Contacts

Jacquelyn (Jackie) is a postdoctoral fellow in the Mobilize Lab. She previously completed her BSc, MSc and PhD at the University of Waterloo. Her PhD (completed in 2021, under the supervision of Dr. Clark Dickerson) was entitled “Breast cancer survivor functional changes immediately following treatment: quantifying mechanisms of strength deficits and compensatory kinematic and muscular strategy adaptations”. She is interested in identifying biomechanical factors that accelerate the pathway to illness experienced by individuals across a variety of chronic diseases and applying this information to implement strategies to maintain or even improve illness outcomes (such as physical function and quality of life). Previously her work focused on breast cancer survivors, but she will be focused on individuals with knee osteoarthritis (OA) during her post-doctoral fellowship.

Jackie’s role with the Mobilize lab includes a leadership role in a CIHR funded project that began in 2022, supervising an undergraduate thesis on the use of accelerometers, contributing to the lab-wide systematic review examining the relationship between exercise dosage and knee/hip OA, and completing a secondary analysis on previously collected data. As a PDF, Jackie looks forward to mentoring students of all levels, expanding her knowledge on knee OA and clinical applications of research, and exploring new teaching strategies.

Kendal comes to the Mobilize lab via Western University, where she completed her Masters of Physical Therapy and a Rehab Sciences PhD! Her PhD thesis, completed in 2017, was entitled " Dynamic loading and pain in knee osteoarthritis: effects of limb realignment and ligament reconstruction surgeries". Kendal has been a Post Doctoral Fellow in the Mobilize Lab since 2018.  She is interested in identifying early disease mechanisms for the development of joint degeneration in young adults; how differential disease courses are impacted by the interaction between biomechanics, joint morphology and systemic inflammation. Her research plan is to work towards developing a risk profile to identiy those at risk of OA or with early OA.

Kendal's role is vital with the Mobilize lab, and she plays a pivotal part in mentoring and assisting our newer students (undergrads to PhD!). Currently she is leading a large systematic review (looking at exercise dosage and knee OA), which is nearing it's end stages, as well as a project involving CLSA data.  She has also been a crucial member of the CIHR funded project in the lab. 

Natasha is a PhD student in the Mobilize Clinical Biomechanics Laboratory. She previously completed undergraduate degrees at McGill University (BSc. Psychology), and the University of Regina (BKin), before beginning graduate studies at the University of Waterloo. Her Master’s thesis investigated the effect of cyclic and sustained squatting exposures on lower limb hemodynamics and jumping dynamics in healthy young adults.

Natasha's research goals are to better understand the biomechanical and physiological mechanisms leading to increased risk of developing knee osteoarthritis. More specifically, she plans to examine the role of vascular function as a mechanism for impairing biomechanical capacity and joint tissues.

She is currently assisting with a CIHR funded project that began in 2022 and has been a crucial part of the study's progress. Natasha also serves as a member of the Advisory Committee to the Mobilize Laboratory on Racial Diversity in Research. 

Prior to joining the Mobilize lab, Daniel worked as a personal trainer after completing his BKin at U of T in 2019. His interest in biomechanics and working with persons who were living with osteoarthritis (OA) led him to pursue his MSc at UW, starting in the Fall of 2020. Due to COVID19 restrictions, Daniel has yet to work in our on campus lab, and he is looking forward to getting familiar with all of our equipment this coming semester as he prepares his MSc thesis proposal!

Daniel's research interests include using biomechanical techniques to advance our understanding of knee OA as it pertains to identifying clinical hallmarks of the disease, as well as develop the necessary exercise interventions to improve tissue composition, physical function during activities of daily living (ADLs), and symptoms associated with OA.

His upcoming MSc thesis work will specifically focus on investigating sagittal plane trunk adaptations during stair ascent and descent in knee OA populations, in addition to exploring the relationship between muscle function and physical function during ADLs (which he will use segmental and joint power analyses to examine). Daniel is also currently assisting in the lab-wide systemic review on exercise dosage and OA.

Rachel's research interests include the intersection of race and health, gerontology and the social determinants of health.  Rachel recently completed her undergraduate degree in Health Studies at the University of Waterloo where her undergraduate thesis looked at the experience of Osteoarthritis among Black and White Canadians. 

She has worked in the lab for the past two years and has contributed to numerous studies including a multi-site meta-analysis, systematic review and is currently assisting with the CIHR funded study.  

Dan is a Mechanical Engineer and current MSc student in the Mobilize Lab. He completed his BEng at the University of Western Ontario and then worked in the manufacturing industry designing dozens of products used around globe. His research interests include knee and hip osteoarthritis, joint preservation and pain. The title of his thesis is “Symmetry of hip, knee and ankle power generation during cycling across different seat heights and workloads in individuals with unequal osteoarthritis pain between knees.” With this thesis he is interested in identifying if the hip or ankle joints produce more power to compensate for a painful knee joint when cycling and if cycling is the right tool to rehabilitate knees in patients with unequal knee pain. In addition to his own research Dan is assisting the other MSc students in the lab with their research.

In addition to his own research, Dan's role in the lab includes helping other MSc students in the lab with their research, assisting a CIHR funded project and contributing to a lab-wide systematic review examining the relationship between exercise dosage and knee/hip osteoarthritis. 

Erin is a postdoctoral fellow in the Mobilize Lab. They completed their BASc and PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Queen's University. Erin's PhD (completed in 2024) was titled Mapping the relationship between morphology and function of the shoulder: implications for human evolution and musculoskeletal injury. 

Erin is interested in how biomechanics interact with other patient-centred factors to contribute to the progression of joint diseases. Specifically, they are interested in understanding how a person's unique bone morphology (shape) interacts with their joint loading, and how this interaction alters - and is altered - by disease progression. In the Mobilize lab, Erin will be assisting with the CIHR funded project and investigating how bone morphology contributes to longitudinal changes in cartilage health in patients with knee OA in clinical setting!