Rachel Downey

Rachel Downey received a B.Sc. in Psychology from the University of Guelph, and an M.Sc. in Rehabilitation Science from the University of Toronto, where she evaluated the clinical utility of a sideline concussion assessment tool (SCAT3) in varsity athletes. She is currently completing her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at Concordia University under the supervision of Dr. Karen Li. Her current graduate work is investigating the effect of aerobic exercise, gross motor flexibility, or cognitive training on mobility outcomes in older adults. Using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRs), we hope to gain insight into the underlying neural mechanisms driving changes in mobility across these different training protocols.
 

Vi Dam

Vi Dam completed her BSc in nursing at the Université de Montréal and is a registered nurse in Quebec and Ontario. She is currently enrolled in the INDI PhD program, Pure Science at Concordia University where she graduated with an MSc (2015) from the Department of Exercise Science. Her past nursing experience includes working in the cardiology unit at Ottawa’s Hôpital Montfort. More recently, she has worked as a research nurse for studies conducted at the McGill University Nutrition and Performance Laboratory. Ms. Dam has had the opportunity to train under experts in the areas of age and obesity-related dysfunction, chronic diseases, and diabetes research at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. Under the supervision of Dr. Sylvia Santosa at PERFORM’s Clinical Analysis Suite, she is now investigating how obesity-related immune function in fat tissue affects metabolism and future disease risk such as insulin resistance and cardiovascular disease.
 

Jessica Murphy

Jessica Murphy received a BSc and MSc in nutritional science from McGill University, and is currently a PhD student in Concordia’s Individualized Program. She is conducting her research under the supervision of Dr. Sylvia Santosa and Dr. José Morais within the Department of Exercise Science and PERFORM’s Clinical Analysis Suite. Her graduate work is investigating whether the period of obesity development (childhood-onset versus adult-onset) influences the way adipose tissue and skeletal muscle respond to a lifestyle weight loss protocol.
 

Julian Chiarella

Julian Chiarella obtained his B.Sc degree in 2013 from Queen’s University in Kingston (Ontario) with a major in Psychology and Life Sciences. He is presently finalizing his M.Sc. studies at the same institution and I will be starting his PhD in Clinical Psychology at Concordia University this September. HIs research interests lie in neuroimaging in the context of mental health and underlying epigenetic processes. For his Master’s thesis, he is studying the neural and epigenetic correlates of depression and trauma in adolescents. He is extremely grateful to have received the PERFORM doctoral award, which he will use to support his PhD studies in which he will be further trained in PET and fMRI imaging as well as in lifestyle measures. Specifically, at PERFORM, he will be studying the role of the serotonin 1A receptor in the neural processing of negative emotions, attentional control and physical fitness.
 

Oren Weiner

Oren Weiner received his B.A. in Psychology from Ryerson University in 2011. He then worked full-time during the subsequent year as an overnight polysomnographic technician in a diagnostic sleep medicine clinic. Mr. Weiner began his graduate training at Concordia in 2012. He is currently completing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Thanh Dang-Vu. His research program uses EEG to examine the cross-frequency coupling (CFC) of distinct brain oscillations during sleep in relation to cognition and overnight memory consolidation between healthy and cognitively impaired older adults. Mr. Weiner’s research will also incorporate multi-modal neuro-imaging data obtained using MRI, PET, and MEG scanning. An overarching aim of his research is to provide evidence for using measures of brain activity during sleep as non-invasive bio-markers of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of advancing both the diagnosis and longitudinal monitoring of neurodegeneration in the elderly.
 

Jessica Murphy

Jessica Murphy received a BSc and MSc in nutritional science from McGill University, and is currently a graduate student in Concordia’s Department of Exercise Science. She is conducting her research under the supervision of Dr. Sylvia Santosa within PERFORM’s Nutrition, Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory. Her graduate work will investigate whether the period of obesity development (childhood-onset versus adult-onset) influences the metabolic and cellular responses to a lifestyle weight loss protocol.