Postdoc’s
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Sara King-Dowling was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with CHEMP who worked on the CHAMPION and iPLAY studies until the Fall of 2019. She completed her PhD in Kinesiology in the INfant and Child Health (INCH) Lab at McMaster University. Her research interests include understanding how motor coordination impacts physical activity and health-related physical fitness in children with neurodevelopmental delays and chronic health conditions.
Sara is currently a Research Associate at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Division of Oncology
Patrick McPhee completed his PhD in 2018 in Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Jan Willem Gorter. Patrick’s Doctoral research investigated cardiovascular disease and associated risk factors in adolescents and adults with cerebral palsy (CP). Patrick completed a CIHR funded Fellowship in the Department of Pediatrics at McMaster University, investigating 24-hour movement behaviours (physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep) and their association with physical and mental health in children with chronic medical conditions or disabilities under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons.
Patrick is currently a Health Research Methodologist in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences and Assistant Professor (part-time) in the School of Rehabilitation Science. His current research focuses on process and outcome evaluation for children and families in Ontario’s Autism Program. His teaching interests are in quantitative research methods, evidence-based practice, and theories and frameworks for health-related research in individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders.
Katharine completed her PhD in Kinesiology at McMaster University, followed by two Postdoctoral Fellowships at the Universities of British Columbia and Toronto. As a Postdoctoral Research Fellow with CHEMP, she worked on the SKIP and CHAMPION studies, examining the relationshipo between exercise blood pressures and resting left ventricular and vascular health in school-aged children.
Katharine is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at Michigan State University, as well as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist and the Director of the Exercise & Cardiovascular Health Outcomes Lab.
PhDs
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Bhanu completed his MSc and HBSc at the University of Toronto. His first foray into clinical research was as an undergraduate summer research student at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. There, Bhanu learned about the prevention and management of sport-related brain injury, working in an environment that married research with clinical care. With a better understanding of how research and clinical care complement one another, Bhanu then headed to the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute to complete his MSc in cognitive neurorehabilitation, where he continued to learn about and from brain injury patients. While completing his MSc, Bhanu studied the effects of cognitive stimulation on brain injury recovery, while growing increasingly curious about the role of exercise and nutrition on the injured brain. With his longstanding personal and newly formed scientific interest in the role of exercise and nutrition on brain injury recovery, Bhanu joined the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program to further his interests as a PhD student under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons.
Bhanu successfully defended his doctorate on July 27, 2021, and continues his work on the ConExNet study as a post-doctoral fellow with CHEMP.
While with CHEMP, Hilary worked on the School-age Kids’ health from early Investment in Physical activity (SKIP) study. This was a follow up to the Health Outcomes and Physical activity in Preschoolers (HOPP) study, which was part of Hilary’s MSc work. Hilary defended her Master’s thesis in Kinesiology entitled “Tracking of Physical Activity and Fitness in Preschool Children” on August 18, 2014 under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons. Prior to her time at McMaster, Hilary completed her undergraduate degree in Kinesiology at Dalhousie University. She first became interested in pediatric health research while working on the Children’s Lifestyle and School-performance Study (CLASS II) in Nova Scotia, which led her to come the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program.
Hilary successfully defended her PhD on September 23, 2020, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons.
Yasmeen Mezil was a doctoral student in the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster University, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons. She has a BSc (Honours) in Health Sciences and MSc in Kinesiology , both of which she completed at Brock University.
Over the course of her undergraduate studies, Yasmeen became particularly interested in the effects of exercise on bone, which is why she pursued her masters in Kinesiology. Although she focused on adults for her thesis, she assisted her colleagues in their studies and that is when she had the privilege of working with children in the research context. She enjoyed the experience so much, not just because children are fun to work with, but found that they are very enthusiastic and determined to give their best performance when they participate in a study, and she appreciated it. Therefore she chose to pursue her PhD in child health research, where she explored the physiological dynamics of exercise that occur between bone, muscle and the immune system in children.
Yasmeen successfully defended her doctorate on April 6th, 2020.
Nicole Proudfoot grew up in Nova Scotia, where she attended St. Francis Xavier University and obtained a Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics with Honours. She then completed graduate work at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Maureen MacDonald (Kinesiology) which focused on cardiovascular responses to exercise in children with congenital heart disease. After finishing her Master’s degree, Nicole joined the Child Health & Exercise Medicine team as a research coordinator while working on her PhD part-time under the co-supervision of Dr. McDonald and Dr. Brian Timmons. Her main project with CHEMP was the Health Outcomes and Physical Activity in Preschoolers (HOPP) study.
Nicole successfully defended her doctorate in January, 2020.
Master’s Graduates
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Liz completed a BSc (Hons.) degree in Biology at Queen’s University before joining the Children’s Health & Exercise Program to pursue her Master’s of Science under the supervision of Dr. Joyce Obeid. She worked on the CHAMPION study, focusing on assessing inflammation and physical activity in children with a chronic inflammatory disease.
Liz successfully defended her Master’s degree on September 22/22 and is currently pursuing a PhD with Dr. Jeremy Hirota at McMaster University.
Inna completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University where she obtained a Bachelor of Science with a specialization in Biochemistry. She joined CHEMP under the supervision of Dr. Joyce Obeid, where her research was focused on developing an understanding of how exercise plays a role in modulating the immune system of healthy children. Inna’s interest in child health stems from the understanding that many adult onset diseases are a consequence of unhealthy lifestyle choices during growth and development.
Inna completed her Master’s and defended in June, 2020. She is currently attending medical school at the University of Toronto.
Mila completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University where she obtained a Bachelor of Life Sciences with Honours and a minor in French language studies. During her undergraduate degree, Mila worked with CHEMP as a summer research assistant and later as a senior thesis student.
As a Master’s student in the Medical Sciences Program under the supervision of Dr. Joyce Obeid, Mila’s research focused on the effects of exercise on the immune system of children with cancer and various inflammatory diseases.
Mila earned her Master’s degree in June, 2020, and is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of Montreal.
Emily completed her Master’s degree in Medical Sciences in 2021 under the supervision of Dr. Joyce Obeid.
She is currently attending medical school at the University of Western Ontario.
Roxy completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University where she obtained a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology with Honours. Towards the end of her undergraduate work, Roxy completed a research practicum which exposed her to research looking at the effects of physical activity in sedentary older adults. Here, Roxy had the privilege of working with older adult participants and was able to see firsthand the benefits exercise can have on this vulnerable population. Her interest in clinical populations and desire to explore the impact of exercise led Roxy to pursue graduate studies in the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons and Dr. Joyce Obeid, Roxy’s main project was CHAMPION (Cardiovascular Health in children with a chronic inflAMmatory condition: role of Physical activity, fitness and inflammatiON) study.
Roxy completed her Master of Science degree in March, 2020, and is currently a Research Coordinator.
Nick defended his Master’s thesis entitled ‘Biomarkers of Cardiovascular Health in Childhood Survivors of a Brain Tumour and the Feasability of Exercise Training’ on July 24, 2014, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons.
Nick also completed an undergraduate thesis in the Child Health & Exercise Program. He is currently working as a physiotherapist in Hamilton, Ontario.
Rachel defended her Master’s thesis in Kinesiology, entitled ‘The Safety and Feasability of Exercise Training for Youth with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: An Evaluation of Fitness, Function and Perceptions Towards Physical Activity’ on August 27, 2014, under the supervision of Dr. Brian Timmons.
Rachel also completed her undergraduate thesis project in the Child Health & Exercise Medicine Program. This work resulted in a publication entitled ‘Sedentary Time and Screen-based Sedentary Behaviours of Children with a Chronic Disease.
After completing her Master’s, Rachel studied Nursing at U of T and is currently working as an RN.