Arija has a PhD in Public Health, Social and Behavioural Health Sciences, from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. During her time as a PhD student, she was also a Research Fellow at The Wilson Centre for Health Professions Education Research at the U of T/UHN. Her doctoral research examined gender and work as social determinants of health, focussing on the health implications (Allostatic Load) of stress and traumatic exposures in the gendered organization of high-stress occupations. Her most recent position was as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, also at the U of T, where she continued to examine potentially traumatic exposures in the workplace. Arija has over 15 years of experience in interdisciplinary mixed methods and qualitative health research, design, coordination, implementation, analysis, and dissemination.

At the IBH Dr.Birze provides portfolio support to Dr. Kerry Kuluski’s Patient Experience Team. Her qualitative work involves examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on health services, with a focus on the experiences of patients, caregivers, health care providers & professionals.