Alumni

Alexandra Goudreau - MSc.
Alex completed her MSc. with the Adamo Lab in 2023. After starting as the PLACENTA project manager in 2018, she began her undergraduate thesis in the fall of 2019. Her research focused on the relationship between physical activity during pregnancy and the polarization of the placental immune system.

Robert Nitescu - Undergraduate Student
Robert graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. He started working with the Adamo Lab in May of 2021 to further his experience in research. He helped with data extraction for the SmartMoms-Canada Project, and also volunteered in the wet lab. Robert is interested in human anatomy and physiology and is looking to pursue a surgical career in the field of pediatrics. Outside of volunteering, Robert enjoys swimming, playing soccer, cooking, and hanging out with his dogs!

Shuhiba Mohammad - Ph.D. Candidate
Shuhiba joined Dr. Adamo's team in January 2017 to continue her passion for understanding how the placenta influences fetal programming and impacts health for a lifetime. She completed a MSc in Experimental Medicine ('16) under the supervision of Dr. Anne Croy at Queen's University (Kingston, ON). Her thesis sought to examine the pathogenesis of Salmonella infection during pregnancy using a mouse model. Inspired by the fascinating roles of the placenta in fetal development, she joined Adamo Lab hoping to understand how physical activity impacts placental biology.

Like many Adamo lab members and alumni, she studied at the University of Guelph (MBS '13 & BSc majoring in Biomedical Science '12).
She also enjoys volunteering for Let's Talk Science within the local Ottawa region and listening to CBC radio shows.

Shuhiba is a recipient of the Faculty of Health Sciences uOttawa/CHEO Doctoral Fellowship for Advancement of Biological Perspectives for Exercise Interventions Across Lifespan (2017-19) and the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (2017-18, 2019-20).

Shuhiba can be reached at: [email protected], twitter: @ShuhibaMohammad or on ResearchGate.

Layli Tanara - Undergraduate Student
Layli is was fourth-year student in Biomedical Science, completing her NSERC-USRA project this summer. Layli completed her Honours project in the Adamo Lab. Her scientific interests lie in the realm of reproductive health, and she has a tremendous liking for physical activity - especially running and tennis! Her project surrounded the effects of physical activity on the expression of an angiogenic growth factor in the placenta, FGF2. Layli loves to play piano and learn new languages!

Danilo Fernandes da Silva - Postdoctoral Fellow
Danilo joined Dr. Adamo's research team for the second time in February 2019. His postdoc project aimed to assess the effects of the mHealth SmartMoms Canada program in helping
women adhere to gestational weight gain (GWG) guidelines and improve pregnancy and labour
complications. He also contributes in other projects related to pregnancy and exercise, heart rate variability, and behavioural changes throughout pregnancy.

In 2015, he joined the Adamo's team for the first time to complete part of his PhD project in Canada. His study aimed to assess the effects of HRV-guided training compared to a standardized prescription on endurance performance and autonomic cardiac modulation in untrained women, under supervision of Dr. Machado (Brazil) and Dr. Adamo.

Danilo has completed his Ph.D. in Physical Education (Exercise Physiology) in the State University of Maringá, Brazil (Dec, 2016). He also holds a Bachelor's degree in Physical Education (State University of Maringá) and a Master's degree in Physical Education (Exercise Physiology) as well. Danilo enjoys different sports, and is currently practising orienteering, soccer, running, and biking. He also likes reading, listening to music and dancing.

Tarushika Vasanthan - Postdoctoral Fellow
Taru joined the Adamo lab as a postdoctoral research fellow building on her previous Master’s research experience, where she examined placental physiology using the ex-vivo dual closed-loop placental perfusion model in Dr. Christoph Fusch’s lab at McMaster University. Under the co-supervision of Dr. Kristi Adamo and Dr. Cory Harris, Taru investigated the maternal metabolome in early, mid, and late pregnancy in physically active and inactive women to determine whether the late metabolomic signatures predict fetal metabolome.

As the recipient of the 2018 H. G. Thode scholarship, Taru completed her first postdoctoral fellowship at McMaster University under the supervision of Dr. Jonathon Stone. Taru also completed her PhD in 2017 from McMaster University under the guidance of Dr. Stone and was named valedictorian of her graduating class. Outside her research interests, Taru enjoys teaching, event planning and board games.

Sheila Dervis - Ph.D. Candidate
Sheila joined Dr. Adamo’s team in January 2019 to continue her interests in understanding thermoregulatory responses throughout pregnancy. She completed a MSc in Human Kinetics (’14) under the supervision of Dr. Jay at the University of Ottawa. Her thesis examined the influence of large differences in body fat on temperature regulation and sweating during exercise in warm conditions. In this time, it was apparent that the understanding of thermoregulatory responses in females was limited and decided to continue testing young females. Sheila wanted to examine the influence of hormone fluctuation across the menstrual cycle on thermoregulatory responses during exercise in the heat. Then progressed to understanding thermoregulatory functions related to pregnancy in her current thesis project.

Sheila’s Ph.D. thesis examines the influence of gestational weight gain on heat production and current understanding of heat loss mechanisms in women throughout pregnancy. Stay tuned for the exciting outcomes!

When Sheila is outside the lab, 99% of the time she will be involved in dancing, whether it is socially, in performance, training or just by herself

Jayonta Bhattacharjee - Laboratory Technician
Jayonta joined the Adamo team in August 2018. He obtained his DVM and MS degrees from Bangladesh Agricultural University. He received his Ph.D. from the School of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Siena, Italy researching on ‘Expression and role of ATP-Binding Cassette Transporter A1 in human placenta’. He completed his first Postdoctoral fellowship with CIHR Canada-HOPE scholarship at The Lunenfeld Tanenbaum Research Institute (LTRI) at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto. At LTRI, he worked on the elucidating the role of Mcl-1 in the regulation of placental cell fate. His passion for research includes placental health, maternal-fetal health and reproductive biology. Jayonta has a unique blend of clinical and scientific skills that lend well to research in this multidisciplinary field. He is excited to contribute to new research findings as part of the dynamic team of the Adamo Lab.

Jayonta can be reached at [email protected].

Taniya Singh Nagpal - Postdoctoral Fellow
Taniya joined the Adamo team in September 2019. Taniya is completing a Mitacs post-doctoral fellowship in partnership with The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada. Her research interests include lifestyle behaviour change during pregnancy, eliminating weight stigma and bias within prenatal care, early prevention of chronic diseases by intervening during pregnancy and obesity treatment and management.

Taniya completed her PhD in 2019 from Western University under the supervision of Dr. Michelle Mottola and Dr. Harry Prapavessis. She is now joining the Adamo Lab to continue studying and contributing to what she believes in most: you can change the world with healthy pregnancies! Taniya prioritizes participating in knowledge translation initiatives and has been actively involved with health organizations including Obesity Canada and Exercise is Medicine Canada. She is also your biggest Disney, Harry Potter and Friends fan.

Sara Carolina Scremin Souza, MD
Sara is a second year international Master’s student at the University of Ottawa. Prior to joining Dr. Adamo research group, Sara completed her medical degree at the State University of Londrina, Brazil (2018).

Her previous experience working as research assistant and clinical internship in areas as gynaecology & obstetrics and family medicine called her attention to work with interventions that involve behavioural changes, such as physical activity, nutrition, and sleep behaviours.

Sara believes that this MSc degree is a unique opportunity to work with Adamo Lab's multidisciplinary research team. Sara is also engaged in running and biking activities and a big lover of fantasy books.

Catherine Everest, HBSc. Biochemistry
Catherine is a second year Master’s student in the Adamo Lab, focusing on placental lipid metabolism in relation to both maternal physical activity and gestational weight gain. She also contributes to other research projects in relation to physical activity and pregnancy, such as placental immunology, behavioural changes throughout pregnancy, and neonatal outcomes.

Catherine completed her BSc. at the University of Ottawa with honours in biochemistry (’19), where she conducted her undergraduate research project with the Adamo Lab, exploring the effects of moderate-to-vigourous physical activity on glucose transporters in vitro. In her spare time, Catherine enjoys volunteering in Let’s talk Science, participating in outdoor and indoor physical activities, and has a passion for food and wine.

Julie Loiselle - Postdoctoral Fellow
Julie joined the Adamo team in July 2018. Her current research project focuses on determining the molecular mechanisms through which physical activity during pregnancy influences placental health. She is particularly interested in determining how physical activity may influence the epigenome and transcriptome of the placenta, and consequently placenta cellular health.

Julie completed her MSc and PhD at Laurentian University under the supervision of Dr. Leslie Sutherland, where her research identified a complex relationship between two cancer-associated RNA binding motif proteins, RBM5 and RBM10. Julie is a member of the RNA Society’s Junior Scientists Committee and most enjoys spending time with her family, particularly her husband and two wonderful boys.

Julie held the uOttawa/CHEO-RI 2018 Post-Doctoral Fellowship - Advancement of Biological Perspectives for Exercise Interventions across the Lifespan and is excited to be part of the dynamic Adamo team.

Rose Nhung Vuong - Clinical Research Associate
Dr. Rose Nhung Vuong joined the Adamo lab in January 2018 as she completed her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine in Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden’s lab at the University of Ottawa. Her expertise is in developing in vitro model systems to investigate molecular signaling pathways and developing protocols for a wide range of molecular biology techniques. Rose enjoys tinkering at the lab bench, mentoring students, and is always happy to discuss science with anyone in a public or research setting. Outside of the lab, Rose spends her time playing soccer and ultimate frisbee.

Kelly Ann Hutchinson, BSc. Biology, BHSc
Kelly Ann completed her Master's Degree in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa with Dr. Kristi Adamo. Prior to joining Dr. Adamo's Lab, Kelly completed a BSc. in Biology at Florida International University, where she competed as a student-athlete on the women's NCAA Division 1 soccer team. More recently, Kelly graduated from the University of Ottawa with a second undergraduate degree (BHSc) in Health Sciences. She is very enthusiastic about studying the effects of physical activity on placenta physiology. Since completing her Master's degree, she has been accepted to medical school at McGill University. Outside of academics, Kelly enjoys playing soccer, running, reading, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

Kelly is the recipient of an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) for the 2017/18 academic year and the Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada for the 2018/19 academic year

Ashley Weeks, MSc
Ashley completed her Master in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa with Dr. Kristi Adamo. Ashley's research interests include maternal-fetal health. She studied the causes and effects of discordant gestational weight gain during her Master’s thesis. Outside of research, Ashley enjoys running, playing music and spending time with friends and family. She hopes to further pursue public health and epidemiology.

Angelica Blais, MSc
Angelica finished her MSc. in Human Kinetics. Angelica was co-supervised by Dr. Kristi Adamo and Dr. Patricia Longmuir, as part of the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. Angelica is very interested in multi-disciplinary research, specifically with regards to cardiac rehabilitation and physical activity promotion among children living with congenital heart defects (CHD). Her Master's thesis looked at the potential physiological and psychosocial outcomes for children with CHD who participated in a recreational physical activity program. Apart from her research, Angelica enjoys staying active with dance, yoga and hiking, as well as exploring Ottawa with friends and family.

Tyler Kung, MSc
Tyler finished his Master in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. He studied the efficacy of peripheral oxygen extraction at submaximal exercise intensities in pediatric patients, with complex congenital heart disease. His research interests lie in exercise physiology, exercise testing and disease prevention and central versus peripheral adaptations to exercise. Outside of work and research, Tyler enjoys socializing with friends, weight training and playing sports.

Jaime-lee Yabsley, MSc
Jaime finished her Master in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Jaime was supervised by Dr. Jean-Philippe Chaput and Dr. Kristi Adamo. Jaime’s research interests are obesity prevention, eating behaviours, and physical acitivty and healthy living promotion. For her Master’s thesis, she validated a child version of the Three-Factor Eating Questionnaire, to assess eating behaviour in the pediatric population. Outside of research, Jaime enjoys figure skating, snowboarding, and travelling. In the future, she hopes to pursue a career in public health.

Experimental Biology 2016 Conference - San Diego, CA

Pegah Akbari, MSc
Pegah's former role with the Adamo Lab: Pegah finished her Master in Human Kinetics supervised by Dr. Adamo. Pegah's research interests focused on the influence of age on our heat loss responses during exercise in the heat. She is excited to take her research interests in a new direction and examine the possible influence of heat stress on the physical activity behaviors of expectant mothers.

Outside of the lab, Pegah enjoys cycling, baking, and spending time with friends and family.

Pegah can be reached at [email protected] or follow her on ResearchGate.

Jonathan Rankin, MSc
Jonathan's former role with the Adamo Lab: Jonathan concluded his Master in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Jonathan studied the effects of exercise and other health behaviours on maternal and prenatal health, by looking at the effects of these factors on the mitochondria of the placenta. His research interests lie in human physiology, obesity, and maternal health, as well as neuromotor control and learning.

25th European Congress on Obesity.
Vienna, Austria. May 25th, 2018.

Lyra Halili, MSc
Lyra's former role with the Adamo Lab: Lyra was involved in two main projects during her time at the Adamo Lab. Firstly, she worked on qualitatively evaluating and advancing the progression of the pregnancy-specific mobile health application, SmartMoms Canada (see recent publications for more information). Secondly, Lyra worked on analyzing the findings from the Electronic Maternal (EMat) health survey, specifically focusing on the psychosocial factors associated with adhering to Institute of Medicine weight gain guidelines during pregnancy.

Lyra's current role: Lyra submitted her thesis in August 2018 and shortly after received a position as a Research Intern in Health Economics and Policy at the Conference Board of Canada. Lyra is excited to be working at the Conference Board and to contribute the knowledge she garnered throughout her MSc in helping businesses and government agencies develop evidence-based guidelines, practices, and policies related to health.

Kathryn Denize, MSc
Kathryn started working in the Adamo lab in the summer of 2016 prior to starting her MSc in September 2016 where she worked on the PLACENTA Study. Her favourite part of this work was meeting the amazing women who participated in the study. Kathryn was funded by both the Ontario Graduate Scholarship and CIHR throughout her MSc, where her project focused on characterizing mechanical efficiency over the course of pregnancy. During her time at uOttawa, she was actively involved with the student population and was the Vice President of Council of Affairs for the Human Kinetics Graduate Student Association in 2017-2018. Kathryn also successfully defended the CSEP-Certified Exercise Physiologist exam and became a CSEP-CEP in the fall of 2017.

In May 2018, Kathryn started working at CHEO as a research coordinator for Newborn Screening Ontario. In March 2019, she took on a new position as a clinical research coordinator for the Obstetrics, Maternal and Newborn Investigations (OMNI) Research Group at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. She is happy that she continues to work in the area of maternal and child health and is excited to be a part of discoveries that will improve the lives of mothers and babies everywhere.

Chantal Dubé, MSc
Chantal's former role with the Adamo Lab: Chantal started working in the Adamo lab and Dr. Shannon Bainbridge's Placenta lab in September of 2015 when she started her MSc in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences. Chantal was supervised by both Dr. Shannon Bainbridge and Dr. Kristi Adamo for her research project. Her MSc thesis project examined there impact of exercise-induced myokine secretion during pregnancy on placental health and function.

Chantal's current role: After defending her MSc thesis in August 2017, Chantal moved to Sudbury to study midwifery at Laurentian University. Chantal recently completed her first midwifery placement at Ottawa Valley Midwives and was involved in the delivery of 26 babies. She has just started her third year of studies and will be completing a variety of interdisciplinary maternity care placements before beginning her final full-year midwifery clerkship in April 2019.

Niko Wasenius, PhD
Niko's former role with the Adamo Lab: Dr Niko Wasenius joined the Adamo Lab in February 2016 as a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Ottawa.

Niko's current role: Niko is currently a researcher at the Samfundet Folkhälsan of Finland. His research interests are dosage, measurement, and regulation of physical activity, and the role of pregnancy and the early years in the prevention of non-communicable diseases. In Niko’s personal life, he enjoys playing/watching basketball, weight training, and spending time with his young son, Verner.

Mitchell Crozier, BHK
Mitch's former role with the Adamo Lab: Mitch joined the Adamo lab for a summer work term following his third year of undergraduate studies in Human Kinetics. Following his summer work term he remained on board to complete a 4th year research project. Mitch's research looked at the behavioural, physical, and psychosocial growth and development experienced by children engaged in outside of school activity programs within the Ottawa region. He continued to work with the lab for the summer of 2017.

Mitch's current role: Mitch was thrilled to enter his first year of medical school at the University of Ottawa in the Fall of 2018. As a medical student Mitch intends to remain actively involved in research in close contact with the Adamo Lab. He is looking forward to capitalizing on new research opportunities that arise in medical school. Since the Fall of 2017, Mitch has been working for the Behavioural Epidemiology Lab at the University of Alberta. He is assisting on the Healthy AcTive CHildcare Settings (HATCH) study, which seeks to determine the immediate physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and health benefits of the new Alberta Childcare Accreditation Program Quality Standard. He is currently the leader of data collection in Ottawa for the project.

Faculty of Medicine
University of Ottawa
451 Smyth Road
Ottawa, ON K1H 8M5
p: 613.796.9529
e: [email protected]
w: www.DrFerraro.ca
t: @DrFerraro

Zach Ferraro, PhD, MD
Why the Adamo lab? I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Adamo in the fall of 2006 at the University of Guelph during an invited talk she gave to her alma mater. Her enthusiasm, presentation style, passion for science, and unique research program captured my attention immediately. After travelling to Ottawa later that year to meet her and learn more about graduate training under her supervisor, I was sold. Fetal programming and early years research with a twist of epidemiology and molecular medicine – what more could an aspiring clinician-scientist want?

When was I with the team? I continue to collaborate with Dr. Adamo as a part-time research associate (2015-present). Formally, Kristi co-supervised my PhD training at the University of Ottawa and the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) with the Health Active Living and Obesity (HALO) Research Group (2008-2012). In the spring of 2012, I successfully defended my dissertation titled “maternal predictors and potential modifiers of fetal growth during pregnancy”. From 2014-2015, I held a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) allied health care provider postdoctoral fellowship salary award from the Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health. Dr. Adamo was instrumental in helping me craft a dossier that would be competitive for this competition. I have published on topics ranging from clinical epidemiology to molecular medicine. Part of my doctoral and postdoc work looked at the regulation of the insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-I) axis in obesity and how this may alter nutrient transfer to the developing child.

What am I doing now? I like to stay busy and work as a clinical research associate in the Division of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at the Ottawa Hospital. From 2012-2014, I held a role as a part-time professor in the School of Human Kinetics at uOttawa and continue to work on a contractual basis as a science educator, public health advocate, and health & wellness leader. My interests include human physiology, metabolism, epidemiology, weight management, philosophy, education, pregnancy, nutrition, exercise science and molecular medicine. In August 2015, I started my Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree at the University of Ottawa.

A little bit more about me? Over the years I have been intimately involved with advocacy work with the Canadian Obesity Network (CON), the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO), The Ottawa Hospital and several other Regional, National & International health agencies. These experiences have afforded me a unique position as a public health knowledge translation expert. I encourage all trainees to diversify their experiences and CON is a great place to do so (www.obesitynetwork.ca)
In 2006, I received a Bachelor of Kinesiology from McMaster University and specialized in physiology and metabolism. In 2007, I obtained an MSc in Human Health & Nutritional Science at the University of Guelph where I studied glycemic control in men with obesity. I am a certified exercise physiologist (CSEP-CEP) and outgoing Chair of the Canadian Obesity Network’s Student and New Professional initiative. Over the years, I have collaborated on over 50 peer-reviewed publications in medical/scientific journals, given 110+ public presentations, was an Ontario Graduate Scholar and University of Ottawa Deans Scholar. Thanks to Kristi’s tremendous leadership and support my dissertation was nominated for the University of Ottawa Governor General’s Gold Medal and I was the inaugural recipient of the Canadian Obesity Network’s Rising Star award. For more information please visit my website www.DrFerraro.ca and follow me on twitter @DrFerraro. I am happy to chat with aspiring graduate and medical students about what life is like in the Adamo lab!

Kimberly Grattan
Kimberly's former role with the Adamo Lab: Kimberly began working for Dr. Adamo in 2011 as a research assistant at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute in the Healthy Active Living and Obesity (HALO) research group. Shortly thereafter she transitioned to the role of Clinical Research Coordinator. Near the end of the 2015 calendar year she was brought to the University of Ottawa by Dr. Adamo who had accepted a new position at the University. Ms. Grattan was responsible for managing several research projects including SmartMoms-Canada, an app-based pregnancy intervention aimed at improving the health of both mother and baby by adhering to the recommended gestational weight gain guidelines. Ms. Grattan enjoyed working with the team and overseeing many of the undergraduate/graduate and volunteer students. Outside of work Kimberly continues to be an avid member of the Gatineau-Ottawa underwater hockey club after previously being a member of the women’s National underwater hockey team. She also enjoys weight training, travelling, biking, skiing, and reading.

Kimberly's current role: Kimberly has transitioned to a new role at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where she is employed as a Health Promoter in the Department of Cardiac Prevention and Rehabilitation.

Kevin Belanger, MSc
Kevin's former role with the Adamo Lab: Master's student supervised by Dr. Adamo from September 2011 - December 2013. Kevin's Master's work involved measuring cardiorespiratory fitness levels of children with obesity, and evaluating their risk profiles after the children were stratified by a newly developed pediatric obesity screening tool.

Kevin's current role: Research coordinator with the HALO Research group.

Sonia Jean-Philippe & Peter Breithaupt, MSc

Peter's former role with the Adamo Lab: Peter was apart of the team from 2008-2011, while completing his 4th year Undergrad project, and then continuing on to complete an MSc ('Validation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Body Composition Assessment Methodologies in the Obese Paediatric Population’).

Peter's current role: After a two year stay working with the Child Health and Exercise Medicine Program at McMaster University accompanied by some teaching at Niagara College Peter moved back to Ottawa to find himself working as a Research Coordinator in the department of Orthopaedics at the Ottawa Hospital. He spent another two years there, and now works as a sessional professor in the Fitness and Health Promotion program at Algonquin college. In his spare time Peter coach competitive minor hockey and complete workshops/practical examinations for the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology’s prospective Certified Personal Trainers.

Sonia's former role with the Adamo Lab: Sonia coordinated the MOM trial from 2012 to 2013.

Sonia's current role: Sonia has now moved on to the Ottawa Public Health (OPH) to work in her field as a registered dietitian. She develops content for the various OPH social media platforms, provides nutrition support to parents in the community through Parenting in Ottawa facebook, advocates for issues that are close to her heart including marketing to kids and food literacy in schools, and much more.

Kendra Brett, PhD
Kendra's former role with the Adamo Lab: Kendra completed her PhD with Kristi from 2010 to 2015. She studied the associations between maternal obesity, nutrition, and directly measured physical activity, with placenta nutrient transport related gene expression.

Kendra's current role: She is currently working as a clinical research associate at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute in the area of quality of care in kidney transplantation.

Shanna DiMillo (nee Wilson)
Shanna's former role with the Adamo Lab: Shanna worked as a Research Assistant in the Adamo Lab from 2012-2015. She contributed to a number of projects under Dr. Adamo's Prevention in the Early Years program, including maternal obesity management, eHealth technologies for managing gestational weight gain during pregnancy, and early childhood physical activity interventions.

Shanna's current role: Shanna is working as a Data and Research Analyst at the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

Pamela Leore
Pamela's former role with the Adamo Lab: As an undergraduate student in the Biomedical Science program at the University of Ottawa, Pamela volunteered with the Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research Group at the CHEO RI in the summer of 2015, and subsequently completed my Honour’s Research Project with Dr. Adamo. She was especially interested in Dr. Adamo’s focus on the intergenerational cycle of obesity and her multidisciplinary approach to understanding and modifying the diverse factors that contribute to maternal and childhood weight management. Based on findings from Dr. Adamo’s doctoral research, Pamela's project involved the study of a potential association between the rs2419621 single nucleotide polymorphism in the ACSL5 (acyl-CoA synthetase long-chain 5) gene and gestational weight gain as well as postpartum weight loss.

Holly Ockenden, MSc
Holly's former role with the Adamo Lab: Holly Ockenden completed her MSc. in the Adamo lab between 2013 and 2015 during which time she validated the Electronic Maternal Health Survey (EMat Health Survey) related to women’s knowledge and perceptions of the current gestational weight gain guidelines (GWG), as well as pregnancy-related health behaviours.

Holly's current role: Holly is now working with the Better Outcomes Registry & Network (BORN) – Ontario’s pregnancy, birth and childhood registry and network.