Dr. Saija Kontulainen (she/her) PhD

B.Sc. (Exercise Physiology), University of Jyväskylä
M.Sc. (Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics), University of Jyväskylä
Ph.D. (Exercise Physiology, Biomechanics), University of Jyväskylä
PDF (Postdoctoral Fellowship), University of British Columbia

• My research areas fall under the following College of Kinesiology research themes: Child and Youth Health and Development, Healthy Aging and Management of Chronic Conditions and Human Performance.

The overall goal of my collaborative, research is to develop evidence-based strategies to optimize musculoskeletal health across the lifespan and prevent bone fragility (osteoporosis) and fractures, and train future generation of musculoskeletal researchers.

1) Bone strength development in children with type 1 diabetes (funding: CIHR, Diabetes Canada, SHRF)

2) Bone health and physical acitivity in children with autism spectrum disorder (One Health, USask)

3) Inactivity/bed rest study (CIHR, CSA)

4) Nordic walking intervention (SCPOR, SHRF)

5) Validation of imaged bone strength estimates (NSERC Discovery grant)

Laboratories Imaging Bone and Muscle Structure (LIMBS) 

 

• Pubmed
• Scopus
• Google Scholar

Current Staff and Trainees

• Paige Wyatt, Research Assistant (College of Kinesiology, KIN)
• Joelle Schaefer, Research Assistant (KIN)
• Zahra Ghafouri, PhD candidate (KIN)
• Mohsen Karamati, PhD candidate (KIN)
• Ali Rezaei, PhD student (KIN)
• Autumn Carr, undergraduate student (KIN)
• Makayla Robinson, undergraduate student (ENG)
• Brett Robinson, undergraduate student (KIN)

Recently graduated PhD and MSc trainees and PDF 

• Dr. Yuwen Zheng, PhD (KIN)
• Dr. Mahdi Rostami, PhD (KIN)
• Dr. Malakeh Malekzadeh, Postdoctoral Fellow (KIN, ENG)^1,2 
• Pablo Franco, MSc (ENG)² 
• Egeony Tiffany Imanma, MSc (ENG)² 
• Alex Sacher, MSc (ENG)² 
• Manpreet Kaur, MSc (Health Sciences)^3,4

Co-supervised with Drs. McWalter¹, Johnston², Baerwald³ and Singh⁴

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If you are interested in research training opportunities, please contact Dr. Kontulainen with the following information

• A one-page letter outlining your research interests, experiences and goals
• CV and unofficial transcripts
• Names of two academic referees

• ACB 221.3 - Gross Anatomy (College of Medicine)
• KIN 281.3 - Fitness for Life 
• KIN 398.3 - Physical activity, musculoskeletal health and conditions 
• KIN 428.3 - Drugs, nutrition and physical activity
• KIN 445.3 - Acquisition, analysis and interpretation of musculoskeletal imaging
• KIN 807.3 - Research Methods
• KIN 891.3 - Analysis and interpretation of advanced bone imaging