Dr. Andrea Furlan
PhD, Clinical Epidemiology, University of Toronto
Dr. Andrea Furlan is a scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. She is also a physician and senior scientist at the KITE Research Institute—the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute at University Health Network—and an associate professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Physiatry at the University of Toronto.
Furlan completed her residency in physiatry at the University of São Paulo in Brazil. She obtained her PhD in clinical epidemiology from the University of Toronto. Her thesis focused on methods to search and analyze non-randomized studies of interventions for low-back pain. She completed a two-year clinical fellowship in physiatry at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. Furlan received the 2020 Pain Excellence Award in 2020 by the Pain Society of Alberta, and she is the recipient of the 2021 Canadian Pain Society’s Excellence in Pain Mentorship Award.
Her main research interests include rehabilitation medicine, chronic pain, low-back pain and neuropathic pain, with a methodological focus on systematic reviews and meta-analyses. She has over 100 publications in peer-reviewed journals, has written seven book chapters and has been an invited speaker at many local, national and international conferences, and is frequently sought by the media for interviews. During the Covid-19 pandemic she started a Youtube channel to share her knowledge about chronic pain worldwide.

"I spend about 80 per cent of my time as a researcher and 20 per cent as a clinician. The clinical work maintains the relevance of what I do, as well as credibility among my medical peers.” – Dr. Andrea Furlan
Projects
- Cannabis and workplace fatalities: establishing a baseline in Ontario. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing.
- ECHO OEM: Piloting a telementoring program in occupational and environmental medicine. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Ontario Life After Work Injury Study: Cannabis use and long-term recovery and return-to-work outcomes among Ontario injured workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing.
- Opioid-related harms among Ontario workers: a surveillance tool. Funded by Public Health Agency of Canada. Ongoing.
- Toking 9 to 5: Workplace cannabis use and perceptions among Canadian workers. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Ongoing.
Publications
- Kokorelias KM, Cronin SM, Munce SEP, Eftekhar P, McGilton KS, Vellani S, Colella TJF, Kontons P, Grigorovich A, Furlan AD. Conceptualization of frailty in rehabilitation interventions with adults: a scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2023;45(1):117-153. doi:10.1080/09638288.2021.2012844.
- Lau J, Zimmermann C, Selby P, Furlan AD. Opioid disposal practices of patients with life-limiting cancers in an outpatient palliative care clinic: a cross-sectional study. Journal of Palliative Medicine. 2023 epub ahead of print. doi:10.1089/jpm.2022.0355.
- Buchman DZ, Lo S, Ding P, Dosani N, Fazelzad R, Furlan AD, Isenberg SR, Spithoff S, Tedesco A, Zimmermann C, Lau J. Palliative care for people who use drugs during communicable disease epidemics and pandemics: a scoping review on access, policies, and programs and guidelines. Palliative Medicine. 2022 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1177/02692163221143153.
- Murphy L, Leblanc K, Badr S, Ching E, Mao L, Steenhof N, Steenhof N, Hamandi B, Rubin B, Seto A, Furlan AD. Opioid utilization and management in the setting of stewardship during inpatient rehab care. Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety. 2022;14:161-170. doi:10.2147/DHPS.S360832.
- Hayden JA, Ogilvie R, Singh S, Kashif S, Hartvigsen J, Maher CG, Furlan AD. Commentary: collaborative systematic review may produce and share high-quality, comparative evidence more efficiently. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. 2022 epub ahead of print. doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2022.09.013.
Speaker Series presentations
- New World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on rehabilitation in health systems. IWH Speaker Series. April 18, 2017.
- Systematic review on depression in the workplace. IWH Speaker Series. March 1, 2011.
Interviews and articles
- Rethinking Pain - A CRAM Ideas Podcast episode. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. , . Available from: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3Z4rxPSjKJN0jTJfAsqaql
- IWH hosts new program to mentor Ontario’s frontline doctors in occupational medicine. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 105, Summer 2021.
- Cochrane back group earns high praise for its rigorous systematic reviews. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 102, Fall 2020.
- IWH review outlines promising strategies to prevent prescribed opioid abuse. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 94, Fall 2018.
- New systematic review outlines promising strategies to prevent prescribed opioid abuse, overdoses. OOHNA Journal. October 16, 2018. Available from: https://www.iwh.on.ca/sites/iwh/files/oohna_journal_fw_2018_opioid.pdf