PhD Student Awards
2026
Institution: Université de Montréal
Supervisors:Drs. Louis Bherer and Mathieu Gayda
Personal Bio: Corentin Duquesne is a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences at Université de Montréal, working at the Centre ÉPIC of the Montreal Heart Institute under the supervision of Drs. Louis Bherer and Mathieu Gayda. His doctoral project looks at how arterial stiffness and cerebral pulsatility relate to cognition in heart failure patients, and whether a combined physical and cognitive training program can improve outcomes. He works with pulse transit time measurement, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing, and is currently building skills in signal analysis to better characterize the vascular-cognitive link. He’s interested in understanding how heart health and brain health are connected, and their role in aging and dementia risk.
Institution: University of Toronto
Supervisor: Dr. Gillian Einstein
Personal Bio: Sophia Zhao received her Honours B.Sc. in Psychology and Physiology from the University of Toronto and is currently a PhD student in the Einstein Lab under the supervision of Dr. Gillian Einstein. Her research focuses on women’s brain health in midlife, with a particular interest in how ovarian hormone loss and estradiol therapy influence the brain, cognition, and the immune system. Her doctoral work examines the effects of early bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy and estradiol loss, with the broader goal of understanding factors that may contribute to later-life cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease risk.
Institution: McMaster University
Supervisor: Dr. Jeremy Walsh
Personal Bio: Benjamin Arhen is a PhD student in the department of Kinesiology at McMaster University, where his research sits at the intersection of exercise physiology and neuroscience. His work investigates the physiological mechanisms underlying the muscle-brain connection and how lifestyle interventions – including exercise and ketone supplementation – influence brain and muscle health in older adults at risk of dementia. Benjamin completed his MSc in Exercise Physiology following a BSc (Honours) in Biology from Queen’s University. Beyond his research, he is passionate about mentorship, knowledge translation, and community engagement, working to promote equitable access to health and wellness through evidence-based initiatives.
Institution: University of British Columbia
Supervisor: Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose
Personal Bio: Vicky Gu is a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience graduate program at the University of British Columbia. She holds a BSc in Cognitive Systems from UBC. Her research focuses on how physical exercise supports brain health and cognitive function in older adults with cognitive impairment. Using magnetic resonance imaging and randomized controlled trials, she examines how different types of physical exercise are associated with changes in brain functional connectivity and cognitive function. Her long-term research goal is to advance evidence-based strategies that promote brain health, protect cognitive function, and improve quality of life for older adults.
Institution: University of Regina
Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Hadjistavropoulos
Personal Bio: Laney Yarycky is a first-year doctoral student in Experimental and Applied Psychology and a member of the Health Psychology Lab at the University of Regina. Her research aims to evaluate mobile health (mHealth) apps that deliver education and self-management resources to support brain health in older adults. Her project will assess the quality of these resources and the suitability of mHealth app designs for older adult users. Through this work, she hopes to inform mHealth app designs that are better tailored to the needs of older adults and that support independence in healthy aging practices across diverse settings.