel behavior.
Reihaneh Derafshi
Research Assistant
MSc Candidate, University of Calgary
Reihaneh is an MSc Candidate in Biomedical Engineering, with a specialization in wearable technology. Initially obtaining a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Tehran, Reihaneh hopes to leverage AI and machine learning to improve human life in addition to environmental and health technology.
Mubariz Maqsood
Research Assistant
MSc Candidate, McMaster University
Mubariz is a MSc Candidate in Global Health with an emphasis in population dynamics and health results. Mubariz works with the McMaster Faculty of Health Sciences, developing undergraduate courses focused on knowledge translation. As a researcher under the DeGroote School of Business eHealth program and McMaster Department of Medicine, Mubariz hopes to further understanding about health outcome optimization.