Kelly O’Brien
BSc, BScPT, PhD
Dr. Kelly O’Brien, PhD, PT is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, at the University of Toronto and Co-Director of the Rehabilitation Science Research Network for COVID. She is a physical therapist and clinical epidemiologist, and holds a Canada Research Chair in Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation. Dr. O’Brien is cross appointed to the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME) and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI).
Dr. O’Brien’s research is focused in the area of episodic disability, chronic disease and rehabilitation. Using HIV and Long COVID as exemplars, her research involves characterizing the episodic nature of disability experienced by people aging with chronic disease (Episodic Disability Framework), developing and assessing the properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of episodic disability (Episodic Disability Questionnaire) and examining the implementation of community-based rehabilitation interventions to improve health outcomes for people living with chronic disease (Community-Based Exercise Study).
Dr. O’Brien is a member of the Royal Society of Canada, College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists, Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study (OCS) Scientific Steering Committee, and CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network. Kelly co-founded the Canada-International HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC) (http://cihrrc.ca), an international network of over 100 stakeholders with an interest in addressing research priorities and translating evidence in HIV and rehabilitation research. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) and an Executive Member of Long COVID Physio.
Research & Scholarly Activities
Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation
Dr. Kelly O’Brien’s research program is focused on episodic disability and rehabilitation in the context of chronic conditions. The overall goal of Dr. O’Brien’s research program is to examine the episodic nature of disability experienced by people living with chronic conditions and determine the effectiveness of rehabilitation interventions in order to improve health outcomes, and advance care, policy and practice.
Using HIV and Long COVID as exemplars, Dr. O’Brien’s research involves characterizing the episodic nature of disability experienced by people aging with chronic disease (Episodic Disability Framework), developing and assessing the properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) of episodic disability (Episodic Disability Questionnaire) and examining the implementation of community-based rehabilitation interventions to improve health outcomes for people living with chronic disease (Community-Based Exercise Study). Methodological areas of interest include: measurement, structural equation modelling, implementation science, Rasch analysis, qualitative methods, survey research, and systematic reviews.
Specific objectives of this research program are:
- To conceptualize the episodic disability experiences among adults living with Long COVID and profile its prevalence, impact and determinants over time.
- To further advance the development and property assessment of the Episodic Disability Questionnaire (EDQ) developed to describe the presence, severity and episodic nature of disability in for use among adults living with Long COVID in Canada and internationally.
- To evaluate the implementation and impact of online and in-person community-based exercise (CBE) interventions for their ability to reduce episodic disability and enhance physical activity and health outcomes among adults aging with HIV and other chronic conditions.
Dr. O’Brien’s Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation Research Program involves an international, multidisciplinary academic-clinical-community partnership of over 40 researchers, clinicians, people living with HIV, policy stakeholders and community organization representatives with expertise in HIV, chronic disease, disability and rehabilitation, measurement, exercise, health services research, knowledge translation, and community-based research.
Dr. O’Brien’s research is conducted in partnership with the Canada-International HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC), an international network of over 100 stakeholders that Dr. O’Brien co-founded to address and translate evidence on common priorities in HIV and rehabilitation research. Long COVID research is conducted in partnership and collaboration with the Long COVID Community COVID Long Haulers Support Group Canada, Long COVID Support UK, Patient-Led Research Collaborative, Long COVID Ireland, and Long COVID Physio who are knowledge users and collaborators on the CIHR-funded Long COVID and Episodic Disability study.
Results of this program of research may lead to the future adaptation of the disability measurement and rehabilitation interventions with other chronic and episodic illness populations to bridge the fields of HIV and complex chronic disease and transfer research knowledge into practice.
The Episodic Disability and Rehabilitation Research Program provides opportunities for graduate trainees to build research capacity through mentoring and training in episodic disability and rehabilitation research in the context of episodic and chronic conditions.
This program of research is undertaken, in part, thanks to funding from the Canada Research Chairs program.
Teaching
- MScPT Scholarly Practice I (PHT 1107H) and
- MScPT Scholarly Practice II (PHT 11113Y)
Appointments
- Associate Professor, Department of Physical Therapy, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
- Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto
- Associate Professor, Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation (IHPME), Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto