Faculty Directory

Luisa has been a faculty member in the Kinesiology Department since 2020. Previously, Luisa was a faculty member in the Department of Sport Science at Douglas College and taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and Simon Fraser University (SFU).

Luisa earned her doctorate degree from UBC where her research focused on the interactions of exercise and the environment on cardio-respiratory health/physiology. Specifically, Luisa focused on the health effects of exercising in air pollution and, during this time, she worked with healthy populations, elite athletes, and clinical populations. 

Ph.D., Kinesiology, University of British Columbia (2014)

B.Sc., Kinesiology, University of British Columbia (2007)

M.Sc., Sports Science and Information Systems, Staffordshire University, UK (2003)

Luisa has a strong theoretical foundation in human health, exercise physiology and nutrition, as well as a strong interest in active learning. At UFV, Luisa uses this foundation in a student-centered classroom for classes that include exercise physiology and nutrition. By providing a learner-centered environment Luisa aims to develop her students’ autonomy, to encourage them to be invested in their learning, to develop their ability to think critically and to apply what they have learned.

Luisa’s main area of research focuses on air pollution, exercise and health and her other research interests focus on nutritional strategies for health and exercise performance. Currently, Luisa is collaborating with colleagues from the University of British Columbia, the University of the Fraser Valley, and the University of São Paulo on research related to the health effects of air pollution, as well as the ergogenic effects of dietary supplementation on exercise performance.

University of the Fraser Valley, Research and Scholarly Fund (2021, Primary Investigator)

• Promoting health and reducing risk associated with exercising in air pollution: Evaluating the effectiveness of an online learning module for health care providers.

University of the Fraser Valley, Accelerate Research Fund (2020, Primary Investigator)

• Wildfires, physical activity, and mental health

Douglas College Research Incentive Grant (2020, Primary Investigator)

• Wildfires, physical activity and mental health

US Highbush Blueberry Council (2020, Co-Primary Investigator)

• Does blueberry supplementation mitigate the inflammatory, oxidative stress, physiological and performance effects of long distance trail running?

US Highbush Blueberry Council (2019, Co-Investigator)

• Does acute blueberry supplementation influence the metabolic, cardiovascular, cognitive, and performance responses to submaximal and maximal intensity exercise?

Douglas College Research Incentive Grant (2019, Primary Investigator)

• The health and exercise performance effects of exercising in air pollution

US Highbush Blueberry Council  (2016, Co-Investigator)

• The influence acute blueberry supplementation on physiological, performance, and recovery responses to exercise at sea-level and simulated altitude

Selected Scholarships and Awards

• Open Education Faculty Fellowship (2021, University of the Fraser Valley)
• Innovation in Teaching Grant (2021, University of the Fraser Valley, Faculty of Health Sciences)
• Faculty Mobility Award (2019, Global Affairs Canada)
• Research and Scholarly Activity Travel Fund (2019, Douglas College)
• Research and Scholarly Activity Travel Fund (2014, Douglas College)

Giles, LV. Koehle, MS. Saelens, B. Sbihi, H. Carlsten, C. When Physical Activity Meets the Physical Environment: Precision Health Insights from the Intersection. Environ Health Prev Med. 2021 Jun 30;26(1):68. doi: 10.1186/s12199-021-00990-w.

Brandenburg, JP. Lesser, IA. Thomson, CJ, Giles, LV. Does higher self-reported cardiorespiratory fitness reduce the odds of hospitalization from COVID-19? Journal of Physical Activity and Health. 2021 May 12;18(7):782-788. doi: 10.1123/jpah.2020-0817.

Brandenburg, JP. Giles, LV. Blueberry supplementation reduces the blood lactate response to running in normobaric hypoxia but has no effect on performance in recreational runners. Journal of the International Society of Sport Nutrition. 2021 Mar 30;18(1):26. doi: 10.1186/s12970-021-00423-7.

Giles, LV. Tebbutt, S. Carlsten, C. and Koehle, MS. The effects of low- and high-intensity cycling intensity on soluble P-selectin, E-selectin, ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and complete blood count. British Medical Journal Open Sport and Exercise Medicine 2019; Nov 24;5(1):e000625. doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2019-000625

Brandenburg, JP and Giles, LV. Comparison of two-blueberry supplementation protocols on running performance and physiological responses. International Journals of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Published ahead of print June 2019. Manuscript number: IJSNEM.2019-0040

Greenwald,R. Hayat, MJ. Dons, E. Giles, LV.Villar, R. Jakovljevic, D. Good, N. Estimating Minute Ventilation and Air Pollution Inhaled Dose Using Heart Rate, Breath Frequency, Age, Sex and Forced Vital Capacity: a Pooled-Data Analysis. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0218673. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218673

Giles, LV. Carlsten, C. andKoehle, MS. The pulmonary and autonomic effects of high-intensity and low-intensity exercise in diesel exhaust. Environmental Health 2018; 17(1): 87. DOI: 10.1186/s12940-018-0434-

Giles, LV. Tebbutt, SJ. Carlsten, C. and Koehle, MS. The effect of low and high-intensity cycling in diesel exhaust on flow-mediated dilation, circulating NO_x, endothelin-1 and blood pressure.Plos One 2018; 13 (2): e0192419

Barn, P. Giles, LV. Heroux, ME. Kosatsky, T. A review of the experimental evidence on the toxicokinetics of carbon monoxide: the potential role of pathophysiology among susceptible groups. Environmental Health 2018; 17:13. DOI: 10.1186/s12940-018-0357-2

Giles, LV. Brandenburg, JP. Carlsten, C. and Koehle, MS. Air pollution affects the respiratory and metabolic responses to low- but not high-intensity exercise. Medicine Science Sports and Exercise 2014; Oct 46(20): 1999-2006

Giles, LV. Koehle, MS. The Health Effects of Exercising in Air Pollution. Sports Medicine 2013; Feb 44(2): 223-49

Giles, LV. Carlsten, C. andKoehle, MS. The Effect of Pre-exposure to Diluted Diesel Exhaust on 20km Cycling Time Trial Performance and Cardio-respiratory Variables. Inhalation Toxicology 2012; 24 (12) 783-789.

Giles, LV. Warburton, DER. Esch, BT. Fedoruk, MN. Rupert, JL. Taunton, JE.  The effects of hypoxic and normoxic conditions on endothelin-1 and arterial compliance. Journal of Sports Science 2012; 30 (3): 261-7.

Book Chapters

Giles, LV. and Brandenburg, JP. Physiology of Climbing, In: The Science of and Climbing and Mountaineering, Routledge, p19-47, 2016

Giles, LV. and Koehle, MS. Air pollution and cyclists. Prepared for Human Kinetics for a book entitled Cycling Science that is edited by Dr. Mikel Zabala and Dr. Stephen Cheung.

Government Reports

Luisa Giles and Prabjit Barn, Feb 2012. Prepared for Health Canada: Concentration-Duration Response Functions for the Effects of Carbon Monoxide Exposure on Vulnerable Populations