Lauren Maier

Supervisor

Prof. Phil Ainslie and Dr. Mypinder Sekhon

Current Program

Education

Lauren has a BKin (2021) and MSc in Kinesiology (2023) from the University of Alberta, where she was first introduced to environmental physiology.

Awards

CIHR Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral Award.

Biography

Outside of research, Lauren spends most of her time Irish dancing. Prior to starting her PhD, she spent a year working as a professional dancer and travelled to 25 different countries on an international tour.

Current Research

Lauren is interested in how the brain responds to a lack of oxygen, both in healthy humans exposed to high altitudes and in clinical models of hypoxic brain injury from disrupted blood flow (e.g., heart attack). Her PhD will explore sex differences in the response and recovery to brain hypoxia. Current understandings and treatments are largely based off research in males, which can lead to ineffective care for females. Lauren hopes to expand this knowledge to improve outcomes and explore potential mechanisms underpinning sex differences in brain physiology. Lauren is also involved in research at Vancouver General Hospital to describe the physiology of circulatory arrest, which may have important implications for organ donation research.

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