Department of Physiology & Pathophysiology

What we offer

Our department offers PhD and MSc graduate degrees in physiology and pathophysiology and a one-year stand-alone post-baccalaureate diploma in medical physiology and pathophysiology.

MSc Physiology & Pathophysiology

The Master of Physiology & Pathophysiology program is a thesis-based program. In addition to laboratory-based research training, the graduate program consists of basic courses in physiology, cell biology, molecular biology, and electronics for scientists, as well as specialty courses designed to meet the needs of master’s students.
PhD Physiology & Pathophysiology

The PhD program in Physiology & Pathophysiology consists of coursework as well as a substantial research component in one of the following areas: cardiovascular science and disease, endocrinology and metabolic disease, neurosciences and spinal cord injury, or respiratory physiology and disease.
Post-baccalaureate Diploma in Medical Physiology & Pathophysiology

Study respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, neuro, cell and laboratory physiology and pathophysiology in a hands-on research laboratory environment. Learn about the pathophysiology behind diseases and illnesses like cancer, diabetes, asthma and strokes in a one-year, stand alone program for individuals with little to no medical physiology or biomedical research laboratory experience.

Department research

Researchers in the Department of Physiology & Pathophysiology are carrying out leading-edge research across a broad range of disciplines.

Our researchers

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Cardiovascular Science and Disease

Our major research goals in cardiovascular science and disease are to understand the mechanisms—biophysical and biochemical—of the pathophysiology of different cardiovascular diseases as well as therapies. This includes trying to reduce the injury from heart attacks or heart-damaging drugs, improving heart remodelling after injury and increasing available hearts for transplantation.

Cell Physiology & Pathophysiology

Exploring the study of cancer and gene expression. Multiple researchers from other divisions in the department pursue projects in Cell Physiology & Pathophysiology.

Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases

This research reflects our expertise in genetic regulation of endocrine and neural tissues including pituitary and placenta, endocrine-related cancers and heart failure. There is a current emphasis on regulation of the metabolism and understanding the pathophysiology associated with obesity and both type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Neuroscience and Spinal Cord Injury

Studies in neuroscience and spinal cord injury are centred around understanding the mechanisms—biophysical and biochemical—underlying the pathophysiology of spinal cord injury. This includes investigations into spinal cord physiology, gap junctions and gap junction proteins, axonal growth and regeneration and autonomic control.

Respiratory Physiology and Disease

Research into respiratory physiology and disease is interested in the mechanisms—biophysical and biochemical—of muscle contraction in pathophysiological states such as asthma, essential hypertension and anaphylactic shock.

Faculty and staff

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Our team

We strive to be in the top five Physiology and Pathophysiology departments in Canada, and continue to be proud of our earned reputation for research, education and service performance. We also strive to provide an environment in which we are happy to work, train and grow, and feel both valued for what we contribute and offer as partners.

Find an advisor for your graduate studies and training

You must have an advisor willing to accept you as a student to pursue graduate studies in physiology and pathophysiology. If accepted, the advisor will commit to a minimum stipend. Currently, this is $19,000 per year for two years for a MSc degree and $20,000 per year for four years for a PhD degree, but please contact us to confirm approved level and duration of support. Trainees are all encouraged, however, to apply for personnel awards that, in addition to recognition, may provide alternative or additional support during the period of training.

If you are interested in pursuing a graduate degree under the mentorship of a faculty researcher listed on this site under links to “Our researchers”, “Faculty” or “Other faculty”, you are welcome to contact that faculty member directly to inquire about potential graduate positions.

Below, however, are links to faculty members associated with our Department that are interested in receiving trainee applications at this time. Please note, while every effort is made to update this information regularly, circumstances may have changed since the last update.

When you decide to contact a faculty member regarding a graduate position, please send them the following:

Curriculum vitae or resume
All academic transcripts from previous post-secondary institutions as well as the University of Manitoba (as applicable)
Descriptions of any previous research or teaching-related experience

Please also expect an invitation for interview, if your inquiry is pursued by a prospective advisor.

Advisors accepting graduate students

Faculty advisor	Research area
Jeremy Chopek	Spinal cord physiology; movement; neural circuit formation (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted)
Kristine Cowley	Spinal neural mechanisms of motor control; motor and exercise function after spinal cord injury; identifying mechanisms underlying neuromuscular deterioration after spinal cord injury using animal and clinical based research models (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Shyamala Dakshinamurti	Smooth muscle cell biology, cell signaling and pharmacology; pulmonary circulation hemodynamics (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Ian Dixon	Cardiac fibrosis. Myofibroblast inactivation by endogenous repressor of Smads. Generation of living valve leaflets using matricryptic signals (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Christine Doucette	Studies on (1) the role of the circadian clock in the regulation of the pancreatic beta cell and insulin secretion; and (2) the mechanisms that contribute to beta cell dysfunction in offspring exposed to diabetes during gestation (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Andrew Halayko	Pathobiology and pathogenesis of asthma, including the effects of inhaled pollutants, and pre-clinical testing of new therapies (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Soheila Karimi	Translational neuroscience; neural regeneration; neural stem cell biology and therapeutics; multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury; treatment development; neuroinflammation and immune modulation; myelin repair; organoid; transgenic and genetic models (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Richard Keijzer	Interested clinically in minimal invasive pediatric general surgery. Research is focused on congenital anomalies including congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and abnormal lung development, including delineating the role of microRNAs and circular RNAs (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Sabine Mai	Cancer; genomic instability; nuclear architecture; imaging (MSc applications accepted).
Amir Ravandi	Cardiovascular lipidomics (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Ashish H. Shah	Hemodynamics and biomarker identification in cardiovascular diseases (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Tabrez Siddiqui	Synapse development; synaptic plasticity; neurodevelopment; autism; schizophrenia (MSc applications accepted).
Peter Thompson	Type 1 Diabetes; autoimmunity; pancreatic islet biology; cellular senescence; DNA damage response; ER stress (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted).
Jiuyong Xie	Pre-mRNA RNA splicing, adaptation, genetic diseases, cancer, Rett syndrome (PhD applications accepted).

Advisors accepting postdoctoral fellows

Faculty advisor	Research area
Kristine Cowley	Spinal neural mechanisms of motor control; motor and exercise function after spinal cord injury; identifying mechanisms underlying neuromuscular deterioration after spinal cord injury using animal and clinical based research models.
Christine Doucette	Studies to examine the influence of gene/environment interactions on pancreatic islet function and metabolic health: Implications for childhood-onset type 2 diabetes in Indigenous youth.
Andrew Halayko	Pathobiology and pathogenesis of asthma, including the effects of inhaled pollutants, and pre-clinical testing of new therapies.
Soheila Karimi	Translational neuroscience; neural regeneration; neural stem cell biology and therapeutics; multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury; treatment development; neuroinflammation and immune modulation; myelin repair; organoid; transgenic and genetic models.
Richard Keijzer	Interested clinically in minimal invasive pediatric general surgery. Research is focused on congenital anomalies including congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) and abnormal lung development, including delineating the role of microRNAs and circular RNAs.
Sabine Mai	Cancer; genomic instability; nuclear architecture; imaging.
Tabrez Siddiqui	Synapse development; synaptic plasticity; neurodevelopment; autism; schizophrenia (candidates with experience in electrophysiology and/or calcium imaging preferred).

Undergraduate Research Awards

Each year, the University of Manitoba provides a multitude of unique learning opportunities through the undergraduate research awards. This program allows undergraduate students to interact with the best minds and research leaders in their fields. This experience opens them up to new possibilities for a research career in either government, academic or industry sectors.