Twinkle Arora

Clinical Research Coordinator, MA, Ph.D. Cand.

Twinkle Arora, is a Clinical Research Coordinator with Dr. Gary Rodin and Dr. Sarah Hales’ research team. She earned her Master of Arts degree in Counselling Psychology and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in Human Studies & Interdisciplinarity at Laurentian University. She has over three years of experience working in health care settings including, the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, Lakeside Long Term Care, and Baycrest Health Science Centre. Twinkle is passionate about interdisciplinary research and excited to contribute to the area of psychosocial, palliative and end-of-life care.

Stephanie Nanos

Clinical Research Coordinator, MPH

Stephanie Nanos is a part of Dr. Gary Rodin’s team, serving as a Clinical Research Coordinator. In her role, she is the coordinator at both PM and SickKids for a joint longitudinal, mixed methods study on the experience of traumatic stress in caregivers of patients with acute leukemia (AL). She also provides support for other AL-related clinical trials and qualitative studies with patients and their caregivers.

Stephanie attended Dalla Lana School of Public Health and graduated with a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology and collaborative specialization in Palliative & Supportive Care.

Samantha Lo

Clinical Research Study Assistant, MSc

Paige Chu

Clinical Research Analyst, HBA

Paige graduated from the University of Toronto in 2020 with an Honours Bachelor of Arts, double-majoring in Health Studies and Human Geography. She is a Clinical Research Analyst working under Dr. Rinat Nissim and Dr. Sarah Hales on the COVID Quality of Death and Bereavement Outcomes Study, as well as the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) Experience Study.

Laurice Karkaby

Clinical Research Coordinator, MA

Kyle Fitzgibbon

Clinical Research Coordinator I, BSc., MSc.

Kyle Fitzgibbon is a part of Dr. Gary Rodin’s team, serving as a Clinical Research Coordinator I. In his role, he oversees the implementation and daily operations of two large CIHR funded studies. The first is the Will to Live II (WTL-II) study, which is a longitudinal mixed-methods study that seeks to understand the prevalence, predictors and trajectories of psychological distress, disease burden and other factors that influence the desire for death and requests for medical assistance in dying (MAiD). The other is the Emotion and Symptom Focused Engagement (EASE) Phase III, multi-site, randomized control trial evaluating an early palliative care and psychosocial intervention versus usual care for patients with acute leukemia.

Kyle attended McMaster University and graduated with Bachelor of Science in Biology & Psychology and then went on to the University of Toronto where he graduated with a Master of Science in Health Services Research from the Institute of Health Policy, Management & Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.

Eryn Tong

Eryn works as a Clinical Research Coordinator with Dr. Sarah Hales and Dr. Rinat Nissim. Eryn currently coordinates a multi-site, mixed-methods study on the medical assistance in dying (MAiD) experience, quality of death and dying, and bereavement with patents and families. She also supports the team’s study examining the quality of death in hospital during the COVID-19 era.

 Eryn graduated with a Master of Science under the supervision of Dr. Gary Rodin at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in the Clinical & Counselling Psychology Program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.

Argin Malakian

RN, MN

Argin Malakian is a part of Dr. Gary Rodin and Dr. Samantha Mayo’s team, serving as a nurse psychotherapist and nurse researcher. In his roles, he provides psychotherapy for adults newly diagnosed with acute leukemia, and, conducts both quantitative and qualitative research with patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies alongside their caregivers.

Argin attends the University of Toronto as a PhD student with the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faulty of Nursing where he also received his Master of Nursing degree

Argin enjoys playing with his golden retriever Simba and spending time with his family by the lake.

Ally Yu

Graduate Student, MSc Candidate

Ally Yu is a graduate student under Dr. Gary Rodin’s research team. She is working on a feasibility trial of a novel psychotherapeutic intervention (EASE-CG) to reduce traumatic stress in caregivers of patients with acute leukemia.
Ally is currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto.
Fun Fact: When Ally is not doing research, she enjoys improv and public speaking.

Aliza Panjwani

Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD, C.Psych

Dr. Panjwani completed her PhD at the Graduate Center, City University of New York in Health Psychology & Clinical Science. She is a psychologist engaged in both research and clinical work in the Department of Supportive Care. Working in Dr. Madeline Li’s lab, her research interests broadly include examining intrapersonal and interpersonal processes that affect psychological (e.g., anxiety, depression) and behavioral (e.g., sleep, advanced care planning) health outcomes among individuals living with cancer and their caregivers. Dr. Panjwani’s approach to clinical care is patient-centered and integrates evidence-based approaches to treat individuals and couples presenting with a range of mental health concerns.
Fun fact: Aliza loves fantasy and science fiction and is currently working her way through the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan.