Department of KPE celebrates success of second annual Minds in Motion conference
On Friday March 10th, the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education (KPE) hosted the 2023 Minds in Motion (MIM) conference, open to undergraduate and graduate students completing research in the field of KPE. For the first time, the MIM conference was open to students from McGill and from neighbouring universities around Canada, welcoming attendees from the University of Toronto, Queen’s University, Université de Montréal, Université Laval, McMaster University, Trent University and l’Institut national de santé publique du Québec
This year’s conference theme was ‘Understanding Sport: From Bodies to Society’, with the goal of showcasing the variety of research being done in the field of KPE. Over 50 students from McGill University and neighbouring universities submitted research abstracts, where 41 of these abstracts were showcased through poster presentations, while 3 undergraduate and 3 graduate students were selected for podium presentations. Eleven students also had the opportunity to present their research in 3-minute lightning talk formats. The winner for best poster presentation was awarded to Félix Girard (McGill University) for his presentation entitled ‘Effect of induced metabolic acidosis on exertional breathlessness in healthy adults’. The award for best undergraduate podium presentation was Sami Azhari (McGill University) for his presentation ‘Effect of the Ketone Bodies Acetoacetate and Beta-hydroxybutyrate on the Differentiation of the C2C12 Myoblasts and Myogenesis’, while Stephanie Estafanos (University of Toronto) won best graduate podium presentation for her presentation entitled ‘Does the metabolic response to a 75g glucose challenge differ between males and females?’
The MIM conference organizing committee, spearheaded by PhD student Zacharie Cheng-Boivin, was also pleased to welcome three guest speakers, each of whom recognized as experts in their respective sub-disciplines of KPE. Dr. Jason Laurendeau (University of Lethbridge) shared his expertise in sociological aspects of KPE with his talk ‘(Un)Becoming (?) settlers: Pedagogies of white settler masculinity’. Offering a sport psychology perspective, Dr. Leslie Podlog (Université de Montréal) shared his presentation ‘Sports injury : A case of minds in overdrive’. The keynote speaker, Dr. Nisha Charkoudian (United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine) enlightened the audience with her expertise in exercise physiology with her talk entitled ‘Sex differences in the physiology of exercise-heat stress: Mechanisms and practical applications’.
The MIM conference is an annual student-organized conference aimed at giving undergraduate and graduate students a platform to share their research in KPE while also celebrating the diversity of work done in the field.
Learn more about the annual MIM conference here.