About Arthros
Our story
Arthros was founded on a straightforward observation: in Canada, the average rheumatology patient waits years for a diagnosis, then receives a prescription — and very little else. The evidence for structured exercise therapy in inflammatory rheumatic disease is robust; the infrastructure to deliver it at scale does not exist.
We are building that infrastructure. FlareForward is our first product: a suite of condition-specific virtual exercise medicine protocols, delivered by certified allied health professionals, and embedded into existing pharma Patient Support Programmes, insurer wellness benefits, and employer health programmes.
We are not building an app. We are building the operational backbone of rheumatology non-pharmacological care in Canada — the team, the protocols, the technology, and the evidence to sustain it.
Mission
To make evidence-based exercise medicine the standard of care for every Canadian living with inflammatory rheumatic disease.
Approach
We partner with the organisations already in contact with patients — pharma PSPs, insurers, employers — and embed FlareForward as a value-added service rather than asking patients to find us themselves.
Registered
Arthros Inc. is incorporated in Ontario, Canada. Our operations, data, and clinical delivery are Canadian.
Founders
Angelo Papachristos
B.Sc., B.Sc.(PT), MBA, ACPAC
Angelo Papachristos is an Advanced Practice Physiotherapist (APP) and ACPAC-trained clinician with nearly three decades of experience at St. Michael’s Hospital (Unity Health Toronto). He has made significant contributions to the care of rheumatic diseases since the early 2000s, specializing in seronegative spondyloarthritis, early inflammatory arthritis, and inflammatory muscle disease. He played a crucial role in developing the Myositis Clinic, where he established clinical pathways and standardized assessments. Recently, he was instrumental in launching rapid access clinics for lupus and spondyloarthritis. Angelo lectures extensively across North America on these topics and is a full member of the SPARTAN Association. Additionally, he holds a Clinical Lecturer status position at the University of Toronto, contributing to the rheumatology faculty. He graduated from U of T with a B.Sc.(PT) in 1998 and completed the ACPAC program in 2005 as well as an MBA from Schulich in 2007.
Sameer Chunara
B.Sc.(Hons.), B.Ed., M.Sc.(PT), ACPAC
Sameer Chunara is one of the only Advanced Clinician Practitioner in Arthritis Care (ACPAC) graduates in Canada who practices in an outpatient ambulatory community clinic setting. He is a highly motivated healthcare professional with over 18 years of experience in advanced practice physiotherapy. Sameer manages a complex clinical caseload that includes orthopedics, seronegative spondyloarthropathies, and other inflammatory conditions related to rheumatic diseases. He completed his ACPAC in 2016 after earning his Master's in Physiotherapy from McMaster University. As an entrepreneur, he owns and manages two multidisciplinary practices in downtown Toronto, leveraging his expertise in healthcare operations, management, and strategy. Sameer is actively involved in developing and integrating AI-powered musculoskeletal assessment tools to improve chronic disease outcomes. He is also an invited conference speaker, a mentor to physiotherapy residents, and a participant in provincial, federal, and global health stakeholder round-tables, including discussions with the rheumatology faculty.
Hafiz Kanji
CTO
Hafiz Kanji is a technology entrepreneur and product leader with a track record of building and scaling technology platforms in highly regulated industries. He brings deep expertise in product development, data systems, and applied AI — with experience spanning fintech, alternative data, and AI software at a global scale. Hafiz has held senior leadership roles across some of the world's most recognized financial technology platforms. As Head of Product at the world's largest alternative data platform, he helped grow the product to serve nearly one million financial and banking users worldwide before its acquisition by Nasdaq, where he subsequently served as VP of Product. He has also held VP-level roles leading Data and AI at a leading online investment funding platform, and served as Head of Product for an AI software company in finance. Earlier in his career, he founded a startup in the automotive space that was acquired by a PE-backed claims management platform — establishing his credentials as both a builder and an entrepreneur. Today, Hafiz serves as fractional CTO for growth-stage technology companies operating in highly regulated environments, and is co-founder and CTO of Arthros.ca, where he leads the technical strategy and product development of the platform's AI-powered clinical tools. He holds a B.A. in Economics from York University and has completed continuing education programs at MIT and the University of Toronto.
Interested in working with us? We're hiring — or get in touch.