May 15, 2008, University of Alberta, Lister Conference Centre
Biographies
Speaker: Mark Tremblay, PhD
Dr. Mark Tremblay has a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Sports Administration and a Bachelor of Physical and Health Education degree from Laurentian University.
His graduate training was from the University of Toronto where he obtained his MSc and PhD. from the Department of Community Health, Faculty of Medicine, with a specialty in exercise science.
Dr. Tremblay is currently the Director of Healthy Active Living and Obesity Research (HALO) at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario Research Institute.
Dr. Tremblay is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, a Fellow of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, an Adjunct Professor with the Canadian Research Institute for Social Policy (CRISP), former Dean of Kinesiology at the University of Saskatchewan. He is also currently the Chair of Active Healthy Kids Canada.
He has published extensively in the areas of childhood obesity, physical activity measurement, exercise physiology and exercise endocrinology.
Dr. Tremblay’s most productive work has resulted from his 19-year marriage to his wife Helen, which has yielded four wonderful children.
Panel Facilitator: Tanya Berry, PhD
In addition to being the Research Associate at the Alberta Centre for Active Living, Dr. Tanya Berry is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta. She is also an Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) Population Health Scholar. She has a keen interest in how physical activity is promoted and how people interpret messages about physical activity, whether the messages come from health promoters or from the larger commercial world. For her own physical activity, she likes to walk to work with her husband, run with friends, play soccer and do yoga.
Panellist: Geoff Ball, PhD, RD
Dr. Geoff Ball is the Director of the Pediatric Centre for Weight and Health at Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital and an Assistant Professor in Department of Pediatrics at the University of Alberta.
Dr. Ball leads a multi-disciplinary team in developing, delivering and evaluating weight management programs for overweight children and their families. He is also collaborating with colleagues from across Canada to establish a new national clinical research network in pediatric obesity called ACORN (Addressing Childhood Obesity Through Research and Networking).
Panellist: Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere, PhD
Dr. Nancy Spencer-Cavaliere is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta. She is the former Director of the Children’s Physical Activity and Study Program.
She has expertise in adapted physical activity and her research focus is primarily with children who are vulnerable due to disability, material deprivation and/or neglect.
Panellist: Emilea Karhioo
Emilea Karhioo is the Health Coordinator for the Alberta Native Friendship Centres Association (ANFCA) where she is implementing a project called the Aboriginal Urban Diabetes Initiatives (AUDI). The goal of AUDI is to prevent the development of Type 2 Diabetes in Aboriginal youth through education and activities. This initiative focuses on youth living in urban communities in Alberta and strives to overcome barriers of poverty, education and accessibility while preserving cultural beliefs and tradition to emphasize holistic wellness.
Panellist: Kim Sanderson, MA
Kim works in Research and Innovation for Community Services at the City of Edmonton. He is very interested in improving the design, development and delivery of play, sport and recreation opportunities for young people.
A board member and chair of the Canadian chapter of the International Play Association, Kim recently returned from the organization’s world conference in Hong Kong. He wishes that his children were still young enough to willingly try some of the many play ideas he got from the conference.
Panellist: Jaime Sterling, BPE
Jaime Sterling has been the Manager of Club Programs with Boys & Girls Clubs of Edmonton for the past seven years. She has 16 years of experience in developing wellness programming for children in Westlock, Jasper and Edmonton.
Her involvement with Youth Action and Cool Moves demonstrates the positive effects of motivating at-risk children and youth to take ownership of their health. She is currently working on the Healthy for Life Cool Moves Program in partnership with the Alberta Healthy School Wellness Fund.
