Max Rady College of Medicine

Department of Physiology & Pathophysiology

Physiology is the study of how living things, including humans, function. Through physiology, we aim to understand the fundamental mechanisms that operate in a living organism and how they interact. Physiology can be investigated at the level of the whole body, organ systems, tissues and cells at the molecular level.

Pathophysiology is the natural counterpart to physiology. It is the study of how things go wrong in living things and affect the body’s systems, causing functional changes that can lead to health consequences such as a disease or a disorder.

Graphic of the human cardiovascular system.
Immediate opportunity for a master’s student in physiology and pathophysiology (2023)
Dr. Asher Mendelson is an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) physician and MD-PhD clinician scientist studying how cardiovascular and microvascular dysfunction affect outcomes for ICU survivors during 12 months after ICU discharge. The candidate will be using state-of-the-art equipment to measure oxygen delivery, use and metabolism, cardiovascular and autonomic regulation, complemented with quantitative assessments of fitness and frailty. The candidate will have direct contact with patients and caregivers, providing unique opportunities to engage with participants at the site of clinical care. Contact our Department Office for further information.
Contact us for more information

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.

Our story

Watch a brief video to learn more about our department and what we offer.

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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Current faculty research

Heart surgery close-up.

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 mitosis close-up.

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.
Patient has her blood pressure checked.

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.
Woman in a wheelchair pets her cat.

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.
Little girl uses an asthma inhaler.

Respiratory Physiology and Disease

Research focuses on inflammation, tissue repair and developmental biology in the context of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary hypertension, and congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Using innovative cell culture systems, lung disease models, and human biosamples we investigate the impacts of environmental exposures on smooth muscle, epithelial, endothelial and immune cells.
Heart surgery close-up.
Cell mitosis close-up.
Patient has her blood pressure checked.
Woman in a wheelchair pets her cat.
Little girl uses an asthma inhaler.

Faculty and staff

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)

Shyamala Dakshinamurti

Smooth muscle cell biology, cell signaling and pharmacology; pulmonary circulation hemodynamics (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted)

Perry Dhaliwal

Clinical research focused on the measurement of intraspinal pressure and spinal cord perfusion following acute traumatic spinal cord injury in humans. These measures will also be studied in the context of biomarkers for spinal cord injury.

Sanjiv Dhingra

Cardiac stem cell therapy and tissue engineering, Immunomodulatory biomaterials synthesis, characterization and application, allograft vasculopathy, iPSCs and disease modeling, Inborn metabolic disorders (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)

Davinder Jassal

Complementary use of multimodality cardiovascular imaging (echocardiography, cardiac computed tomography and cardiac MRI, in the non-invasive assessment of heart failure syndromes, in the fields of Cardio-Oncology, Women’s Heart Health, and Sudden Cardiac Death (MSc 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)

Lorrie Kirshenbaum

Cell death; autophagy; mitochondrial metabolism; hypoxia. (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted)

Sabine Mai

Cancer; genomic instability; nuclear architecture; imaging (MSc applications accepted)

Asher Mendelson

Basic science (animals, in vitro) and translational (humans) studies; microvascular physiology; critical care; sepsis; skeletal muscle dysfunction (MSc and/or PhD applications accepted)

Inna Rabinovich-Nikitin

Circadian factors and pathways by which circadian misalignment leads to cardiometabolic dysfunction;

how controlling feeding/fasting cycles affect cardiac function in cardiometabolic syndrome and contribute or prevent the development of cardiometabolic heart failure (MSc and/or PhD 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

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.

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

Lorrie Kirshenbaum

Mitochondrial dynamics; cell death; autophagy; myocardial infarction

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)

Peter Zahradka

To study non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in an obese rodent model. In addition to examining the physiological processes leading to disease onset, a major objective is to identify key cellular mechanisms that may serve as targets for interventions capable of slowing or reversing disease progression.
Student working with a test-tube.

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.

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Contact us

Physiology and Pathophysiology
432 Basic Medical Sciences Building
745 Bannatyne Avenue
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9 Canada

physiology@umanitoba.ca
204-789-3696
204-789-3934