Research Projects
Our research examines the role of movement, exercise and physical activity, for musculoskeletal health across the lifespan. Below are some of our ongoing research projects.
Our Current Research Projects
STOP-EM: Strength Training for Osteoporosis Prevention during Early Menopause
We want to learn how feasible and effective strength training is for preventing bone loss during peri- and early menopause. This is a 9-month, twice weekly, supervised intervention. This study is funded by the University of Calgary VPR Catalyst Grant, Cumming School of Medicine Clinical Seed Fund, McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health, Alberta Health Services Bone and Joint Strategic Clinical Network Translational Impact Grant, McCaig Institute Clinician-Scientist Collaboration Seed Grant, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Co-Investigators include: Drs. Emma Billington and Lauren Burt.
CanBSDS: Canadian Bone Strength Development Study
We want to learn why bone health is compromised in children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1DM) compared with their peers who do not have T1DM. This longitudinal study will follow youth through the adolescent growth spurt. The project is a collaboration with Dr. Saija Kontulainen and co-investigators at the University of Saskatchewan, as well as collaborators at the University of Ottawa – Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, University of Toronto, and colleagues at the University of Calgary. This study is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
MOMENTUM - MOvement, MENopause and opTimUM health
MOMENTUM is a collaborative research initiative in the Faculty of Kinesiology aimed at developing evidence and resources about menopause, movement, and health.
RIPT and RoWaCaWa
RIPT: Resistive Intensive Personal Training. This project is a sub-study of the parent RIPT study evaluating the impact of power training on improving musculoskeletal health in youth with cerebral palsy. RoWaCaWa: Robotic Walking for Children who Cannot Walk. This project is a sub-study of the parent RoWaCaWa study that is evaluating the impact of robotic walking in children who cannot walk. In the bone health sub-study, we want to learn whether three months of robotic walking improves bone mineral density and strength. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Condliffe (Director of the PONI Lab https://profiles.ucalgary.ca/elizabeth-condliffe). The bone health sub-study is funded by the Robertson Fund for Cerebral Palsy Research.
TBone and TBone 2
We want to understand the impact of long-duration spaceflight on bone microarchitecture, density and strength, including how exercise can mitigate spaceflight-induced bone loss. This project is in collaboration with Dr. Steven Boyd (Director of the Bone Imaging Laboratory https://www.ucalgary.ca/labs/bonelab/home). These projects are funded by the Canadian Space Agency.
Coming Soon...
Past Research Projects
G-Val
This project is supported by an NSERC Discovery Award.
We want to determine the best way to use accelerometry data for inferring bone loading during childhood and adolescence.
PLAY-LAB: Physical Activity and You - Lifelong Activity for Bone Health
We want to learn more about how improving physical literacy impacts physical activity in children and youth.