CURRENT STUDENTS

Current Students & Projects

Ellen McGarity-Shipley, PhD Candidate

Ellen completed the Master of Physical Therapy program at Western University in London, ON after receiving a BSc (Hons) in Kinesiology at Queen's University. She is currently a registered physiotherapist and worked for one year at Providence Healthcare in Toronto on the Assess & Restore team as a physiotherapy consultant. During her education and employment as a physiotherapist, she came to question the large emphasis placed on individual health responsibility vs. societal health responsibility. Her research will focus on investigating the effect of social determinants of health, psychological stress, and shame on vascular function. Ellen also enjoys spending time with friends and family, making music, and playing video games.

Lindsay Lew, PhD Candidate

Lindsay completed her BSc in Kinesiology at Queen’s and recently completed her MSc in the CVSRL. She is currently a PhD candidate in the CVSRL and is interested in cardiovascular function in women. Her research will focus on the impact of estrogen status on endothelial function, as well as inclusion of women in basic cardiovascular physiology research. Outside of the lab, she loves finding new ways to stay active, trying out different coffee shops around town and spending time with friends and family. Additionally, she was on the Queen’s Varsity Cheerleading Team for four years and continues coach at Kingston Elite.

Olivera Kralj, MSc Candidate

Olivera completed her BSc in Co-operative Life Physics at the University of Waterloo, with a minor in Medical Physiology and specialization in Medical Physics. During her undergrad she took several human physiology courses to help expand her knowledge on the subject as she’s always had an interest in learning about the human body. She became fascinated by cardiovascular physiology and the effects of exercise on arterial stiffening, which motivated her to pursue a master’s in exercise physiology. Excited to try new activities, Olivera recently took part in dragon boat with the UWaterloo team who competed and medaled in the university and under 24 divisions at the 2019 Canadian Dragon Boat Championships in Regina, SK. She has a love for dogs and enjoys getting active through a variety of different sports and lifting weights at the gym.

Tarrah Ethier, MSc Candidate

Tarrah completed her BSc in Kinesiology at Queen’s University. She was involved with the CVSRL throughout her undergraduate degree and developed an interest in cardiovascular physiology during this time. For her undergraduate thesis, Tarrah looked at the impact of acute blood pressure manipulations on arterial stiffness in the absence of altered sympathetic nervous activity. She is extremely excited about furthering her undergraduate thesis work as a first year masters student. In her spare time, Tarrah can be found watching documentaries, hiking and spending time with friends, family & her dog!

Caitie Sardo, MSc Candidate

Caitie completed her BSc Honours in Life Sciences at Queen’s. Throughout her undergraduate experience, she studied human physiology and health in several courses and developed a profound interest in learning about how the human body functions. After taking upper year courses that focused on the cardiovascular system, she became curious about how different diets and dietary substances alter vascular functioning. As a second year Master’s student, she hopes to conduct research in this area and gain a more thorough understanding of how our cardiovascular systems work. Caitie enjoys hanging out at coffee shops with her friends and family, playing her guitar and listening to Taylor Swift albums.

Evan Curd, MSc Candidate

Evan completed his BSc Honours in Kinesiology at Queen’s. During his undergrad, Evan pursued a curriculum focused on life sciences and injury treatment/prevention. Evan is also involved in multiple external research projects, looking at topics ranging from the Canadian opioid epidemic to novel injury rehabilitation modalities. Evan is interested in looking at the effects of chronic nicotine vaporizer use on arterial function during his master’s candidacy. Evan has a love of most sports and was a member of the varsity men’s rugby team at Queen’s during his undergrad where he earned 3 OUA championships. In the future, he hopes to attend medical school and eventually complete his residency in orthopaedics.