Current Positions

Associate Professor, College of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba
Adjunct Professor, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, Rady College of Medicine
Adjunct Professor, Department of Human Anatomy and Cell Science, Rady College of Medicine
Investigator, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba

Education

PhD. Department of Biology, York University, Toronto
M.Sc. Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto
Bachelor of Kinesiology. Department of Kinesiology, McMaster University, Hamilton

Research Focus

My program of research focuses on the regulation of mitochondrial function and metabolism during cardiac and skeletal muscle differentiation and remodeling, including conditions such as hypoxia/ischemia, diabetic cardiomyopathy, and insulin resistance; as well as physiological stimuli such as exercise and contractile activity. My laboratory utilizes cellular, molecular, and multi-omics approaches to understand mitochondrial function, dynamics, and turn-over including the regulation of mitophagy and mitochondrial permeability transition. Specifically, my laboratory studies the transcriptional regulation and post-translational modification of the Bcl-2 family members Nix and Bnip3 utilizing both primary and immortalized cells, differentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells, and conditional knockout mice.

Research Interests

Mitochondria in muscle and heart, and remodeling associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes.