Two new Canada Research Chairs awarded to TMU, and two renewed

October 22, 2025

Headshots of TMU professors and Canada Research Chairs Andrew Kim, Harshita Yalamarty, Michael Olsen and Ali Tavallaei

Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) is pleased to announce the selection of professor Andrew (Hyounsoo) Kim from the Department of Psychology and professor Harshita Yalamarty from the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies as new Canada Research Chairs.

Professor Michael Olson from the Department of Chemistry and Biology and professor Ali Tavallaei from the Department of Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering received renewals of their Canada Research Chairs.

Professor Yalamarty’s appointment will support her work examining the impact of migration policies within diasporic South Asian communities. Professor Kim’s selection will enable cutting-edge research designed to better understand the risk factors for concurrent disorder, the co-occurrence of addiction and mental illness.

The renewal of professor Olson’s chair will allow him to continue his research into creating more effective cancer treatments. With his renewal, Professor Tavallaei will carry on developing new image-guided therapeutic and diagnostic solutions to cardiovascular diseases.

Studying international and Canadian migration policies

Professor Yalamarty is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Gender and Migration. Her work looks at the ways international and Canadian migration policies shape and are impacted by inequalities within diasporic South Asian communities, Canada’s fastest-growing racialized population. As part of her research, professor Yalamarty will examine how couples may mitigate the socio-economic insecurities that many immigrants face in the Canadian job market by migrating together and setting up double-income households.

“A big focus for my research is thinking about marriage and the way it is and isn't a pathway for migration,” professor Yalamarty said. “Going forward, I want to focus on how marriage and migration influence life decisions not only for heterosexual couples, but also for queer couples, and explore how marriage migration shapes the diversity of South Asian communities.”

Over her term, professor Yalamarty will establish the Critical Feminist and Migrant Futures Collective with the goal of researching the transnational connections of social justice issues and migrant communities within Canada.

Identifying pathways to health and wellness

The destructive outcomes of addictions result in a shocking daily death toll of 200 people in Canada alone, while costing the country almost $50 billion annually. When those who suffer from addiction also experience mental illness, they are at greater risk of suicidality and homelessness, and perform more poorly in treatment than those with either illness alone.

Currently, only one in 10 individuals who experience a concurrent disorder receives appropriate treatment. Professor Kim, a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Addictions and Mental Health Comorbidity, hopes his research can help change that.

“One problem is that treatment systems tend to be siloed,” professor Kim said. “They’re separated when addictions and mental health are often interlinked. Unfortunately, some people slip through the cracks. They're in a vulnerable state, they've reached out for help, and they’re told, ‘We can't help you. You need to go somewhere else.”

By comprehensively assessing combinations of multiple addictions and mental health diagnoses in a single study, Professor Kim will seek to identify unique, previously unidentified risk and maintenance factors that make people susceptible to different combinations of addictions and mental illness.

“What I really want to do is examine who's at risk and identify psychological mechanisms that maintain the symptoms of addiction and mental health,” professor Kim said. “Identifying who's vulnerable could help identify potential prevention opportunities. By identifying mechanisms, we can enhance treatments for concurrent disorders.”

Seeking better outcomes for cancer and cardiovascular disease

Professor Olson’s renewal as a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Cytoskeleton Regulation and Function will allow him to continue research that seeks to understand the characteristics of cancer cells that migrate from their primary sites to secondary sites (known as metastasis) so that drugs can be created to treat cancer more effectively.

In addition, Professor Olson is receiving support to acquire foundational research infrastructure through the Canada Foundation for Innovation’s (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders Fund.

Professor Tavallaei’s renewal as a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Systems and Devices for Cardiovascular Interventions ensures ongoing support for work focused on treating cardiovascular diseases. His research generates new image-guided therapeutic and diagnostic solutions to better understand and overcome the limitations of conventional devices employed during minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures, the main interventions performed to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease.

“It is my great pleasure to congratulate professors Kim and Yalamarty on their new Canada Research Chairs," said Steven N. Liss, vice-president, research and innovation. “Their work will develop better care and treatment for those experiencing mental illness and addiction, and help us better understand migration policies and social justice.

“I’m equally delighted to congratulate professors Olson and Tavallaei on their renewals, which will allow them to advance important research that seeks to reduce life-threatening recurrences of cancer and improve outcomes for those suffering from cardiovascular diseases.”

The four TMU researchers are among the 259 chairs at 51 post-secondary institutions across Canada announced as new or renewed appointments by the federal government. This represents an investment of more than $198 million.

Learn more about TMU’s Canada Research Chairs by visiting Our Researchers page.