Training: Phavalan attended medical school at the University of Limerick in Ireland. He completed his neurology residency at the University of Toronto, where he served as co-chief resident in his final year. Subsequently, he received his subspecialty training in vascular neurology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. He later completed an MSc in quality improvement and patient safety at the University of Toronto.

Research/QI: He is passionate about employing quality improvement strategies to improve access, efficiency, efficacy, and safety of hyperacute stroke treatments. He is currently working on a project implementing telestroke to improve door-to-needle times in thrombolysis. Outside of his work in acute stroke, he is interested in implementing personalized medicine in the secondary prevention of stroke and is currently leading a grant-funded study implementing CYP2C19 testing for clopidogrel resistance in patients with stroke. He is also the site principal investigator for the LIBREXIA STROKE trial.

Awards: He is a recipient of an American Academy of Neurology Futures in Neurologic Research Scholarship (2021), the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Professional Development Grant (2022), and the University of Toronto Postgraduate Medical Trainee Leadership Award (2023).

Professional: He is currently appointed as a Vascular Neurologist and Clinician in Quality and Innovation at the University Health Network and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He is board-certified in Neurology in both Canada (Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada) and the United States (American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology). He serves as the fellowship supervisor for the UHN Stroke/Neurovascular Fellowship.

Publications: He has several peer-reviewed publications indexed in PubMed.

In Private: He met his wife, Priya, an anesthesiologist, in 2009, and they have a 1-year-old son. He is a die-hard Toronto Raptors fan and can be found attending home games whenever possible.