Dr. Andrea Furlan
PhD, Clinical Epidemiology, University of Toronto
Dr. Andrea Furlan is a scientist at the Institute for Work & Health (IWH). 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 a professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Physiatry at the University of Toronto. She is chair of ECHO (Extension for Community Health-care Outcomes) Ontario Chronic Pain and Opioid Stewardship at UHN, and co-chair of ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine and ECHO for Return to Work of Public Safety Personnel at IWH.
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 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 130 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 that has reached more than 620,000 subscribers.
"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 PSP: Piloting the use of the ECHO model to promote recovery and return-to-work among public safety personnel in Ontario. 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.
- Project ECHO Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM): Implementation and evaluation. Funded by Workplace Safety and Insurance Board. Ongoing. (PI on the project)
Publications
- Furlan AD, Carnide N. Opioids for workers with an acute episode of low-back pain. Pain. 2010;151(1):42737. doi:10.1016/j.pain.2010.07.033.
- Furlan AD, Reardon R, Weppler C. Opioids for chronic noncancer pain: a new Canadian practice guideline. Canadian Medical Association journal. 2010;182:923-930. doi:10.1503/cmaj.100187.
- Fregni F, Imamura M, Chien HF, Lew HL, Boggio P, Kaptchuk TJ, Riberto M, Hsing WT, Battistella LR, Furlan AD. Challenges and recommendations for placebo controls in randomized trials in physical and rehabilitation medicine: a report of the international placebo symposium working group. American Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation. 2010;89(2):160-172. doi:10.1097/PHM.0b013e3181bc0bbd.
- Furlan AD, Imamura M, Dryden T, Pennick V. In response. Spine. 2010;35(7):844-. doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181d2a7e2.
- Waseem Z, Boulias C, Gordon A, Ismail F, Furlan AD. Botulinum toxin for low-back pain. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2010 Art-. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD008257.
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
- Telementoring program helps doctors and other frontline health-care providers handle challenging return-to-work cases. At Work: Institute for Work & Health; No. 113, Summer 2023.
- 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.