PROF. LORNA FERGUSON, PHD

​Dr. Lorna Ferguson is an award-winning criminologist and Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Regina, with over a decade of experience researching missing persons, policing, and search and rescue (SAR). Her work focuses on improving practice, policy, and prevention across these areas. She is also the Founder of the Missing Persons Research Hub, a North America-wide hub dedicated to advancing research and evidence-informed responses to missing persons and is the Senior Managing Editor for Evidence Base. Dr. Ferguson’s research has significantly deepened understandings of how police and SAR organizations respond to missing persons cases, including those involving vulnerable populations, complex risks, and long-term or cold investigations. She has partnered with more than 40 police services and numerous SAR groups to strengthen risk assessment, investigative and search approaches, interagency coordination, training, and prevention efforts. Her broader research program extends to related areas of policing, including incident command, evidence-based policing, technology and innovation, police data and intelligence, cybercrime, responses involving persons with mental illness, and police reform. Her scholarship has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals, such as Criminology & Criminal Justice, Crime & Delinquency, Policing & Society, and Policing: An International Journal. She is the author/editor of numerous books, including "Missing Persons: Beyond Serial Killers and Unexplained Disappearances" (Palgrave), "The Wicked Problems of Police Reform in Canada" (Routledge), "Occupational Stress Injuries: Operational and Organizational Stressors Among Public Safety Personnel" (Taylor & Francis), and "Police Search and Rescue Response to Lost and Missing Persons" (Springer Nature). 

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SERGEANT LISSA RUOCCO

Lissa has over 27 years of experience in law enforcement and is a long-serving member of the Toronto Police Service. She has spent 18 years as a member and trainer with the elite Emergency Task Force. She was recently honored with the People's Choice award from the Society of Police and Criminal Psychology. Her career reflects sustained leadership and mentorship. She is the first female police sniper in Canada and one of the longest-serving female tactical officers in North America. She is an FBI-trained hostage negotiator, a director with the New York Association of Hostage Negotiators and an instructor at the Canadian Police College. Lissa is a Chair on the board of directors of The Haven, a mental health charitable organization that supports many first responders and has changed many lives. Since 2014, she serves as a core practitioner-partner with the HARTLab at the University of Toronto Mississauga, contributing directly to all of our research on police health, performance, and evidence-based training, including the Autonomic Modulation Training Intervention for officers exposed to PTSI. Her operational expertise and leadership are central to tailoring scientific methods for application in policing and the general population, and to piloting and implementing research-integrated training. Her composure, expertise in stress and physiological regulation, and credibility within tactical units establish her as a trusted translational leader. She also provides confidential mentorship and intensive support to officers experiencing occupational stress, facilitating recovery and sustained high-level functioning.

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​​​SARAH SCOTT, HBSC

Sarah C. Scott (she/her) is a PhD student at the University of Toronto. Her interdisciplinary research interests include stress physiology and psychology, trauma (specifically psychosocial), intersectional identity and resilience interventions. She has performed research in a variety of fields, including behavioural neuroscience, anatomical biology, decision neuroscience, clinical neuropsychology and currently stress psychology. Her current research involves investigating the role of sexual minority identity, coping and HRV. Sarah also developed a therapeutic horticulture intervention at the University of Toronto Mississauga to improve mental and physical wellness of undergraduate students. Sarah is an awardee of two Canadian Graduate Scholarships.

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Check out Sarah’s publication in the Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology: Berezuk, C., Scott, S. C., Black, S. E., & Zakzanis, K. K. (2021). Cognitive Reserve, cognition, and real-world functioning in MCI: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 43(10), 991–1005. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803395.2022.2047160

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LORIDEE DE VILLA

Loridee De Villa, a current medical student, is a recent graduate from the University of Toronto Mississauga where she majored in Health Sciences and double minored in Psychology and History of Religions. Her research interests involve investigating the intersection between physical and mental health, as well as visual neuroscience. She has previously worked on the Thought Suppression Immunity Project (TSI) with Dr. Jennifer Chan as a part of her research opportunity project (ROP) and the Autonomic Modulation Training Project (AMT) as a student assistant. She was a recipient of the 2024 University of Toronto Excellence Award and is currently performing qualitative analyses on Police and Protester interactions at Canadian protests. 

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LUCIA DI CENSO

Lucia is a current PhD student at the University of Waterloo and past graduate from the University of Toronto Mississauga where she specialized in Psychology. She was the lab manager of the HART Lab during 2025 and was involved in coordinating the Autonomic Modulation Training (AMT) project data management amongst other more general lab responsibilities. She is involved in research on psychological wellness and continues to be involved in research collaboration and manuscript preparation.

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PATRICK FAHIM

Patrick Fahim is a former thesis student in the HART lab and current PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Saskatchewan. His thesis examined the potential of differing cardiovascular biomarkers to serve as markers of wellbeing in police. While with the HART lab, Patrick received various research awards including the UTM undergraduate research grant and the University of Toronto Excellence award. During his degree, he specialized in psychology and majored in biology for health science. As his undergraduate training would suggest, Patrick constantly pursues research that bridges the disciplines of biology and psychology. Despite this move, Patrick will still be involved with the lab carrying out various projects with the team.

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AMANDA JANI

Amanda is currently a graduate student at the University of Toronto Institute of Medical Science. She graduated from the University of Toronto Mississauga where she double majored in Biology for Health Sciences and Psychology. She worked as a research assistant in the Hartlab, where she is primarily responsible for data organizing/processing and conducting analyses from the various studies that the lab has conducted. She has a wide range of research interests including: investigating the interaction between biological markers and mental health, neuroplasticity, and personality psychology. She was a recipient of the 2024 University of Toronto Excellence Award, whereby her project consisted of exploring sex and gender effects in psychobiological and psychosocial measures such as HRV and HRF among police officers.​​​

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SILAS LIENING

Silas is a fourth-year undergraduate student studying Psychology at the University of Toronto Mississauga who spearheaded the lab's 'Therapeutic Horticulture Wellbeing Program' (THWP), the first of its kind at a Canadian university, which aims to promote the conscious interaction with plants and forests as an easy tool to relieve stress and to elevate participant's mood (amongst many other benefits). Being surrounded by like-minded lab mates, he intends to pursue further education in Therapy and Counselling with the end goal of studying and practicing Clinical Psychology. He is interested in mental health promotion, OCD, the relationship between stress and addiction, as well as the One Health approach that integrates human (psychological) wellbeing with the health of other living elements within our environment. ​​

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COLLEEN LITTLE

Colleen Little, a current graduate student at  Wilfrid Laurier University. She holds an Honours BSc in Kinesiology with a minor in psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University. She worked as a research assistant in the HART Lab, primarily focusing on police recruitment strategies Autonomic Modulation Training (AMT) project, where she reached out to police services across Canada and coordinated event presentation at knowledge translation events. In addition, Colleen contributes to a literature search and summary of articles for a review of HRV metrics utilized in research within the field of policing.

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JAHDA WALDRON

Jahda is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of Toronto Mississauga, specializing in Forensic Psychology with a minor in Professional Writing and Communication. She is a volunteer research assistant at the HART Lab, contributing to the Autonomic Modulation Training (AMT) project. In this role, she processes heart rate data and extracts heart rate variability (HRV) values for analysis. 

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