Lead
Kara Patterson, PT, PhD
University of Toronto
Dr. Kara Patterson holds an appointment as Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto. She is also a a Scientist at The KITE Research Institute at UHN. She practiced clinically in both Canada and the US before returning home to Canada to pursue a career in research. She received her MSc and PhD in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto and completed her postdoctoral training at McGill University.
Doctoral Students
Justin Chee, MSc
University of Toronto
Justin is a Doctoral candidate in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is co-supervised by Dr. Patterson and Dr. Mihailidis. His work explores how the mobility of individuals with multiple sclerosis can be enhanced by augmenting assistive mobility devices with biofeedback gait training capabilities.
Lucas Crosby, MSc
University of Toronto
Lucas’ graduate studies began as a Master’s student at the University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Dr. Patterson. He went on to complete his thesis on a proof-of-concept intervention using mirror therapy for post-stroke lower extremity rehabilitation. He joined the Mobility Team at Toronto Rehab – UHN as a Research Assistant in the summer of 2015 while transitioning into the doctoral program in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto in September 2015. His research interests include post-stroke gait spatiotemporal analysis and interventions to improve gait following stroke. For his doctoral work, Lucas will be studying the relationship between gait symmetry and rhythm perception and production in healthy adults and following stroke.
Sarah Gregor, PT, MScPT
University of Toronto
Sarah is a graduate of the Masters of Science in Physical Therapy program at the University of Toronto. As a physiotherapist, Sarah is interested to research rehabilitation questions that she can one day apply to her day-to-day practice. She is specifically interested in how walking can be improved after stroke. Sarah’s doctoral work explores the underlying mechanisms of temporal gait asymmetry in stroke survivors.
Master’s Students
Undergraduate Students
Filip Potempski, BSc
Research Assistant, May 2019 – present
Filip is recent graduate from the University of Toronto, beginning his MPH in September 2020. He is involved in a motor learning study and a dance program study. Filip is also responsible for data analysis, writing, social medial analytics, and video production for the RELEARN lab.
Lauren Belfiore
Research Assistant, September 2018 – present
Lauren is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying Neuroscience & Psychology. She is involved with a study investigating the feasibility of a dance program to improve gait, balance and mood post‐stroke. Lauren has also been working on various other lab projects, such as labeling motion capture data and analyzing lower extremity movement videos.
Makenna Timm
Undergraduate Student Researcher, April 2017 – present
Makenna is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto studying Neuroscience & Physiology. She is involved with a project investigating the relationship between movement synchrony and the benefits of dance therapy.
Hayley Ng
Research Assistant, July 2018 – August 2018
After finishing her second year of Kinesiology at McMaster University, Hayley volunteered in the lab and assisted with summarizing data, troubleshooting devices, and data processing. Hayley has returned to the lab to take on a larger role in analyzing lower limb movement videos and the production other lab projects.
Research Staff
Yashoda Sharma, MScPT
Research Assistant, September 2019 – present
Yashoda completed her Masters of Physical Therapy at Queen’s University. She has joined the RELEARN lab as a research assistant primarily working on a study looking at the effects of dance on gait and mobility for people with stroke.
Wade Michaelchuk, R.Kin, MSc
Research Coordinator, January 2019 – present
Wade completed a MSc in Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta in Edmonton AB. During his time in Edmonton, Wade worked in various clinical settings as a research assistant and has experience in the areas of spinal cord injury, cancer, heart disease, and lung disease. Wade joined Toronto Rehab – UHN as the RELEARN lab research coordinator in 2019 and is currently responsible for many of the lab administrative duties.
Past Members
Shariq Jaffrey, BHSc
Research Assistant, January 2019 – May 2019
Shariq joined the Toronto Rehab – UHN as a RELEARN Research Assistant in 2019. He is a Master’s student at University of Ontario Institute of Technology investigating the feasibility and effectiveness of smoking intervention services to provide future suggestions for improving said interventions based on empirical data. His primary interest lies in research and teaching. Shariq also volunteered at the Toronto Rehabilitation Rumsey Centre working with stroke patients, leading to an interest in physiotherapy research.
Aaron Wallace, R.Kin, MSc
Research Coordinator, September 2017 – January 2019
After completing a MSc in Kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, Aaron began working with Dr. Bill McIlroy in the NiMBaL lab. Aaron joined Toronto Rehab – UHN as the RELEARN lab Research Coordinator in 2017 and was responsible for many of the lab administrative duties.
Conor Sheridan, MSc
Master’s student,
Conor completed a MSc in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute under the supervision of Dr. Kara Patterson. He investigated the recovery of spatiotemporal characteristics of gait following a traumatic brain injury (TBI). His work included an examination into motor, cognitive, and dual task recovery post-injury. His passion for brain injuries began as a Keenan Research Summer Student at St. Michael’s hospital studying the per person cost of TBI. After completing a Bachelor’s of Health Sciences at McMaster University, Conor worked as a Research Assistant with McMaster’s CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research. He worked on a variety of studies aimed to help children return to school and play following a concussion.
Arthana Chandraraj
Research Assistant, September 2017 – July 2018
Arthana completed the health studies program at the University of Toronto. She came on board through the Work-Study Program and is involved in the labeling of motion capture data, analyzing lower limb movement videos and other lab projects.
Jessica Powers, BHSc
MSc Student, September 2015 – January 2018
Jessica completed her BHSc in Kinesiology at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology. She joined the Mobility Team in September 2015 as a Master’s student in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute under the supervision of Dr. Kara Patterson. Her research interests are in motor learning and post-stroke rehabilitation. Her work focused on motor learning in the lower extremity to improve temporal gait asymmetry post-stroke.
Jennifer Wong, MSc
Research Coordinator, September 2015 – September 2017
After completing a BSc in Health Studies (Gerontology) at the University of Waterloo, Jenn began working at Toronto Rehab – UHN as a Research Analyst with the Mobility Team. She completed a MSc in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto in 2015 under the supervision of Drs. Avril Mansfield and Dina Brooks, where her thesis studied the consequences of falls among individuals with stroke.
Thi-Ut Nguyen, BHSc
Research Assistant, May 2016 – August 2017
Thi-Ut completed her BHSc in Neuroscience and Physiology at the University of Toronto. She is currently enrolled in the MScPT program at the University of Toronto. She joined the RELEARN Lab in May 2016 under the supervision of Dr. Kara Patterson.
Chantelle Wong
Research Assistant, September 2016 – August 2017
Chantelle graduated from the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto. She came on board through the Work-Study Program and was involved in the labeling of motion capture data.
Heidi Gulka
Research Assistant, January 2016 – August 2016
Heidi was a co-op student at the University of Waterloo, studying Kinesiology with a specialization in Neurobehavioural Assessment. She worked in the Balance, Mobility and Falls Clinic as a clinical assistant and with Dr. Kara Patterson as a Research Assistant at Toronto Rehab. Her projects included a study on lower-limb mirror therapy and a study on the effects of reduced plantar-sensation on gait parameters.
Lana Knorr PT, PhD
Clinical Research Coordinator, September 2013 – September 2016
Erik Prout, PhD
Research Assistant, February – November 2015
Erik completed a HBSc in Human Kinetics and MSc in Human Health and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Guelph. He then joined the Mobility Team and completed a PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Toronto with Drs. Dina Brooks and William E. McIlroy. His work with Dr. Patterson focused on examining balance, gait, and novel interventions for people with neurological disabilities.
RELEARN Laboratory 