Our Editors’ Stories

Mackenzie McLaughlin

Mackenzie McLaughlin is a fifth-year PhD student in the department of Exercise Sciences at the University of Toronto. His research is investigating how physical activity affects drug pharmacokinetics, primarily, how aerobic exercise affects drug distribution and metabolism via several mechanisms, all of which stem from varying disciplines, including exercise and cardiovascular physiology, immunology, and pharmacokinetics. Mackenzie’s other research interests include: ergogenic aids, sports nutrition, environmental physiology, and training for sport and performance. Mackenzie is also in his third year as President of Exercise is Medicine on Campus at U of T, a club that: 1. advocates the importance of exercise as a form of medicine; 2. promotes physician recommendations/prescriptions for exercise; 3. fosters connections between health professionals.

Research Keywords/Areas: exercise pharmacology/pharmacokinetics, cardiovascular physiology, exercise immunology, environmental physiology, ergogenic aids, sports nutrition, training for sport.

Rachel Goodman

Rachel Goodman is a fifth year PhD student in the Department of Exercise Science at the University of Toronto. She completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Western Ontario, studying Kinesiology, and went on to complete a Masters degree at the University of Toronto in the field of motor control. In her Masters work, she explored the use of visual and proprioceptive feedback during the online control of movement, with a focus on proprioceptive mechansisms. Through her masters studies, she worked with people of varying motor abilities, such as the spinal cord injury and post-stroke population. Now in her doctoral studies, she continues to explore sensory feedback integration in a healthy aging cohort, in hopes to understand how to preserve motor function within this population. Her current research interests include sensorimotor integration, proprioceptive feedback mechanisms, and healthy aging motor control.

Rachel has been elected to chair her graduate student society, as well as volunteered on numerous internal faculty committees and conference organization teams.

Priya Brahmbhatt

Priya Brahmbhatt is a seoncd year Masters student in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto and a research student at the University Health Network. Her primary research interests include exercise and oncology, cardiovascular health after cancer treatment, and exercise-related behaviour change in chronic disease populations. Her ongoing research is examining the effect of exercise-based prehabilitation interventions on treatment-related outcomes in the breast cancer population.

Research Keywords/Areas: exercise and oncology, cardiovascular health, chronic disease.

Malinda Hapuarachchi

Research Keywords/Areas: biomechanics, human movement, movement assessment and (re)training, injury prevention, performance enhancement, motor learning, movement coordination, research-to-practice.

Karen Wang

Karen Wang is a candidate in the Masters of Exercise Science (MSc) program at the University of Toronto.  She also holds a Bachelor of Kinesiology with Honours from the University of Toronto.  Her research interests include investigating physical subcultures, postcolonial theory, the political economy of sport, the culture industry, and the effects of globalization on physical cultures.  Her past research investigated the social impact of burnout in the physiotherapist population.  Her current research is focused on the commodification of physical subcultures as a colonial practice.  Other interests include qualitative research methods and social theory in physical cultures.

Research Keywords/Areas: physical subcultures, postcolonial theory, globalization of sport, political economy, culture industry, burnout, sport sociology, physical cultural studies

Cassandra Anor

Cassandra J. Anor has an Honours Bachelor of Science from Trinity College, University of Toronto with a major in neuroscience and minors in psychology and anthropology. She works in the Tartaglia Lab, Faculty of Medicine, Tanz Centre for Research in Neurodegenerative Diseases There, her research interests include the effects of aerobic exercise in patients with Alzheimer’s disease; barriers to exercise in the elderly population; and the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors and their respective neuroanatomical correlates and the prevalence of neuropsychiatric symptoms. Currently, she is also a graduate student in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto. With a particular focus on medical anthropology, her qualitative research focuses on the lived illness experiences of those diagnosed with early-onset and early-stages of various forms of dementia and their partners in Toronto, Ontario.  She’s studying the various subjectivities of these persons, as it relates to their respective conceptual understanding of time, memory, and regimes of care. She has previously served as an Editor for the Popular Undergraduate Life Science and Engineering Magazine (PULSE), a science magazine run by undergraduate and graduate students at York University and has served as an anonymous peer reviewer for scholarly journals.

Research Keywords/Areas: aerobic exercise, vascular risk factors, Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia, neuropsychiatric symptoms, neuroimaging

Arjun Sithamparapillai

Arjun Sithamparapillai is a fourth year medical student at the University of Toronto. His previous background includes an H.B.Sc. in Kinesiology and a M.Sc. in Global Health, both undertaken at McMaster University. His current research includes exploring bi-institutional delivery of international post-graduate medical education with the Toronto Global Health Emergency Medicine team. He is also involved with evaluating pediatric fracture presentation and protocol in emergency departments. Arjun continues to work as a personal trainer (CSEP-CPT) and has a previous research background in exercise metabolism with spinal cord injury populations. Arjun enjoys playing a variety of sports, being involved with student leadership, volunteering with church-run initiatives, and mentoring younger students.

Research Keywords/Areas: emergency medicine, global health, medical education, fracture, spinal cord injury physiology

Abdel Khater

Abdel Khater is a third year student in the International MD Program at San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy. Prior to moving abroad, he studied at Western University in Canada for two years, where he undertook a range of medical sciences as well as some kinesiology courses. His interests include the effect of exercise on health, such as the effect it has on children development. He is also interested in the use of exercise as a therapeutic intervention for different diseases.