Graduate student Jasmine Kotsiopoulos wins 2025 Ed Whitlock Fellowship for research on aging and motivation

Jasmine Kotsiopoulos, a PhD student in clinical psychology at Concordia, has been awarded the School of Health’s 2025 Ed Whitlock Fellowship for her research on how older adults adapt to chronic illness through motivational strategies that help them remain physically active.

Named in honour of the record-setting Canadian marathoner, the $5,000 fellowship supports graduate students whose research promotes seniors’ well-being through active living. Kotsiopoulos is supervised by Carsten Wrosch, professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the Centre for Research in Human Development (CRDH).

Her work has already contributed to a successful five-year grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), awarded to Wrosch to further investigate the “lines of defense” model of motivational regulation in aging. Wrosch contributed to this theory, which was originally introduced by his colleague Jutta Heckhausen, who joins the project as an international collaborator.

“The model explains how older adults respond to age-related challenges by adjusting their goals and behaviours — for example, by reducing the intensity of physical activity instead of abandoning it altogether,” Wrosch says. “Jasmine’s early work helped validate aspects of this model, and we’re excited to explore it more rigorously with new data.” Kotsiopoulos will continue contributing to the study as part of her doctoral research.  
 
“Receiving an award inspired by Ed Whitlock’s legacy is especially meaningful,” she says. “It aligns so closely with my research on supporting physical activity and quality of life in later adulthood. It motivates me to continue bridging academic insight with real-world impact to help older adults lead healthier, more engaged lives.”