Dr. Don Mckenzie (Winter 2019)
As a global leader in the science of cancer and exercise, Dr. Don McKenzie's research has had a heavy impact on improving the lives of women with breast cancer. Challenging the notion that women diagnosed with breast cancer should avoid upper-body exercise, McKenzie’s research focuses on dragon boat paddling as an avenue for improving existing cases of breast cancer-related lymphedema.
McKenzie is a Professor of Kinesiology and Director of the Division of Sports Medicine at the University of British Columbia (UBC). He is an exercise physiologist and physician with a long track record of research in the areas of exercise physiology, sports medicine, and exercise and cancer. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Guelph, a Master of Physical Education from the University of British Columbia, a doctorate from Ohio State University, and a Doctor of Medicine from UBC. He has published extensively in the fields of exercise physiology, sports medicine, and cancer. His research has received over $5.5 million in funding. He has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal publications and 17 book chapters, and has given countless presentations and invited talks.
An avid kayaker, and exceptional athlete in his own right, Dr. McKenzie has been to 10 Olympic Games as a medical officer for Canada’s national canoe team. He has worked extensively with the IOC and WADA on issues of doping in sport. McKenzie has received numerous awards and distinctions in his career. In 2001, he was awarded the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology Honour Award, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the field of exercise physiology. Also in 2001, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal at Rideau Hall by Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada. He is a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal recipient and in 2007, he was awarded an honorary LLD doctorate degree from the University of Guelph.
View photos from Don McKenzie's visit to UFV
Dr. Cathy van Ingen (Spring 2018)
Dr. Cathy van Ingen is an associate professor in Kinesiology at Brock University and the co-founder and lead researcher with Shape Your Life, a free, non-contact boxing program for female-identified people who have experienced violence. Dr. Cathy van Ingen's research investigates the relationship between sport, inequality, violence, and social change. The specific issues Dr. van Ingen researches include gender-based violence, boxing, trauma-informed physical activity, geographies of sport and physical activity, sport media, youth culture and sport for development.
Watch Dr. Cathy van Ingen presentation
View photos from Cathy van Ingen's visit to UFV
Jim Ryan (Fall 2017)
One minute in March, 2016, he was enjoying the warm ocean in Maui with his wife, Isabelle. The next, he was twisted around by a wave. His head was driven into the sand and he was instantly paralyzed and drowned. Miraculously, Jim was revived on the beach. He spent almost 10 months in hospital and in rehab and continues with therapy today. Before his accident, Ryan was as a pilot for almost 40 years. He spent the last 14 years working for WestJet Airlines. He and his wife have raised four children and continue to live in their family home in Chilliwack. They are now learning to live as and with a quadriplegic. Ryan’s story is not just one of survival or how to endure living a new life. It is one of how to prevail in the face of adversity.
View photos from Jim Ryan's visit to UFV
Meaghan Thumath (Winter 2017)
Meaghan Thumath is a registered nurse and senior practice leader at the BC Centre for Disease Control where she started her career as a street nurse and has moved into policy and leadership roles in the overdose and HIV response. Her work focuses on the opioid crisis and evidence-based interventions that health care providers can utilize to address this growing public health issue.
Watch Meaghan Thumath presentation
Sam Waddington (Winter 2016)
Waddington is a lifelong resident of Chilliwack who brings his love for the outdoors and its recreational opportunities to everything he does. He opened Mt. Waddington’s Outdoors in 2012 in order to equip the local population for outdoor pursuits. He ran successfully for Chilliwack city council in 2014 on a platform that championed promoting Chilliwack as an outdoor sports destination. He is a founding member of and donor to the Chilliwack Trails Society and a major advocate of making Chilliwack’s forests and mountains more accessible for outdoor enthusiasts. He has travelled extensively and enjoyed some of the world’s most magnificent wilderness settings, and brings the lessons he has learned along the way to his favourite neck of the woods: Chilliwack and its surrounding wilderness.
View photos from Sam Waddington's visit to UFV
Inez Jasper (Winter 2015)
Jasper is an award-winning pop artist, registered nurse, member of the Stó:lō Nation, mother of two, and a nationally recognized role model. She is as dedicated to inspiring others to reach for their dreams as she is to achieving her own.
Watch Inez Jasper presentation
View photos from Inez Jasper's visit to UFV
Dr. Darin Cherniwchan (Fall 2014)
Dr. Cherniwchan is an acknowledged expert in the fields of travel medicine and infectious diseases. Dr. Cherniwchan has worked as a physician in Abbotsford and Chilliwack the past 28 years. He is both a pharmacist (UBC ’87) and physician (McGill ’91).
Read more about Dr. Cherniwchan's story