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Research Excellence

York is committed to excellence in research and scholarship in all its forms. Informed by a strong commitment to shared values, including the promotion of social justice, diversity, and the public good, we aspire through our research to better understand the human condition and the world around us and to employ the knowledge we gain in the service of society.

Areas of Research Interest

General areas of faculty interest are listed below, grouped by research expertise. The specific interests of each faculty member are provided under the list of Faculty Research Interests. Students must have the consent of a supervising faculty member with whom they will work closely on a research project and faculty members should be contacted directly for details about their research. Admittance to the program is only official when a letter of admittance is received from the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Physiology

  • cardiovascular, neuromuscular, and molecular muscle physiology
  • respiratory/exercise physiology
  • thermal regulation
  • endocrinology and metabolism
  • vascular biology/cell signaling
  • nutrition

Neuroscience and Biomechanics

  • neuromotor control/eye-hand coordination
  • visual perception/attention/sensorimotor integration
  • molecular neuroscience
  • ergonomics/occupational biomechanics
  • biomechanics of disease and injury

Health and Fitness Behaviours

  • health psychology (eating disorders, behavioural cardiology, pain and aging, cancer prevention and treatment)
  • epidemiology (physical activity and fitness, childhood injuries, chronic disease and aging, maternal and child heath)
  • rehabilitation of clinical populations
  • health and sport

Socio-Cultural and Policy Studies in Sport and Physical Activity

  • Socio-cultural study of sport, health and physical activity
  • Policy studies of sport and physical activity
  • Physical cultural studies
A picture of a man and woman talking at a library

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research within the Graduate Program in Kinesiology and Health Science is determined by the proposed projects presented by successful aspirants. Our students complete a thesis and/or dissertation, which then becomes published as “Electronic Theses & Dissertations” and sits as a public document within our institutional repository – YorkSpace.

Graduate Program in Kinesiology and Health Science Electronic Theses

Awards & Recognition

photo of Jessica Nachman

Jessica Nachman

Jessica Nachman (lead author) and co-authors (Lynsday Hayhurst (supervisor), Drs. Audrey Giles, Rochelle Stewart-Withers, Dan Henhawk won the ‘Outstanding Article’ award for the Sociology of Sport Journal at the North American Association for the Sociology of Sport Conference in Chicago last week for the paper, ‘Indigenous Youth (Non)Participation in Euro-Canadian Sport: Applying Theories of Refusal’.

photo of Jaryeon Lee

Jaryeon Lee

Jaryeon Lee (MSc candidate, Dr. Anthony Scime supervisor) is the recipient of the 2024 Summer Stem Cell Network Summer Studentship. This competitive award supports students to experience rigorous stem cell and regenerative medicine research. She was also awarded a travel bursary to present her research at the Till and McCulloch Stem Cell Conference held in Montréal in November 2024.

photo of Victoria Sanfrancesco

Victoria Sanfrancesco and Dr. David Hood

PhD candidate Victoria Sanfrancesco and Dr. David Hood have published novel findings addressing the role of exercise in activating stress adaptive pathways in skeletal muscle involving the transcription factor ATF4 for the maintenance of muscle health.

Learn More

The Graduate Program in Kinesiology and Health Science at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.