Toronto Rehabilitation Institute CRU

Who we are

Toronto Rehabilitation Institute (TRI), part of the University Health Network, is Canada’s largest adult rehabilitation hospital and one of North America’s leading centres for rehabilitation science. TRI operates several specialized campuses, including the University Centre, Lyndhurst Centre, Rumsey Road sites, and the Bickle Centre, delivering advanced rehabilitation programs in brain injury, spinal cord injury, cardiovascular recovery, geriatrics, musculoskeletal rehabilitation, and care for individuals with multisystem complexity.

TRI’s clinical programs are built on interdisciplinary models of care designed to restore function, promote independence, and support long-term recovery following disabling injury, illness, or age-related decline. As a fully affiliated teaching hospital of the University of Toronto, TRI also plays a major role in health-professional education and training.

TRI’s research enterprise is led by the KITE Research Institute, internationally recognized as a global leader in rehabilitation research. KITE brings together more than 120 investigators and nearly 90,000 square feet of dedicated research space focused on injury prevention, neuromodulation, biomechanical engineering, assistive technologies, and technology-enabled rehabilitation solutions. Through the integration of clinical care and research, TRI advances innovative interventions, technologies, and evidence-based rehabilitation strategies that influence models of care at provincial, national, and international levels.

What we do

The TRI Clinical Research Unit (Rehab CRU) provides centralized research infrastructure to support a diverse portfolio of rehabilitation-focused clinical studies across TRI and UHN.

In alignment with TRI’s strategic priority to strengthen integration between clinical care and research, the CRU delivers a coordinated operational framework that includes investigator concierge support, research education, interdepartmental coordination, and activation readiness services. Through initiatives such as the CRU Education Series and bi-monthly office hours, the unit builds methodological and operational capacity among investigators and study teams. These activities improve familiarity with key institutional systems, including Epic, CAPCR, CRR, and the forthcoming CTMS-EDGE platform, while supporting efficient study start-up and conduct. The CRU also leads efforts to optimize research-enabling digital infrastructure, including initiatives to improve Epic Research Contact Preference (RCP) completion, expand access to rehabilitation patient cohorts, and strengthen recruitment capabilities across TRI.

In addition, the Rehab CRU advances trial readiness by guiding investigators through pre-submission workflows, improving Time-in-Review processes, and connecting principal investigators with the clinical, administrative, and technical resources required to accelerate study activation. CRU activities are closely aligned with the KITE Research Institute and TRI’s Vice President, Clinical portfolio. This work includes governance reviews of research-integrated clinics, and enhancements to study advertising infrastructure, such as web-based active study listings, and clinic-based digital displays. The CRU also supports collaborative partnerships with industry and technology partners, including emerging interest from pharmaceutical partners in rehabilitation drug trials. We are expanding our clinical trial capacity through recruitment and support of new clinician-investigators. The unit is further engaged in the multi-year integration of the West Park Healthcare Centre program into UHN, supporting clinical alignment, research capacity assessment, staff recruitment, and implementation of enterprise research systems.

In collaboration with partners in the digital health ecosystem, including Apple, the CRU supports research projects involving device-based motion tracking, sleep metrics, physiological monitoring, and other digital health applications relevant to rehabilitation science. Through these initiatives, the unit addresses key challenges in rehabilitation research. By leveraging TRI’s strengths in engineering, neuromodulation, wearable technologies, and biomechanics-along with unique research environments such as CEAL and iDAPT-the Rehab CRU is helping position TRI for sustained growth and innovation in clinical trials and translational rehabilitation research.

Rehab Clinical Research Unit Services

Concierge Model: Providing 1:1 support to PIs and study teams throughout research lifecycle and issue resolution to streamline research outcomes.
Education Series & Office Hours: Increase awareness of Research Solutions & Services depts. and EPIC for research.
IA45 Pilot Workflow: Providing support and guidance to PIs and study teams on requirements for submitting clinical trials through IA45 Pilot.
Human Resources Support: Hiring, onboarding research staff and research-specific training as requested by PIs.
Patient Engagement in Research: Implementation and awareness of EPIC tools like research contact preference.
SOPs & Research Tools: Promoting standardized practices for study activities and regulatory compliance for research excellence

Rehab CRU Medical Lead

Paul Oh MD MSc FRCPC FACP
UHN – Toronto Rehab
Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation Program

Dr. Paul Oh is Medical Director and GoodLife Fitness Chair in the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation Program at the University Health Network – Toronto Rehab and Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, and an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is also a Senior Scientist in The KITE Research Institute, and the Medical Director of the Toronto Rehab Clinical Research Unit. He obtained his M.D. from the University of Toronto in 1988 and completed specialty training in Internal Medicine, Clinical Pharmacology, and Clinical Epidemiology. He has been an author of over 325 peer reviewed publications, and is principal investigator on a number of grants examining exercise, uses of technology, behavioural and educational interventions for the primary and secondary prevention and management of cardiovascular conditions, cancer, diabetes, and other chronic diseases in multicultural populations.

Rehab CRU Clinical Research Manager

Louise Brisbois has been with UHN since 2010 and prior to that worked in the private sector for 10 years as a business manager in Pharmaceuticals and Health Care. Before leading the Rehab CRU, Louise was the Manager of the KITE Central Recruitment Dept which provided clinical research services across Toronto Rehab inpatient units. Louise was the Digital Lead for the UHN Patient Engagement in Research team (PiPER). She was also a member of the Neural Engineering & Therapeutics Team collaborating on Spinal Cord Injury rehabilitation research studies. Louise has a strong background in research ethics as a Board Member on the SickKids Hospital REB and Veritas IRB. She served two terms on the CIHR Research Integrity Committee, and is an active Council member of Human Research Accreditation Canada.

To get in contact please email Louise.Brisbois@uhn.ca

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