Dr. Arif Jetha
Dr. Arif Jetha is associate scientific director and scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. He is also an associate professor (status-only) at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Jetha earned his PhD in behavioural sciences and public health at the University of Toronto, and an MSc in health community and development from the London School of Economics and Political Science. He also held post-doctoral fellowships at the Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety and the Institute for Work & Health.
Jetha’s program of research aims at understanding how sociopolitical, technological, environmental and economic changes that characterize the future of work affect the health and employment participation of vulnerable workers including young workers and persons living with disabilities. He is specifically interested in the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) on the health, safety and well-being of workers.
To pursue his research program, Jetha takes a systems perspective and uses a mixed-methods research approach. He collaborates closely with diverse research partners to produce findings that can inform policy and practice.

“The world of work is changing at a rapid rate. Studying the future of work allows me to understand the emerging challenges facing workers and create an evidence base that can be used to inform the design of policies and programs that are resilient to change and protect the most vulnerable.”
— Dr. Arif Jetha
Projects
- Job quality before and after work injury. Funded by Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development (MLITSD), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ongoing.
- Partnership on AI and the Quality of work (PAIQ) . Funded by Social Sciences & Humanities Research Council of Canada. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- Preventing work disability among millennial young adults with rheumatic disease. Funded by Arthritis Society Operating Grant. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
- What are the long-term health and labour market outcomes of workers who experienced work-related COVID-19 transmission?. Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Ongoing.
- Getting the message right: strengthening RTW communication in B.C.'s health-care sector. Funded by WorkSafeBC Innovation at Work. Completed. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Tompa E, Mofidi A, Jetha A, lahey P, Buettgen A. Development and implementation of a framework for estimating the economic benefits of an accessible and inclusive society. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. 2022;41(3):318-339. doi:10.1108/EDI-07-2020-0186.
- Alavinia SM, Jetha A, Hitzig SL, McCauley D, Routhier F, Noonan VK, Linassi G, Farahani F, Omidvar M, Jeyathevan G, Craven BC. Development of employment indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation care: SCI-High Project. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. 2021;1(44):S118-S133. doi:10.1080/10790268.2021.1955205.
- Hitzig SL, Jeyathevan G, Farahani F, Noonan VK, Linassi G, Routhier F, Jetha A, McCauley D, Alavinia SM, Omidvar M, Craven BC. Development of community participation indicators to advance the quality of spinal cord injury rehabilitation: SCI-High Project. Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine. 2021;44(1):S79-S93. doi:10.1080/10790268.2021.1955204.
- Cheng L, Jetha A, Cordeaux E, Lee K, Gignac MA. Workplace challenges, supports, and accommodations for people with inflammatory bowel disease: a scoping review. Disability and Rehabilitation. 2021 [epub ahead of print]. doi:10.1080/09638288.2021.1979662.
- Jetha A, Shamaee A, Bonaccio S, Gignac MA, Tucker LB, Tompa E, Bultmann U, Norman CD, Banks CG, Smith PM. Fragmentation in the future of work: a horizon scan examining the impact of the changing nature of work on workers experiencing vulnerability. American Journal of Industrial Medicine. 2021;64(8):649-666. doi:10.1002/ajim.23262.
Speaker Series presentations
- Promoting labour market transitions for young adults with chronic disabling conditions: a systematic review. IWH Speaker Series. November 27, 2018.
- Life course concepts in the work experiences of people with arthritis. IWH Speaker Series. November 22, 2016.
Interviews and articles
- IWH Updates - Summer 2016. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 85, Summer 2016.
- Age and length of disability for eight chronic conditions. LexisNexis Legal Newsroom/Workers' Compensation Law: LexisNexis (Irvine, Calif.). April 27, 2016. Available from: https://www.lexisnexis.com/legalnewsroom/workers-compensation/b/recent-cases-news-trends-developments/archive/2016/04/27/age-and-length-of-disability-for-eight-chronic-conditions.aspx