Student researcher
Institut Universitaire de Cardiologie Et de Pneumologie de Québec, Canada
Lavinia is a clinical kinesiologist and master's student in clinical and biomedical sciences in the team of Dr Marie-Eve Piché and Dr Paul Poirier. She completed her bachelor's degree in kinesiology at the University of Sherbrooke, Quebec. Lavinia completed internships in pulmonary rehabilitation at the Centre Inspir’er of the Quebec Lung Association and an internship at the Centre ÉPIC of the Montreal Heart Institute where she was able to participate in cardiac rehabilitation clinics. Having developed a passion for the benefits of physical activity in the context of chronic diseases, after obtaining her bachelor's degree in 2022, she decided to specialize in the field of cardiopulmonary rehabilitation by completing a specialized graduate diploma in clinical kinesiology at Laval University, Quebec. This diploma allowed her to obtain skills to guide different populations (metabolic, cardiac and pulmonary diseases), towards the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors for prevention or treatment purposes. Lavinia then obtained the certification of Clinical exercise physiologist from the American College of Sports Medicine. Since fall 2024, she is a master's student at the Faculty of Medicine at Laval University under the supervision of Dr Piché and co-supervision of Dr Poirier, clinical cardiologists. She participated in the recruitment of participants for the research project of the Mobile Clinical Unit for Cardiovascular Prevention in Rural, Remote and Indigenous Communities. Her role was to administer maximal treadmill exercise tests to participants. She is currently involved in the project: Effect of Exercise on Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Blood Pressure Control. Wanting to promote physical activity to prevent cardiovascular risk factors, her master's project aims to evaluate the relationship between the blood pressure response to exercise and adiposity indices in a cohort of children. With her master's degree and her involvement in her research team, Lavinia is currently developing clinical, practical and theoretical skills.