Welcome, Dr. Jodie Koep, Stober Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow
We are pleased to welcome Dr. Jodie Koep, Stober Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow, to UBC Okanagan and the School of Health and Exercise Sciences.
Jodie was born and grew up in South Africa. She completed her MSC at Exter University in 2019 and then her Ph.D. through a joint degree initiative between Exeter and the University of Queensland. It was at Exter that Jodie met Dr. Ali McManus, also an Exeter alumnus, and found that they shared an interest in pediatric exercise physiology.
Doing a postdoctoral fellowship at Ali’s Pediatric Exercise Research Lab (PERL) was an easy choice, and the Stober Foundation Health Fund helped make it possible. Through the generosity of the Stober Family, Jodie will receive two years of funding for her fellowship.
Over these two years at PERL, Jodie will undertake an experimental trial using exercise training in adolescents. “We plan to evaluate a theoretical model whereby mobile health technology will be incorporated into a home-based exercise and physical activity intervention,” says Jodie. “Our objective is to develop an evidence-based intervention to increase exercise behaviours.”
She will then evaluate the intervention in a randomized controlled trial, where she will investigate the influence on vascular health. Alongside this trial, she will undertake other experimental studies to understand the differences in vascular and cerebrovascular regulation in children and adolescents compared to adults. She will then be able to tailor the program for optimal health benefits.
“Paediatric exercise physiology is an area with abundant opportunities to advance our understanding of vascular health,” says Jodie. “Through this understanding, we can potentially reduce the risk of disease across the lifespan.”