Dr. McLean and Lab Team

/Dr. McLean and Lab Team
Dr. McLean and Lab Team 2022-05-31T09:28:10+00:00

Dr. Linda McLean

Supervisor & Principal Investigator

Linda McLean received her BSc in Physiotherapy from McGill University in 1990. In 1995, she received her MSc in Electrical Engineering from the University of New Brunswick, and in 1998 she received her doctorate from the same institution. She began her academic career as Assistant Professor in the School of Physiotherapy at Dalhousie University. In 2002 she moved to the School of Rehabilitation Therapy at Queen’s University in Kingston, where, in 2006, she became chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, and where she became full professor in 2012. In 2014 Dr. McLean joined the School of Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa as full professor and continues to hold an adjunct professor appointment at Queen’s University. She is currently operating her research in both Kingston and Ottawa. At the University of Ottawa, Dr. McLean is a member of the Office of the Vice-Provost, Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, holds a Chair in Women’s Health Research and holds a cross-appointment in the Schools of Human Kinetics and Engineering.

Dr. McLean currently supervises our multidisciplinary team of researchers with backgrounds in psychology, physiotherapy, engineering, kinesiology, and biomedical science. In her position as our supervisor, we have come to know Linda as an intelligent, thoughtful, and driven leader with a passion for tackling issues related to research and policies in women’s health.  Dr. McLean’s dedication to promoting women’s health is also strongly demonstrated through her excellence as a researcher. As a mentor and professional, Dr. McLean conducts her research based on a strong, clear picture of clinical and policy relevance. Each project that she proposes as a leader, that we conceive as a team, or that she is brought in from a third party must unequivocally pass a test; a project worth pursuing must either lead to advances through its strong clinical relevance to the practice of women’s health or to policies related to women’s health.

Dr. McLean not only shows excellence in research, but demonstrates outstanding mentorship skills and strong relationships with the local community; she is a leader in advocating for women’s health.

Dr. Flavia Ignacio Antonio

Post Doctoral Visiting Researcher

Flavia Ignacio Antonio received her BSc in Physiotherapy from University of Ribeirão Preto (Brazil) in 2006. In 2011, she received her MSc in Sciences from the Ribeirão Preto Medical School (FMRP – USP), Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo – Brazil, and in 2016 she received her PhD from the same institution. Concurrent with researches in Physiotherapy Women’s Health area she operates in Private Physiotherapy clinical practice in Brazil. Flavia moved to Ottawa in order to pursue with researches at University of Ottawa. She is currently registered as a Postdoctoral fellow at University of Ottawa under Dr. Linda McLean supervision. Her research focuses on the nature of pelvic floor muscle involvement in dyspareunia, and the outcomes of this research will help to develop new approaches to help women overcome their vulvar pain.

Marie-Ève Bérubé

PhD Candidate & Physical Therapist

Marie-Ève Bérubé BSc, MScPT, PhD candidate has been a registered physiotherapist (Ordre Professionnel de la Physiothérapie du Québec) since 2015. She is currently completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on the biomechanics of exercise-induced stress urinary incontinence in women. She concurrently owns and operates her own private pelvic health physiotherapy practice in Gatineau, Quebec (http://www.pelvi-solutions.com). She actively participates in knowledge translation activities in her community to educate women and birth companions about pelvic health physiotherapy.

Marylène Charette

PhD Candidate & Physical Therapist

Marylène Charette received her bachelor’s degree in health sciences and then completed her masters in physiotherapy at the University of Ottawa. Since 2016, she has been a registered physiotherapist in Gatineau, Quebec where she is practicing mainly in pelvic health. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Population Health (expected 2022) with the supervision of Dr. Linda McLean. Her research focus is in the assessment of current management practices of women with urinary incontinence, including referral patterns of family physician & barriers and facilitators to conservative treatment.

Catriona Czyrnyj

PhD Candidate

Catriona obtained her B.A.Sc. in 2014 in Mechanical Engineering and has been working in the MFM Lab since November 2015, where she completed her Master’s thesis in 2017. Catriona is currently pursuing her PhD in Biomedical Engineering (expected 2020) under Drs. Linda McLean and Michel Labrosse, and her research focuses in biomedical imaging, tissue mechanics, and biomechanics of the female urogenital system.

Kaylee Brooks

PhD Candidate

Kaylee received her Bachelor of Science with honours in psychology from Queens University in 2015. She then completed her Masters of Science in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa in 2017 focusing her research on creating a model of characteristics that are predictive of successful physiotherapy outcomes among women with stress urinary incontinence. Having worked with Dr. McLean since 2014, Kaylee is currently working towards completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Ottawa with a focus on the neurophysiology of stress urinary incontinence in women. Outside of her research, Kaylee works in science communication, specializing in the creation of visuals to convey research and clinical practicie (www.brooksscicomm.com) In her spare time Kaylee enjoys kickboxing, hiking, and spending time with her family and friends.

Olena Klahsen

PhD Candidate

Olena received her Hon BSc, majoring in Human Kinetics, from the University of Guelph in 2018. She stayed in Guelph to study osteoarthritis in the spine with Dr. Steve Brown during her MSc in Human Health and Nutritional Science. After a successful defense at the end of 2020, Olena has joined the MFM team. For her doctoral work, she will focus on the effects of aging on the pelvic floor using biomedical imaging, kinematics and tissue analysis and how these might contribute to conditions such as urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. Outside of the lab, Olena is a photographer, foodie and avid hiker.

Olena passed her comprehensive exam in March 2022, stay tuned for her thesis proposal defense.

Maryam Golmohammadi Qadikolai

PhD Student & Physical Therapist

Maryam has been a registered physiotherapist (BScPT, MScPT in Iran) since 2015. She is currently completing her PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences at the University of Ottawa. Her research focuses on the biomechanics of running in women with exercise-induced stress urinary incontinence.

Silvia Saraiva

Master’s Student & Physical Therapist

Silvia Saraiva (she/her) received her BSc in Physiotherapy from Centro Universitário de João Pessoa (Brazil) in 2008. That same year, she moved to Canada and started working as a physiotherapist assistant. After a lengthy equivalency process, she became a registered physiotherapist in 2017. Since then, she has focused her practice in pelvic health physiotherapy and women’s health. Silvia is a 1st-year Master’s student in Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa (expected 2022) under the supervision of Dr. Linda McLean. Her research focuses on the effect of Hypopressive exercises on the pelvic floor muscles and intra-abdominal pressure. Silvia is passionate about educating, empowering and helping women.

Layla Mitri

Master’s Student & Volunteer Coordinator

Layla is a 1st-year master’s student in Biomedical Engineering. She recently graduated from the her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Mechanical Engineering Program at the University of Ottawa. She has been working at the lab since September 2019 as an undergraduate student helping with prototype design, fabrication, and repairs. She has also helped coordinate MFM student lab volunteers from first and second-year undergraduate engineering programs. Layla organized tasks for the volunteers which included electrode fabrication, CAD design, and repairs.

Undergraduate & Support Team Members

We’re happy to welcome amazing and diverse undergraduate students from various fields as through scholarships, co-op placements and volunteering.

Alexis McCreath Frangakis

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Alexis is currently a 4th year Biomedical Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Ottawa. She became a member of the MFM Lab as a co-op student in 2021. Outside of the lab, Alexis enjoys teaching karate and kickboxing, as well as kayaking and skating on the canal.

Maxine Speers

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Maxine is currently a 4th year Biomedical Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Ottawa. She joined the team as a co-op student in 2022 to assist in the development of data analysis programs along with the fabrication and repair of research equipment. Outside of the lab, Maxine enjoys biking and rock climbing.

Darian Allard

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Darian has graduated from the Honours Bachelor of Arts Psychology program at the University of Ottawa. She joined the MFM lab team in September 2021 and is pursuing graduate studies in psychology with the goal of one day becoming a psychotherapist or clinical psychologist. Apart from assisting in the studies at the lab, Darian enjoys swimming, hiking, and travelling.

Shainuka Kannathas

Team Member
Team Member

Karen Hakko

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Karen is a third year Biomedical Mechanical Engineering Student at the University of Ottawa. She joined the MFM lab team in 2021 as an undergraduate student working on various projects including Solidworks design, manufacturing research equipment as well as data collection and processing.

Mary Ojo

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member

Sarah Milton

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Sarah Milton is currently a 2nd year Bachelor of Health Sciences Student at Carleton University.

Carina Lyrette

Undergraduate Team Member
Undergraduate Team Member
Carina is a third-year health sciences student at the University of Ottawa. She expects to graduate in 2022, with hopes of pursuing her degree with a master’s in Physiotherapy. Carina is currently helping with data collection at the MFM labs.

MFM Lab Alumni

Due to the natural transient nature of our research hub, we have many amazing people coming and going, whether from a work term, completing a degree, or participating as a visiting researcher.  We wanted to keep a space to honour all of those who have worked with us to move the research forward!

Ana Brennan

Master's Student
Master's Student

As of April 2022, Ana successfully defended her MASc thesis, titled: “Design and Bench Validation of a Mechanical Intravaginal Dynamometer Mechanism”.

We wish Ana all of the best with her future plans!

Megan Vandermolen

Master's Student
Master's Student

Megan successfully defended her MASc thesis, “Semi-Automated Detection of Bladder Neck Funnelling and Measurement of Posterior Urethrovesical Angle in Females” in April 2022.

We’re always sad to see students leave the nest, but we know how lucky we were to have Megan for her masters. Good luck!

Marina Petter Rodrigues

Visiting Researcher
Visiting ResearcherPhD Student
Marina Graduated in Physical Therapy by Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS/Porto Alegre – Brazil) in 2015 and postgraduate (lato sensu) in Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy by Faculdade Inspirar (Porto Alegre- Brazil) in 2016. In 2014, she did an Exchange at Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. She holds a Master’s Degree in Health Sciences: Gynecology and Obstetrics (UFRGS). Marina is currently a PhD student in the same program. We are thrilled that she has joined our team as part of her PhD studies. Marina helped to build and integrate the first programs of Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy (UFRGS) in 2012. She has been a part of the Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy Team of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA / UFRGS – Brazil) since 2013, acting and assisting in research projects, attending women with pelvic floor dysfunctions and supervising the students of Women’s Health discipline of UFRGS’ Physiotherapy course. Her primary interests and experiences are in Women’s Health, Pelvic Floor Physiotherapy, Urogynecological Physiotherapy, Physiotherapy in Obstetrics and Physiotherapy in Proctology.

Dr. Joanna Reeves

Visiting Researcher
Visiting ResearcherPost Doctorate
Jo has just completed her PhD in biomechanics at the University of Salford, UK on the effect of foot orthoses on muscle activity and morphology, foot biomechanics and skin sensitivity. During the latter part of her PhD Jo was based at the University of Guelph. In that time she was involved in a collaborative project with the University of Salford investigating how mechanoreceptors on the sole of the foot respond to loads similar to those experienced in walking and another study on the influence of texture on joint position sense. Fine-wire EMG of the tibialis posterior was a fundamental part of Jo’s PhD thesis and the plan is to explore some of the methodological issues with fine-wire electrodes in a short term post doc with Dr. McLean. With a background and ongoing interest in gait and clinical biomechanics, Jo will also be involved in the work on running induced stress urinary incontinence in women that Marie-Ève Bérubé is conducting.

Dr. Rachel Luo Qiu

Visiting Researcher -
Visiting Researcher - Medical Doctor & PhD Student
Rachel.Luo Qiu received her medical degree and residency training at the second affiliated hospital of kunMing Medical University. She then completed her Physiatrist training at the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation as well as the department of Neurology of the HuaShan Hospital of FuDan University in 2011. Rachel is currently a doctoral student at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Her doctoral study focus is on understanding the relationship between cerebral blood flow with neurodevelopmental disability in preterm infants. With a background in electroneurophysiology and ongoing interest in the neurophysiology of incontinence in women, she is working with Prof.McLean to further research in understanding urethral sphincteric and pelvic floor neurophysiology.

Beatriz Martin Arranz

Visiting Researcher
Visiting Researcher PhD Candidate
(Team MFM 2019) Beatriz Arranz recieved her Bachelor’ degree in Physiotherapy in 2013 at the University of Alcalá (Spain). In 2014, she revieced her MSc in Manual Therapy in Musculoskeletal System. Since graduated, she has been combining clinical practice and postgraduate courses, primarily worked on therapeutic exercise and manual therapies. In 2016 she started the International PhD in Health Science, working in researching, teaching and clinical areas from Physiotherapy in Women’s Health Research Group in Spain. Her research focuses on pregnancy and postpartum muscular evaluation with ultrasound imaging and electromyography. Beatriz is presently carrying out a research stay with Dr. McLean team at the University of Ottawa within her PhD in their women’s health projects.

Merrill Pappin

Research Assistant
Research Assistant
(Team MFM 2017 & 2018) Merrill graduated with a Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Ottawa in 2017. She is currently in her first year of the Master of Physical Therapy Program at Queens University. She has been working in the lab since September 2017 as a research assistant, helping with participant recruitment, data analysis, and lab scheduling. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, kayaking and cycling.

Update! (June 2019)  Merrill is currently a student at Queen’s University in the Master’s of Physical Therapy program. Having just completed her first year of studies, she has greatly enjoyed working in acute care settings and with patients with neurological disorders. Merrill is excited to complete a placement with a pelvic floor dysfunction client focus before she completes her degree.

Undergraduate Team Members

Lucy Li

Emily Gunning

Kisanet Kebedom

Annabelle Many

Alina Danilova

Katrine Labonté

Elsa Lange

Yomma Elsahli

Karen Hakko

Hind Tlassellal

Samantha Boucher

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