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 focuses on examining the dose-response relationship between exercise and health-related outcomes in people with stroke and cardiac disease. Using novel exercise training methods and combinations of exercise strategies, my aim is to determine an exercise treatment aimed at promoting long-term health, repairing the brain and restoring lost mobility after stroke. Another focus of my research is to determine ways to reduce sex disparities in outcomes and access to secondary prevention programming (stroke and heart disease) given that females have more severe strokes, a higher 1-month case fatality rate of stroke, higher rate of all-cause mortality at 1 year and experience worse health outcomes including lower quality-of-life, more depressive symptoms, and worse functional outcomes that can be improved with exercise.

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


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