Dr. Emile Tompa

Dr. Emile Tompa is a senior scientist at the Institute for Work & Health. He holds appointments as an associate professor in the Department of Economics at McMaster University and as an assistant professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. 

Tompa is a labour and health economist with an MBA from the University of British Columbia, an MA in economics from the University of Toronto, and a PhD in economics from McMaster University.

Tompa’s research interests include the consequences of occupational health and safety system design on the health and well-being of individuals and populations, the economic evaluation of workplace interventions for improving the health and well-being of workers, the economic burden of adverse health conditions and disability, and the analysis of disability policy systems. 

Tompa holds a six-year funding envelope as the nominated principal applicant from the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF) Transformation Stream for a social innovation laboratory called Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) (2021-2028). The initiative is focused on skilling up employers to advance their abilities to tap into diverse talent pools, with a focus on persons with disabilities. Tompa recently received a three and a half year funding envelope Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) Youth Employment Skills Strategy (YESS) program for a project entitled Transforming Workplace Systems to Build Sustainable Capacity for Inclusion of Diverse Youth (4DY—For Diverse Youth—for short) (2025-2028). This knowledge-to-practice initiative supports organizations in developing barrier-free, sustainable employment opportunities for youth with disabilities, especially neurodiverse youth, youth with intellectual disabilities, and youth with mental health challenges.