RSI Research Day

Title: Bridging Rehabilitation Science and Psychiatry to Redefine Mental Health Research and Quality Care: A Conversation on Collaboration, Innovation, and the Future of Diagnosis

Summary: Psychiatric diagnosis has traditionally centered on symptom severity, with limited incorporation of functioning, quality of life, and socioeconomic, cultural, and environmental determinants of health, factors that significantly influence how symptoms emerge and evolve. Research also demonstrates that biological and transdiagnostic factors interact bidirectionally with these social, environmental, and psychological influences in shaping mental illnesses.

This session introduces a framework integrating psychiatry and rehabilitation science to address these complexities and highlights how closer collaboration and cross‑training can strengthen psychiatric nosology, treatment development, and clinical care. Using the proposed model for future DSM iterations, the session will illustrate how multidisciplinary research can advance the inclusion of functioning and social determinants in diagnostic systems and support a “living document” approach. It will also identify shared priorities, methodological innovations, and training pathways that enable more inclusive studies, interventions targeting symptoms and functioning, and person‑centered care that improves how people live, function, and recover.

Topic: TBA

Bio: Catriona M. Steele is a clinician scientist working in the area of swallowing and swallowing disorders.  She has a background as a medical speech-language pathologist, and is Director of the Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory (www.steeleswallowinglab.ca) at the KITE Research Institute, the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. Dr. Steele is a Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair in Swallowing and Food Oral Processing.

Professor Steele holds research funding from the National Institutes of Health (USA) as well as several active industry partnerships. Her current research focuses on the measurement of swallowing physiology from videofluoroscopy in different participant groups and across different swallowing tasks using the ASPEKT Method (Analaysis of Swallowing Physiology: Events, Kinematics and Timing). A full list of her publications can be accessed at https://www.orcid.org/0000-0002-4294-6561.  Catriona was a founding member of the Board of Directors for the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (www.iddsi.org) and served on their board from 2012-2023. Catriona served as the 2024-2025 President of the Dysphagia Research Society.

Topic: TBA

Bio: Andrea Furlan is Professor of Medicine in the Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto, She is a Senior Scientist at UHN"s KITE Institute, and Medical Lead of the Rehabilitation Pain Service at UHN's Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. She is chair of ECHO Ontario chronic pain and opioid stewardship at UHN and she is a social medial influencer with a YouTube channel "Let's Talk About Pain". She is author of two books for people with chronic pain. 

Topic: TBA

Bio: Dr. Craven is the University of Toronto/University Health Network (UHN), Cope Family Chair in Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Rehabilitation Health Systems Innovations, Medical Director of the Spinal Cord Rehabilitation Program, Executive Lead of the Pride in Patient Engagement in Research (PiPER) portfolio at UHN, and Senior Scientist/Neural Engineering and Therapeutics Team Co-Lead at KITE Research Institute. Dr. Craven is a Professor and Clinician Scientist in the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Department of Medicine, Temerty Faculty of Medicine, at the University of Toronto. Her clinical and research expertise is in health services & systems and the medical rehabilitation of sublesional osteoporosis to avoid fractures. Dr. Craven is also the Quality Leader of the SCI Implementation and Evaluation Quality Care Consortium. Outside of work, Dr. Craven chairs the Canadian Spinal Cord Injury – Rehabilitation Association and serves on the Ontario SPOR (Strategy for Patient Oriented Research) Support Unit Board of Directors.

Dr Craven received the Canadian Association of PM&R Award of Merit (2017) and ISCD Clinician of the year (2018). Dr. Craven is a fellow of American Spinal Injury Association (2019) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2021).

Dr. Craven’s publication record includes 260+ peer-reviewed articles, 22 podcasts, 11 online resources, 3 consensus papers, 2 SCI guidelines, and 1 atlas. Her work has earned an h-index of 58, i-10 index of 173, with over 12,175 citations. She has secured over $33.1 M in PI research funding from various organizations including the Canadian Institute of Health Research, the Craig H Nielsen Foundation, Ontario Ministry of Health, Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, and the UHN Foundation.

For more information about her research, visit her lab website.

Publications | Email | LinkedIn