Dr. Kelly Kathleen O’Brien holds significant positions in the field of Health Sciences and Public Health. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute (RSI) in the University of Toronto. Additionally, she has an Affiliate Status, Faculty in King’s College London and is an Adjunct Scholar at Dalhousie University. She is also the Chair and Co-Founding Member of the Canada-United Kingdom (now International) HIV and Rehabilitation Research Collaborative (CIHRRC).

Dr. O’Brien’s academic history is extensive. She began her studies in University of Western Ontario, having completed her Bachelor of Science in Biology. Following, she pursued a Physical Therapy degree in the University of Toronto. She then transferred to the Clinical Epidemiology program to obtain a PhD. She became a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at McMaster University and began her research that focuses on “developing and assessing the measurement properties of a new instrument to describe disability experienced by adults living with HIV.”

Her research uses an innovative approach to describe disability, one that factors in the uncertain nature of chronic illness. This will help her understand the prevalence and determinants of episodic disability among people living with HIV.