Our fabulous Student Representative has been hard at work organizing two webinars to finish off this year's programming. These webinars are FREE for PRH Division (formerly WHD) members. To register: check your recent e-blasts for registration links; if you are having any issues with registration, please contact us at whdstudentrep@gmail.com or contact@womenshealthcpa.com.
Starting in September/October, watch for more information regarding the 2024-2025 Speaker Series via e-blast and our other social media channels!
Dr. Sinéad Dufour PT PhD is an academic clinician who shares here time between clinical pursuits as the Director of Pelvic Health at the WOMB and academic pursuits in the Faculty of Health Science at McMaster University. She has been a practicing physiotherapists for 20 years. She completed her MScPT at McMaster University (2003), her PhD in Health and Rehabilitation Science at Western (2011), and returned to McMaster to complete a post-doctoral fellowship (2014). Her current research interests include: conservative approaches to optimize pelvic floor function, pregnancy-related pelvic-girdle pain, interprofessional collaborative practice models of service provision to enhance pelvic health and perinatal fitness for elite athletes. Sinéad is an active member of several organizations charged with optimizing perinatal care and pelvic health and has led and contributed many national and international clinical practice guidelines to improve care provision. Sinéad is a well-recognized speaker at conferences around the world and a sought out expert to consult with companies whose aim to improve perinatal care and pelvic health.
Menstrual Cycle and Oral Contraceptives:
Exercise and Training Considerations
Mai Wageh and Alysha D’Souza from the Exercise Metabolism Research Group at McMaster University will discuss the basic physiology around menstrual cycle and oral contraceptive hormones and their effects on exercise and training. Hormone cycling plays an important role in female physiology, with notions of optimizing training around the menstrual cycle gaining traction in recent media. Mai and Alysha will break down the role of hormones in the regulation of muscle mass and strength, as well as substrate oxidation and sport performance. This seminar will also cover molecular insights in female physiology, cardiovascular adaptations, and hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women.
Mai Wageh (she/her) is a Ph.D. candidate in Molecular Exercise Physiology and Protein Metabolism at McMaster University, co-supervised by Dr. Gianni Parise and Dr. Stuart Phillips. Her M.Sc. work focused on multi-ingredient protein supplementation and resistance training in healthy young men and women, and the stark sex differences in the response to acute exercise led to her current Ph.D. work investigating sex differences in muscle damage and the role that hormone profiles play in repair and regeneration. Her current interests also lie in the satellite cell response to exercise and oral contraceptive use and low energy availability in female athletes.
Alysha D'Souza (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Protein Metabolism Lab at McMaster University, supervised by Dr. Stuart Phillips. Her research focuses on examining the effects of ovarian hormones on exercise physiology and performance. Currently, she is conducting a study investigating the impact of the menstrual cycle on strength training adaptations. With five years of experience as a personal trainer and two years in the strength and conditioning field, Alysha brings a wealth of practical experience to her research. In addition to her academic pursuits, Alysha is an active member of the McMaster University Rowing team. Alysha’s extensive practical and research background enables her to provide valuable insights into the practical applications of female exercise physiology research.