Dr. Marzolini is an Exercise Physiologist and Registered Kinesiologist. Her professional objective is to advocate for increasing the opportunity for people to access structured physical activity and risk factor modification programs following stroke. She initiated and developed the resistance training program for cardiac patients at Toronto Rehab in 1992 and went on to start the Risk Factor Modification Program for People following Stroke (known as TRI-REPS) in 2004 as a substream of the cardiac program. Her research interests are to examine the dose-response relationship between exercise and health related outcomes in people with stroke and cardiac disease. Using novel exercise training methods, her aim is to determine an exercise treatment aimed at promoting long-term health, repairing the brain and restoring lost mobility after stroke. In 2018, Dr. Marzolini was selected by the World Heart Federation as an Emerging Leader in Stroke Prevention, Rehabilitation, and Treatment.

My research interests are to investigate the dose-response relationship between exercise and cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF; VO2peak), other health-related outcomes as well as sex interactions related to these outcomes in randomized controlled trials in people with stroke and cardiac disease. The focus of my research is also to determine ways to optimize health in males and females and gender and race and ethnically diverse individuals with chronic disease while also eliminating disparities in access to structured exercise and risk factor modification programs. This is important given that research from our group and others demonstrate that women have a higher rate of all-cause mortality, more severe functional impairments, and experience worse health – such as more depressive symptoms that can be improved with exercise. In other studies, we have demonstrated that cardiac rehab is grossly underused by women with heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and peripheral artery disease, and women are more likely to drop out than men.

For a list of Dr. Marzolini's publications, please visit PubMed, Scopus or ORCID.

Scientist, KITE (TRI)

Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, University of Toronto
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology & Physical Education, University of Toronto