Humans of RHSE: Introducing Jaylyn Leighton
Our Research and Health Science Education (RHSE) community is a diverse but close-knit group of undergraduate and graduate students, trainees, faculty and staff. In this series, we introduce you to some of our members, talk about their roles in the university and share a few fun facts about them. Today, we introduce Dr. Jaylyn Leighton, a postdoctoral trainee working at St. John's Rehab Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute.
Jaylyn works under the supervision of Dr. Marina Wasilewski, a Scientist with the St. John’s Rehab Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute, and an Assistant Professor in Occupational Science & Occupational Therapy and the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute, and Dr. Robert Simpson, an Associate Scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute, a Physiatrist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and an Assistant Professor in the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute. Jaylyn is also part of the Rehabilitation Science Research Network for COVID, which supports research and training on COVID-19 rehabilitation, recovery, caregiver wellbeing and communities most impacted by the pandemic.
Jaylyn says a postdoctoral fellowship is a fantastic way to gain knowledge, build research and presentation skills and practice grant writing. She says it’s also, “a great opportunity to work with, and learn from, a network of researchers and scholars in a collaborative way and make meaningful connections for future collaborations.”
Jaylyn began her postdoctoral fellowship in September 2022 and chose the University of Toronto because it was a space that offered expertise and practice experience. “I also felt like my critical and creative values as a researcher were going to be valued and affirmed,” she says. Now, she is co-designing a Long Covid (LC) hub called the Long COVID Education and Awareness Hub, that will help to inform LC education, rehabilitative practices, and navigation of health and social care systems. She is also working to co-design a trauma peer-support program that can be integrated into the continuum of care services (acute, in/out-patient, community).
“I hope my collective body of research can help support communication across academic, health, and public-facing channels,” she says. “This means creating meaningful outcomes such as policy briefs that can help inform organizational and government-level policies and procedures. Or creating executive summaries, infographics, or training modules to help inform practice-level considerations, collaboratively with health care professionals.”
One of Jaylyn's biggest challenges as a postdoctoral fellow is, “figuring out who I am and who I want to be.” For her, talking to others and self-reflection provides clarity. “Think about where you want your work to exist, who you want to work with or collaborate with, and what you can do to move your work in that direction,” she says.
Outside of work, Jaylyn enjoys spending time with her family, friends and dog, Logan. You can often find her hiking, baking or doing yoga to stay active. Her favourite animals are dogs (we suspect Logan has something to do with that!). One of her hidden talents is that she can fall asleep instantly. If Jaylyn were a superhero, she would be able to simply snap her fingers, and go anywhere in the world she wanted. Her first stop? Hawaii!
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