Caitlin Geary (BKIN '19), lead author of article published in prestigious Journal of Physiology

Caitlin Geary (BKIN ’19), lead author of article published in prestigious Journal of Physiology

UBC KIN undergrad Caitlin Geary, BKIN 2019 published in prestigious Journal of Physiology

Caitlin Geary is an Indigenous alumnus who graduated with her BKIN in May, 2019. While she was an undergraduate, she started to work in Professor Bill Sheel’s Health and Integrative Physiology Lab the summer before her fourth year, after receiving an NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award.

When asked about her research she states, “a lot of our understanding of respiratory exercise physiology is based on studies conducted exclusively in men. There is a need to increase female representation in physiology studies and gain a better understanding of the male and female respiratory system.” Intrigued by what she learned over the summer Caitlin undertook a KIN 499 directed studies project, under Dr. Sheel’s supervision, to look at the differences in diaphragm fatigue between men and women during an inspiratory breathing task performed at equal intensities. Her research built upon previous work done in the lab.

Under the careful mentorship of PhD candidate Joseph Welch, Caitlin learned how to do the data collection and analysis and presented her findings at the American College of Sport’s Medicine Annual Meeting in Florida. She attributes her success to her team and says “Everyone in the lab offered their help during this project and they were first in line to be subjects for test trials. I knew I could go to any of them when I had questions. This study was a team effort.”

All told, her research project took over a year to complete from start of data collection through to having her findings published in an article titled, “Diaphragm fatigue and inspiratory muscle metaboreflex in men and women matched for absolute diaphragmatic work during pressure-threshold loading,” in the Journal of Physiology. The journal is considered to be one of the world’s top peer-reviewed academic journals in its field, and Caitlin is listed as the primary author.

Caitlin explains, “we investigated whether there were differences in diaphragm fatigue and blood pressure response between men and women during an inspiratory breathing task performed at equal intensities. Subjects were in a seated position and breathed into a mouthpiece against a resistance for five minutes. Performing the task feels similar to sucking a thick smoothie through a straw. In conclusion, we found the severity of diaphragm fatigue was not different between men and women following the five-minute breathing task. Importantly, women demonstrated a lower blood pressure response than in men despite performing significantly greater work relative their body mass.”

Geary, C. M., Welch, J. F., McDonald, M. R., Peters, C. M., Leahy, M. G., Reinhard, P. A. and Sheel, A. W. (2019), Diaphragm fatigue and inspiratory muscle metaboreflex in men and women matched for absolute diaphragmatic work during pressure‐threshold loading. J Physiol, 597: 4797-4808. doi:10.1113/JP278380

The findings from this study are important, as they suggest that significant differences exist in diaphragm function between the sexes that have distinct cardiovascular implications. As one example, the results cause researchers and doctors to ask what the implications are for ventilating men and women in the ICU? As well, for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the findings from this study suggest that pulmonary rehabilitation programmes should differ between men and women and consider that women may tolerate greater loads for a given reduction in diaphragm function.

Caitlin received a Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada Undergraduate Research Award to complete the work described in this article. The School of Kinesiology congratulates Caitlin for her outstanding achievements. Congratulations also go out to Joseph Welch and Professor William Sheel for their key investigative work, their co-authorship and their mentorship. We look forward to seeing what Caitlin goes on to do next in her academic career.

If you are interested in reading the peer reviewed article, click here .

Eatmon, Rebekah

BHK’09, MD’18

Rebekah is a proud First Nation alumnus of the School of Kinesiology (BHKIN 2009 in the Health Sciences stream) and of the UBC Faculty of Medicine. Kinesiology married her love for sports and her passion for health. She played competitive sports throughout her high school and undergraduate years, and had known since she was a child that she wanted to be a doctor. KIN was the perfect foundation for Rebekah to prepare her for med school and recalls her years in Kinesiology fondly, “I think Dr. Warburton’s courses in exercise physiology were my favourite!” Rebekah credits KIN’s smaller class sizes, as well as the team-based learning format in helping her easily adapt to her current work and learning environments in medicine. She comments that “the KIN program also had the flexibility that allowed me to pursue Medicine requirements.”

Rebekah is an Indigenous Family Physician serving both urban and rural Indigenous peoples. She is Tsimshian from Lax Kw’alaams, from the Raven Clan on her father’s side and Métis on her mother’s side. She works for Lu’ma Medical Centre in Vancouver, as well as Carrier Sekani Family Services in Northern BC, where she is proud to deliver culturally safe care to her patients. She is a recent graduate of the Indigenous Family Medicine program, where she was a successful resident in multiple leadership positions. She won the BCCFP Resident Leadership Award as well as the CCFP Indigenous Family Medicine Resident Award in 2020. She enjoys helping to implement TRC recommendations at a University level. At present she is an Indigenous Advisor at the Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health at UBC, helping to expand cultural safety training and support at UBC.

While she was a Family Medicine Resident at UBC in the Vancouver Indigenous site she was part of a small distributed program, with strong ties to Indigenous communities. “I learned how our preceptors help to build strength at a community level by building up individuals. As a multitude of our patients have experienced trauma, building safe spaces in health care is of utmost importance,” she says.

Recognizing that Canada’s medical system historically participated in the oppression and marginalization of Indigenous peoples through exclusion, discrimination, and lack of Indigenous healthcare providers, Rebekah believes that she can contribute to reconciliation efforts in the health care system through various committee and volunteer work that aim to enact change at a structural level.

Aaron Rodriguez-Correa

Future Alumni Committee Lead 2019/20

Aaron is an active student leader in the final year of his studies at UBC’s School of Kinesiology. As a transfer student, he found new connections and communities within the School, and is grateful for the opportunities that KIN has provided him.

He has served in a work-learn position for KIN’s Student Engagement and Co-op programs, and is now a lead for the newly formed “KUS Future Alumni Committee”. This committee is comprised of students who wish to spread awareness on the importance of student-alumni relations. Aaron sees his new role as an extension of his prior campus leadership work, and looks forward to bringing students and alumni together. For him, the concept of alumni means building community, and wanted to be a part of this new pilot program in order to educate students on the benefits of interacting with the diverse KIN alumni population.

Aaron’s Future Alumni Committee is planning to collaborate with the Young Alumni advisory on a variety of events, including social gatherings, Q&A panels and philanthropic activities with alumni. With first-hand experience on the positive impact that mentorship can have on students, the goal of these events is to provide students with opportunities to learn about what an alumnus is, and how they can tap into a larger KIN community. He hopes to demonstrate the benefits of alumni mentorship, the importance of maintaining links to the extended KIN circle, and to model leadership and philanthropy.

Aaron has a love for content creation, and currently produces his own podcast called “Beneath Vancouver”. He is also passionate about digital marketing and storytelling. Although his career vision has changed multiple times, he is excited about the many different opportunities that are open to him upon graduation.

Nikol Grishin

KUS President 2019-2020

Nikol is in her final undergraduate year of a health science stream in the School of Kinesiology. She is the current KUS president and works with the first all-female KUS council in 10 years. When she initially applied to UBC, she planned to enter science with the vision of pursuing medicine in the long run. She’s happy to say that she ended up in Kinesiology and states, “I am beyond grateful this happened as I don’t think that I would be the student or the leader that I am today if it wasn’t for this school.”

When asked what her most memorable experience has been on campus to date she says, “it’s been serving on the KUS executive council.” Nikol became involved in the KUS in her first year working as the Recreation Sports Coordinator and in third year she was elected as VP Finance. She adds, “These KUS opportunities have permitted me to become more engaged with the School community and to work and learn alongside other like-minded student leaders.”

When Nikol is not studying, applying for med school, or working on the multitude of KUS events, she spends what free time she has volunteering and giving back. She currently works with a person who lives with a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and assists him with basic motor skills. She says “the individual that I spend time with … reminds me of the true importance of life… He teaches me to smile and be positive, to love others and to accept being loved.”

Nikol is a strong believer that everyone needs to be their own #1 supporter in order to take the first few steps towards attaining goals and dreams. While Nikol is still focused on pursuing a medical degree, her time at UBC has also allowed her to explore different career options she hadn’t previously thought about, and to remain open to other possibilities.

Distinguished Speaker Series: Challenges, Complexities & Compromises – Australian Aboriginal Sport History

This Distinguished Speakers Series presents leading sports historians who discuss new ventures in kinesiology research and practice.

Dr. Phillips is a Professor of Sport History, School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences at the University of Queensland. On September 18, 2019, Dr. Phillips presented on his collaborations, research, and writing about Aboriginal Sport History.

Describing his research as one of the most challenging and rewarding opportunities in his scholastic career, he explains how he and his Aboriginal collaborators employ appropriate theoretical and conceptual lenses and strength-based approaches to writing about the history, and how this contributes to building stronger, more empowered and resilient communities.

New “Exercise and Depression Toolkit” integrates exercise into mental healthcare delivery in Canada

Graduate student Krista Glowacki has developed an innovative Exercise and Depression Toolkit for Canadian healthcare providers who work with adults with depression. The kit is designed to support healthcare professionals in exploring exercise as a treatment option for depression in collaboration with their patients.

As a Kinesiology PhD candidate and registered occupational therapist who worked for the Canadian Mental Health Association with adults with a diagnosed mental illness, Krista’s research focuses broadly on the relationship between physical activity and mental health, and she has led the development of this project under the supervision of UBC Kinesiology faculty member, Dr. Guy Faulkner.

Inspired by her experiences working in the mental health field, the three-part Exercise and Depression Toolkit is an effort to begin integrating exercise into healthcare services delivery, as access to exercise therapy is not yet standardized in most mental health services in Canada. “After personal and family experiences with mental illness, I started recognizing the benefits of engaging in regular exercise for managing mental health,” she says. “When working as an Occupational Therapist, I saw benefits for individuals who would engage in our Active Recovery program. People became more confident, socialized more, and had noticeable improvement and changes with their mood.”

According to the development team, this toolkit was built through a rigorous evidence-based process that involved extensive consultation with adults who have lived with depression, health care providers, exercise professionals and researchers. “Ultimately, we hope that the Exercise and Depression Toolkit will be a starting point to exercise becoming a utilized and accessible treatment [option] to help improve the lives of Canadians living with depression.”

For more information about how and why the toolkit was developed, you can read the academic paper published in the October issue of “Mental Health and Physical Activity” journal here, as well as the article published in Centre for Active Living here.

Carswell, Lindsay

Bachelor of Human Kinetics, 1995 (Stream: Leisure & Sport Administration)

Many of our alumni have careers that provide them with the power and potential to change lives. As director of the Ride to Conquer Cancer at the BC Cancer Foundation, Lindsay Carswell has had the privilege of building a career which enables him to make a lasting difference in the lives of others. By overseeing BC’s largest mass participation fundraising event for the past five years, Lindsay has had the opportunity to promote cycling to thousands of British Columbians looking to make a difference in the fight against cancer.

A great number of participants in the Ride are returning to cycling for the first time since childhood. Many are new to sport altogether. One of the things that Lindsay finds so gratifying about his job is hearing from people who discover road biking as a new pastime and have adopted it as a lifestyle change that leads them on a path to better health. Of course, the fact that the Ride raises millions of dollars annually to fund ground-breaking cancer research is incredibly rewarding too.

After graduating with a Bachelor of Human Kinetics at UBC in 1995, Lindsay enrolled in the Sport and Event Marketing post-diploma program at George Brown College in Toronto. For fifteen years of his career, he was involved in the marketing and business side of major sports as he worked closely with corporate clients in their efforts to reach consumers in meaningful ways. This immersed him in the worlds of ice hockey, auto racing, beach volleyball, pro football and even the Olympic Games.

Lindsay was a member of the Thunderbird varsity cross country and track & field teams during his time at UBC. He continues to run regularly, and looks to inspire others to adopt this lifelong pastime by recently starting up an elementary school cross country program in East Vancouver.

Dr. Dick Mosher inducted to Canada West Hall of Fame

On Saturday October 12, 2019 UBC held a recognition ceremony celebrating Dr. Dick Mosher’s induction into the inaugural class of the Canada West Hall of Fame.

Dick was a 12-time CW champion, nine-time national champion, and was named national Coach of the Year on three occasions. Not only was Dr. Mosher a celebrated coach, he was also a celebrated Academic, retiring in August 2012 from the School of Kinesiology. In 1975 Dick became a faculty member in the School of Physical Education and Recreation (now the School of Kinesiology) UBC. Dick enjoyed a scholarly research career, with his academic responsibilities for the last eighteen years of his career co-ordinating the Masters in Human Kinetics, MHK (now Masters in Kinesiology) program, along with the development of the Coaching Science option.

Photo credit: Bob Frid

This program has attracted numerous students including varsity athletes from across Canada, as well as international students from China, Japan, England, Scotland, Portugal, Slovakia, Australia, and the United States.
The program continues to be a proven success to this day, due to the efforts and influence of Dick. Including his days as an undergraduate student in the School, Dick has spent fifty years of his life at UBC as a scholar, researcher, mentor, advisor, administrator, supervisor, leader, all the while engaging in a remarkable coaching career.

Global News Interview

Sept. 17, 2019 – Dr. Guy Faulkner and PhD candidate Negin Riazi sit down with Global News BC to talk about the premiere of the documentary, “Running Free: Children’s Independent Mobility” and the benefits of letting children ‘run free’. Watch it here!

New Paper Out

Sept. 13, 2019 – New paper out by Dr. Lira Yun, PhD student Matthew Fagan, and Dr. Guy Faulkner examining whether changes in physical activity predicted reductions in depression. Read it here!