Our Team
SED Lab Director
Myrtede Alfred is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Prior to joining University of Toronto, she served as a research assistant professor at the Medical University of South Carolina where she spent the past three years applying her expertise as a human factors engineer to improve the delivery of care through both research and practice. She obtained her PhD in industrial engineering from Clemson University (2017). During her tenure at Clemson, she held the SREB Dissertation Fellowship and Janine Bowen Graduate Fellowship and earned multiple awards for teaching and outreach including the College of Engineering, Computing, and Applied Science’s Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant and MLK Jr. Excellence in Service Award. She is also the executive director of Marie's Kids STEAM education nonprofit.
Professor Alfred’s research examines the role of sociotechnical systems factors in supporting or hindering safety in clinical systems, with specific interests in surgical instrument reprocessing, robotic-assisted surgery, anesthesia medication delivery, and retained foreign objects. Complementing the social determinants of health framework, her research also leverage human factors and systems engineering to examine clinical systems contributions to healthcare disparities.
Matthew Chambers
Research Assistant
Matthew completed his undergraduate degree in International Development Studies from the University of Toronto Scarborough. Recognizing the emerging importance of sustainability-related Canadian commercial real estate solutions, he pursued a Master's degree in Sustainability Management at the University of Toronto Mississauga. During this time, he received the Alectra Graduate Fellowship Award for his academic performance and commitment to sustainability. Matthew also worked as a Sustainability Consultant at BOMA Canada and established Chambers Consulting Group to support underrepresented BIPOC groups within the Canadian commercial real estate industry. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. within the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto. Matthew’s research focuses on enhancing the flexibility and sustainability of intensive care units for future pandemic-like scenarios.
Hongchen Liu
Research Assistant
Hongchen Liu holds a Bachelor’s degree in Statistical Science (Specialist in Methods and Practice) from the University of Toronto (St. George campus). She has completed a Master’s degree in Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and is currently involved in healthcare systems research, focusing on improving perioperative workflows and operational efficiency.
Her work integrates data analytics and human factors approaches to identify system-level challenges and develop practical, evidence-based solutions.
Research Assistant
Tosin Akintunde is a PhD student in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. She had her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Tosin is interested in applying human factor's engineering tools in improving maternal patient safety and equity in the healthcare system.
Research Assistant
Myesha is a PhD candidate who is pursuing research that focuses on equitable mental healthcare systems and technology design. More specifically, Myesha is interested in exploring how we can leverage equity oriented design and evaluation methods to improve mental healthcare systems and adjacent digital mental health technologies to produce more equitable outcomes for marginalized communities. Myesha has a background in psychology and healthcare, with a passion for advocacy within these spaces.
Victoria Yeung
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Victoria is a 3rd year industrial engineering student at the University of Toronto. She is conducting usability testing on an interface that reports patient safety events (PSEs) using a machine learning algorithm and AI explainability feature. She will also be assisting with the data analysis and descriptive statistics associated with the results of usability testing.
Research Assistant
Deenar is currently pursuing her MASc in Industrial Engineering student at the University of Toronto. She investigates macro-ergonomic methods used to analyze healthcare systems and patient safety.
Research Assistant
Paneet is a MASc student in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering. Her research interests include equity in healthcare settings, and her current project focuses on designing resilient material management strategies to improve efficiency and sustainability in healthcare systems.
Research Assistant
Eleanor is currently pursuing a PhD in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, where she previously completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering, specializing in Human Factors Engineering. Her research focuses on perinatal bereavement and patient-centered care, examining how bereaved families from diverse cultural backgrounds experience and respond to hospital-based perinatal bereavement processes. Drawing on human factors approaches, Eleanor aims to translate research insights into actionable, evidence-based recommendations to enhance healthcare experiences for bereaved families.