Athlete moves to exercise science
Years ago while playing soccer at Dawson College, Amanda Rossi got one of those path-altering bits of advice. ‘You should look into Exercise Science as a career,’ she was told by the team’s sports therapist Jennifer Anastasopoulos, who was also a Concordia student.
She did, and what a smart move it was. Earning a prestigious Vanier Scholarship in the process, Rossi has become one of the most promising graduate students in Concordia’s burgeoning Department of Exercise Science.
Nearly 26 years old, Rossi completed her bachelor’s and master’s here, and is now in the second year of her PhD in the Special Individualized Program (Exercise Science currently has no formal PhD-level program).
The federal Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship program is designed to attract and retain world-class doctoral students to Canadian universities. Funds are made available through Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) or Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Straddling physiology and epidemiology, Rossi’s PhD research involves compiling extensive profiles of patients with cardiovascular disease under the supervision of Exercise Science professor Simon Bacon. They hope to build a database examining how psychological, socio-demographic, behavioural and physiological factors interact and contribute to cardiovascular disease.
“Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer in westernized countries,” Rossi says. “It’s of significant importance to understand how and why the disease begins, what contributes to the progression of the disease, and, especially, what we can do to intervene in any of those phases.”
She had a wonderful opportunity to do so as one of 57 students attending the first-ever International Course in Exercise and Clinical Physiology (see related story in this issue) from October 25 to 29.
The three-credit, five-day intensive course format isn’t new to her. She was part of a few similar programs during her master’s studies (including the University of Copenhagen- affiliated Academy of Muscle Biology, Exercise and Health Research in St. Christoph, Austria, in 2007). “You really get to interact with senior researchers who are experts in the field, literally at the top of their game. For grad students, that’s invaluable.”
Rossi’s PhD research is more clinical than her master’s thesis, conducted with former Concordia Exercise Science professor Robert Boushel. (Now based in Copenhagen, he was a key organizer of her international course.) The master’s project involved a fundamental analysis of how the vascular system reacts during exercise.
When exercising, there is an increased demand for oxygen and blood flow to the muscle, Rossi explains. She and Boushel, in collaboration with the Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, examined a molecular-level picture of how local chemical signals influence the changing diameter of veins and arteries during exercise.
Her paper titled “Interaction of Nitric Oxide and Muscle Contraction in Adenosine-Induced Muscle Vasodilation in Humans” earned her a Vanier Scholarship in April 2009. She receives $50 000 annually for three years from CIHR.
Rossi isn’t sure where her current research will lead her, but is keeping an open mind to all kinds of possibilities. “Whatever I end up doing, if it contributes to the general public understanding of the importance of physical activity and why it should be a part of your life, I think I’ll have done a good job,” she says.
Related links:
• Concordia Department of Exercise Science
• The Heart and Stroke Foundation
• Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarships