Research Team

Principal Investigator

Dr. Tatyana Mollayeva is a Scientist at KITE and a Professor, Affiliate Scientist at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health, with a cross-appointment in the Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, and research affiliation with the Institute for Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. Dr. Mollayeva holds a Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Neurological Disorders and Brain Health.

Dr. Mollayeva earned her medical degree in Preventive Medicine from the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University and completed her residency in Epidemiology and Public Health at Turkmen State Medical University. She completed her PhD at the University of Toronto through the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and the Collaborative Program in Neuroscience, successfully defending her dissertation in 2015, which focused on sleep and traumatic brain injury.

In 2021, Dr. Mollayeva was selected as a Global Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute, following multidisciplinary training at Trinity College Dublin and the University of California, San Francisco. This training supports Dr. Mollayeva’s work in developing innovative, equity-focused solutions to improve brain health and reduce the global impact of dementia.

Dr. Mollayeva’s research  has been recognized through several prestigious international awards, including:

• Deborah L. Wilkerson Early Career Award (2015), American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

• Elio Lugaresi Award for Education (2017), World Sleep Congress

• Robert D. Voogt Founders Award (2019), North America Brain Injury Society

• Joshua Cantor Scholar Award (2022), American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine
• Full Membership, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society (2022)

• LinkedIn

Team Members

Alumni

Staff

• Thaisa Tylinski Sant’Ana, Research Analyst (June 2023- August 2025)

Graduate Trainees

• Jingwen Xu, MEng Work-Study Trainee (2024-2025)
• Anisa Brar, MScOT Research Placement (2024-2025)
• Anjali Issar, MScOT Research Placement (2024-2025)
• Chuxi Pan, MPH Research Placement (2024)
• Hyejun (Ashlee) Kim, MPH Research Placement (2024)
• Hongyan Chen, MSc Research Course (2023-2024)
• Sara Hanafy, PhD Research (2018-2023)
• Lulu Lian, MScOT Research Placement (2021-2022)
• Rachael Coupland, MScOT Research Placement (2021-2022)
• Chen Xiong, PhD Research (2017-2020)
• Esther Yong, MScOT Research Placement (2018-2019)
• Sarah Trick, MScOT Research Placement (2018-2019)
• Cori Snow, MScOT Research Placement (2018-2019)
• Bristol Baldwin, MScOT Research Placement (2018-2019)

Undergraduate Trainees

• Nada Ahmed, Volunteer (2025)
• Aaditya Suyadevara, Volunteer (2025)
• Irene He, Volunteer (2025)
• Francesco Filice, Volunteer, CCNA Undergraduate Award Trainee (2024-2025)
• Daniel Keung, MGT480 Intern (2025)
• Daniel Phan, Work Study Trainee (2024-2025)
• Urooba Shaikh, Work Study Trainee (2024-2025)
• Alicia Trista Ruetas, BIO400 Intern (2024-2025)
• Teodora Prnjat, BIO400 Intern (2024-2025)
• Mursal Jahed, Volunteer (2024)
• Sarasa Najima, Volunteer (2024)
• Rhea Chapman, BIO400 Intern (2023-2024)
• Xenab Rizwan, BIO400 Intern (2023-2024)
• Syed Hussain Rizvi, BIO400 Intern (2022-2023)
• Thaisa Tylinski Sant’Ana, BIO400 Intern (2022-2023)
• Syeda Taliya Rizvi, BIO400 Intern (2021-2022)
• Sarah Shaaya, BIO400 Intern (2020-2021)
• Jhankhana Shah, BIO400 Intern (2020-2021)
• Sumeet Dhillon, BIO400 Intern (2019-2020)
• Anai-Bronwyn Lloyd-James, BIO400 Intern (2019-2020)

High School Trainees

• Noshin Haque, UHN STEM Pathways (2025)
• Christel Costa Thiago, UHN STEM Pathways (2025)
• Alexandra Cuyugan, UHN STEM Pathways (2024)
• Sophia Karim, UHN STEM Pathways (2024)