CSEP Academic Member Guide

The Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology (CSEP) is composed of professionals in exercise physiology, biochemistry, fitness and health. CSEP is the recognized authority in Canada for translating advances in exercise science into the improved health, fitness, and performance of Canadians.

Our Academic members include world-leading exercise scientists. The Academic member guide below highlights some of our Academic members research, their advice to current graduate students, and illustrates how each of them contribute to CSEP's evolving, evidence-based guidelines.

Dr. David Behm

Memorial University of Newfoundland

Dr. Behm's research can be described as applied neuromuscular physiology and sport or exercise science. Studies include examining changes in muscule activation and muscle contractile properties with resistance training, stretching, balance, stability, fatigue and other related topics.

Dr. Philip Chilibeck

University of Saskatchewan

Dr. Chilibeck's area of research involves the application of exercise and nutritional interventions to three main areas:

Improving musculoskeletal health (ex. prevention of osteoporosis and sarcopenia)
Improving metabolic health (ex. prevention of metabolic syndrome and diabetes)
Improving strength or endurance performance

Dr. David Clarke

Simon Fraser University

Dr. Clarke seeks to develop predictive models that enable the optimization of training programs to achieve health, fitness, performance or rehabilitation goals. His research draws upon tools and concepts from exercise physiology, biomedical engineering and systems biology.

Dr. Todd Duhamel

University of Manitoba

Dr. Duhamel's research examines the influence of exercise for improving cardiovascular and metabolic health. Research includes basic exercise physiology and clinical applications of exercise for promoting health.

Dr. Lora Giangregorio

University of Waterloo

Dr. Giangregorio's research team in the Bone Health and Exercise Science (BonES) lab studies how to reduce fracture risk and enhance mobility and physical activity participation in individuals with osteoporosis, or older adults in general. She conducts studies to understand how to better assess fracture risk or physical activity levels, and clinical trials of exercise or rehabilitation interventions. The BonES lab also develops, implements and evaluates strategies to get research into practice

Dr. David Harper

University of the Fraser Valley

Dr. Harper investigates the health benefits of ketogenic nutrition.

Dr. Thomas Hawke

McMaster University

Muscle is critical for our physical capacities and whole-body metabolism. Do changes that happen to muscle in diseases, like diabetes, impact the severity of the disease and the complications that develop? Dr. Hawke's lab is answering questions like these.

Dr. Audrey Hicks

McMaster University

Dr. Hicks studies the physiological and health-related benefits of physical activity in populations with neurological impairment (ex. spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis). She is also interested in the development and application of physical activity guidelines.

Dr. Ira Jacobs

University of Toronto

Dr. Jacobs research has been an eclectic mix of applications of exercise physiology to understanding human performance and survival capabilities and limitations, and the development of strategies to counteract limitations.

Kelvin Jones

University of Alberta

It has been known for a number of years that the nervous system and the neuromuscular system adapt and change to changes in activity patterns. This basic understanding has not been widely tested in cases of neurologic or neuromusuclar impairments. We study a neurodegenerative condition called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and how exercise or sedentary behaviour impacts the progression of this disease.

Jennifer Kuk

York University

Currently, Kuk's laboratory is investigating the relationship between obesity and health through clinical human studies and epidemiological approaches. In particular, she is interested in understanding why some individuals with obesity maintain a healthy profile, while others develop disease. Further, she is currently working on factors that identify successful weight management in adult and pediatric bariatric patient populations.

Dr. Louis Mattar

Vancouver Island University

Dr. Mattar's previous research involved neural control of blood vessels, particularly in hypertension.

Dr. Catherine Notarius

University of Toronto

Dr. Notarius' research has focused on how neurogentic vasoconstriction contributes to exercise intolerance in patients with heart failure. This stemmed from the novel detection of an inverse relationship between VO2peak and muscule sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) at rest and an augmented muscle metaboreflex MSNA to handgrip in patients with the lowest VO2peak. By acquiring MSNA signals from the opposite limb during 1-legged cycling, she found that MSNA rose in HF patients but fell in matched controls. Peak MSNA during exercise correlated inversely with VO2peak. She is now studying autonomic reflex abnormalities in HF and if targeted exercise training can reverse these.

Dr. Christopher Perry

York University

Dr. Perry is a researcher of movement disorders and the metabolic basis of muscle fitness. Translating mitochondrial bioenergetics and redox biology to health and disease. Focus on metabolic basis of muscle weakness disorders such as muscular dystrophy and chemotherapy-induced cachexia.

Michael Plyley

Brock University

Mr. Plyley's research is aimed at developing a better understanding (a) of how the geometrical arrangement of the capillaries and muscle fibers impacts the supply of oxygen and nutrients to, and the removal of waste byproducts from, skeletal muscle in health (including training and detraining) and disease, and (b) the etiology of angiogensis in skeletal muscle, and its relationship to various fiber attributes, such as fibre size (area, perimeter, surface area, shape), satellite cell activity and positioning, mitochrondrial supply and location, and trans-sarcolemmal transport mechanisms and sites.

Dr. Andrew Robertson

University of Toronto

Dr. Robertson examines the relationship between cardiovascular and brain health. Specifically, he examines the impact of aerobic-based training on cerebral hemodynamics during the recovery from a stroke. He uses a combination of MRI, ultrasound and continuous blood pressure monitoring to obtain a comprehensive assessment of vascular health.

Dr. Bill Sheel

University of British Columbia

The long-term objective of Dr. Sheel's research program is to understand how the human respiratory and cardiovascular systems interact, respond and adapt to physiologically relevant stressors such as exercise and hypoxia. Recent work has been focused on male-female differences with respect to pulmonary mechanics.

CSEP is always looking for innovative minds like the ones listed above to compliment our ever-evolving field. Join now, and be apart of this exciting community of scientists.