Principal Investigator- Senior Scientist and Associate Chief of Implementation Science
Dr. Sarah Munce is a Senior Scientist and Associate Chief of Implementation Science at the Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. She is also an Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and an Affiliated Scientist at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, where she also serves as a Graduate Coordinator. She is the former Membership Chair for the Mixed Methods International Research Association and current Editor-in-Chief for JMIR Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies. Sarah is a former AMS Healthcare Fellow in Compassion and Artificial Intelligence and her research has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Kids Brain Health Network, Brain Canada Foundation, and the Craig H. Neilsen Foundation. Dr. Munce is leading national efforts to improve how research evidence is translated into care, particularly for youth with disabilities and complex needs and their families. Her program focuses on developing, implementing, and evaluating transitional care interventions, such as peer navigation and self-management supports, in partnership with young people and their families. In 2025, she was awarded a $1 million Implementation Science Chair by CIHR to advance youth and family engagement in learning health systems across Canada.
Dorothy Luong is a researcher at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. She leads the day-to-day operations of Dr. Sarah Munce’s research program, overseeing coordination across projects and supporting the planning, execution, and delivery of work throughout the lab. Dorothy works closely with research staff, trainees, and people with lived experience to foster rigorous, collaborative, and person-centred research. Dorothy holds an M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Sciences from Queen’s University and specializes in qualitative and mixed methods research. Her research interests span aspects of mental health and understanding patient and family experiences with health services.
Megan Agnew is a Research Associate at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital. She works with Dr. Munce on her Youth and Family Specific Engagement in Research (UNITE) projects to better understand how to meaningfully engage youth and families in research. Megan brings a decade of experience in academic and clinical research, previously working on research in the fields of sports medicine, physical activity epidemiology, and cancer survivorship. She completed her PhD in Population Health Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and worked in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at UW-Madison as a Research Methodologist. Megan also completed her Master’s in Public Health in Epidemiology at Indiana University-Bloomington. Her research interests include implementation science approaches to advance youth and family engagement in research and improve patient- and family-centred care. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, running, knitting, and spending time with her dog and partner.
Umair Majid designs people-centred systems by understanding how health and social systems are changing, and how the next shift must be one of deeper connection. His work is grounded in the belief that we are moving from systems built on procedures to systems built by, with and for people and the future emerging now requires us to be more interconnected, responsive, and human than ever before. He helps people, teams, communities and institutions see that future as it forms, and grab hold of it through research, storytelling, and strategy that unlock shared purpose. Across teams, communities, and institutions, he focuses on strengthening the relationships, trust, and collective passion that make a people centred system possible.
Josh is a Research Assistant with Dr. Munce at the Bloorview Research Institute within Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, where he supports the Preferred Components for Co-Design in Research (PRECISE) reporting guideline project. Josh graduated with a BSc. (Honours) Specialization in Kinesiology from Queen’s University and an MSc in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto, completing his research within the Bloorview Research Institute. Outside of school and work, Josh enjoys hiking, cycling, paddling, skiing, and any sport with a racquet and a ball.
Vjura is a Research Assistant with Dr. Munce at the Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, where she supports the Youth and Family Specific Engagement in Research (UNITE) project to better understand how to meaningfully engage youth and families in research and within a learning health system. Vjura graduated with an HBSc and an MSc in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Toronto. Her research interests include patient engagement, and psychosocial interventions for people living with neurological conditions. Outside of work she enjoys playing badminton and solving puzzles.
Persephone MacKinlay is a fourth-year Bachelor of Health Sciences (Honours) student at McMaster University specializing in Child Health. Her research interests include youth- and family-informed care, healthcare transitions, and accessibility, inclusion, and compassion in health systems. She is working with Dr. Munce on CONNECT: Compassionate Online Navigation to Enhance Care Transitions, a virtual peer-navigation program supporting youth with disabilities as they transition from paediatric to adult healthcare. Her work focuses on expanding the platform for younger youth and refining the Peer Navigator training program. In her free time, Persephone is developing a mapping app to centralize recreation and health services for children and their families.
Jillian is a PhD candidate in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Munce and Dr. Robert Simpson. She holds a Master of Science in Kinesiology and Health Studies from Queen's University and a Bachelor of Science Kinesiology from McMaster University. Her doctoral work focuses on informing the development of a toolkit to support healthcare providers in prescribing physical activity for people with multiple sclerosis. Her research interests include the promotion and implementation of health behaviour initiatives to improve wellbeing in people with multiple sclerosis.
Nalini Jeyamohan is a 1st year MSc student in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto, under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Munce. She completed her Honours Bachelor of Science at the University of Waterloo in 2025, majoring in Psychology with a minor in Biology. Nalini’s research focuses on evaluating the effectiveness and implementation of Liberi Exergames, a pedal-to-play exergaming system designed for children and youth with physical and developmental disabilities. Her research interests include child and youth mental health, psychological well-being, and applying evidence-based research in real-world settings.
Ashvene Sureshkumar is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto within the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI). She is supervised by Dr. Robert Simpson, Dr. Mark Bayley, Dr. Sarah Munce and Dr. Monika Kastner. She holds a Bachelor of Health Science (BHSc) and a Master of Science (MSc) in Health and Rehabilitation Sciences from Western University. Ashvene’s research interests include equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility (EDIA) research, mixed methods, mindfulness-based interventions, health services research and people living with multiple sclerosis. Her PhD work involves developing an implementation toolkit for building online mindfulness-based interventions for people living with multiple sclerosis.
Rhonda Boateng is a PhD candidate in Health Systems Research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation, University of Toronto. She holds a BSc in Neuroscience and an MSc in Global Health. Rhonda is also a Lead for Communications and Strategic Initiatives at CIHR’s Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR). Her research interests sit at the intersection of implementation science, health equity, and mental health. Co-supervised by Dr. Sarah Munce and Dr. Valeria Rac, her doctoral research focuses on co-designing a competency framework to support mental health clinicians working with Black youth. Outside of research, she enjoys travel, carnivals, samba culture, and hybrid athletic training.
Eleni M Patsakos is currently completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Dr. Sarah Munce and Dr. Mark Bayley. She also works as a Research Analyst at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (University Health Network). Eleni’s research is focused on developing a compassionate online, peer navigation intervention to assist and prepare youth (i.e., ages 12-17) with neurodevelopmental disabilities, including cerebral palsy and childhood-onset acquired brain injury, in their transition to the adult health care system from the perspective of youth and their family members.
Rahmah Ikhlas is a first-year MSc Student at the University of Toronto's Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, with an interest in cognitive rehabilitation. Rahmah has a background in neuropsychology, acquired through her undergraduate degree at the University of Ottawa, and subsequent work experience at St. Michael's Hospital's Neuroscience Research Program. Rahmah is currently exploring how behaviour change techniques feature in psychological interventions for people with Multiple Sclerosis.
