Angela Colantonio

Angela Colantonio is a Canadian occupational scientist whose work involves improving screening, managing and treating people with traumatic brain injury, with a focus on people belonging to underserved populations. Colantonio is a professor of occupational science and occupational therapy at the University of Toronto, where she leads the Acquired Brain Injury Research Lab, and has a cross-appointment with the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.^[1] She is also the director of the University of Toronto's Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, and a senior scientist at the University Health Network's KITE-Toronto Rehabilitation Institute.^[1][2] In 2020, Colantonio was appointed as a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Traumatic Brain Injury in Underserved Populations.^[3]

Research

Colantonio's lab analyzed data from three men’s correctional facilities and one female facility, finding that almost half (43%) of Ontario prisoners have suffered at least one traumatic brain injury.^[4][5] Of those, 62% were men, while 37% were women.^[4][5] Colantonio's lab has also surveyed frontline workers, finding that even those who work directly with survivors may be unaware of the signs of traumatic brain injury.^[6]

In 2020, Colantonio was appointed as a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Traumatic Brain Injury in Underserved Populations, where her research team is using gender-based analysis to improve traumatic brain injury screening, management and treatment for people exposed to partner violence, interacting with the justice system, or experiencing housing instability.^[3][7]

Colantonio co-chairs an international task force on girls and women with acquired brain injury, titled the Girls & Women with ABI Task Force.^[8]

Selected academic publications

• Mollayeva, Tatyana, Shirin Mollayeva, and Angela Colantonio. "Traumatic brain injury: sex, gender and intersecting vulnerabilities." Nature Reviews Neurology 14.12 (2018): 711-722.
• Steadman-Pare, D., Colantonio, A., Ratcliff, G., Chase, S., & Vernich, L. (2001). Factors associated with perceived quality of life many years after traumatic brain injury. The Journal of Head Trauma Rehabilitation, 16(4), 330-342.
• Cohen, C. A., Colantonio, A., & Vernich, L. (2002). Positive aspects of caregiving: rounding out the caregiver experience. International journal of geriatric psychiatry, 17(2), 184-188.