2024 AHPA Pre-Course Agenda
Friday, February 9th
Theme 1: Maintaining a Healthy ‘Balance’: Strength Training and Fall Prevention
| Session | Presenter | Time* |
| Opening Remarks | AHPA President | 1:00 – 1:10 |
| Exercise to Prevent Falls | Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose | 1:10 – 2:20 |
| Break | N/A | 2:20 – 2:30 |
| Stretching Exercise | Kim Hall | 2:30 – 2:45 |
| Strength training prescription for people with rheumatoid arthritis: Finding the right FITT | Dr. Jasmin Ma | 2:45 – 3:55 |
| Closing Remarks | Moderator | 3:55 – 4:00 |
Saturday, February 10th
Theme 2: What’s Your Gut Telling You: Nutrition, Obesity, and Gut Microbiota
| Session | Presenter | Time* |
| Opening Remarks | AHPA President | 1:00 – 1:05 |
| The Heavy Burden: Unraveling Obesity’s Role in Arthritis Management | Dr. Michael Lyon | 1:05 – 2:15 |
| Break | N/A | 2:15 – 2:25 |
| Patient Resources | Ian Patton, PhD (Obesity Canada) | 2:25 – 2:40 |
| Role of the Intestinal Microbiome in Rheumatology: A Critical Appraisal | Dr. Philip Sherman | 2:40 – 3:50 |
| Closing Remarks | AHPA President | 3:50 – 4:00 |
* Please note that all times are Eastern Standard Time (EST)
Click here to register for the Pre-Course
Please note that the AHPA pre-course and the CRA/AHPA Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) are two separate events and thus have two separate registration processes.
Presenters
Friday, February 9
Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT — Exercise to Prevent Falls
Dr. Teresa Liu-Ambrose, PhD, PT, Professor, is a physical therapist and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Healthy Aging at the University of British Columbia, Department of Physical Therapy. She directs the Aging, Mobility and Cognitive Health Laboratory and the Vancouver General Hospital’s Falls Prevention Clinic (www.fallsclinic.ca). Dr. Liu-Ambrose is Co-Director of the Centre for Aging SMART at VCH (also known as Centre for Hip Health and Mobility).
She leads the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) Data Collection Site at UBC, the CLSA Neuroimaging Working Group, and the CLSA COVID-19 Brain Health Study. Dr. Liu-Ambrose also co-leads the CLSA Healthy Brains, Healthy Aging initiative.
Dr. Liu-Ambrose’s research focuses on understanding the role of exercise, and other lifestyle interventions, in promoting cognitive and mobility outcomes in older adults. Her research findings have been implemented into clinical practice, community programs, and international practice guidelines or recommendations to promote healthy aging.
Kim Hall, Registered Physiotherapist — Stretching Exercise
Dr. Jasmin Ma — Strength training prescription for people with rheumatoid arthritis: Finding the right FITT
Dr. Jasmin Ma is an assistant professor of teaching in the School of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia, a Clinician Investigator with Arthritis Research Canada, and an Investigator with the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries. She was named a UBC Knowledge Mobilization Scholar for her work in bridging her role as a kinesiologist and researcher, working with clinicians and community members to provide physical activity participation opportunities for people with diverse physical abilities. She leads the Movement 4 All (M4A) lab which focusses on 1) the implementation of experiential learning opportunities in community-based exercise settings, 2) supporting strength training behaviour change and 3) developing methods for tailored physical activity counselling and prescription approaches with people with chronic disease and disability, particularly people with spinal cord dysfunction and rheumatoid arthritis.
Saturday, February 10
Michael R. Lyon, MD, Dip. ABOM — The Heavy Burden: Unraveling Obesity’s Role in Arthritis Management
Dr. Lyon is a Clinical Lecturer in the UBC Faculty of Medicine, Dept. of Family Practice. He served for several years as an Adjunct Professor with the UBC Food, Nutrition and Health Program and he served four years as the Chair of the Nutrition Committee for Doctors of BC. He is board certified in the field of Obesity Medicine through the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He is the Medical Director for the Medical Weight Management Program at the Obesity Medicine and Diabetes Institute in Coquitlam. He is also a Canadian Mental Health Association CBT program facilitator and he makes extensive use of CBT, ACT and mindfulness-based stress reduction in his obesity medicine practice. He has an interest in Culinary Medicine and he is trained as a Clinician Chef Coach through Harvard School of Public Health.
Ian Patton, PhD (Obesity Canada) — Patient Resources
Ian Patton is the Director of Advocacy and Public Engagement for Obesity Canada and a Contract Faculty member of the School of Kinesiology at York University. In his role, Ian combines his academic training in Kinesiology with his personal experience living with obesity to inform and empower others. Ian is a globally recognized patient advocate and was involved in the development of the Canadian Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines published in 2020 as well as the upcoming Canadian Pediatric Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines. Ian is passionate about the elimination of weight bias and discrimination.
Philip M. Sherman, MD, FRCPC — Role of the Intestinal Microbiome in Rheumatology: A Critical Appraisal
Philip Sherman is Senior Scientist-Emeritus in the Cell Biology Program in the Research Institute at the Hospital for Sick Children, and Professor-Emeritus of Paediatrics, Medical Science, Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology, and Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Sherman is a Past-President of the North American Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Past-President of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology, and immediate past Scientific Director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes. His research interests focus on the role of probiotics, prebiotics, and human milk oligosaccharides in settings of health and disease.