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Lab Director - Angela Alberga, PhD

Born and raised in Montreal, Dr. Alberga completed her BSc (Major Exercise Science, Minor Psychology) at Concordia University. She then completed her MSc and PhD in the School of Human Kinetics, specializing in Exercise Physiology at the University of Ottawa. Her MSc and PhD research focused on improving the cardiometabolic health of children and adolescents living with obesity through exercise. It is through these experiences that she learned how prevalent and harmful weight-based stigma is and has since been devoted to research, teaching and knowledge translation efforts to reduce weight bias, stigma and discrimination in society.

Dr. Alberga pursued two Postdoctoral Fellowships with trifaculty supervision (in Education, Medicine and Psychology) at the University of Calgary on the psychosocial aspects of weight-related issues and their implications for public health. Her research training on the physical, mental and social aspects of weight-related issues fuelled her passion to lead an interdisciplinary health research program at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec.  She is currently an Associate Professor and Tier 2 University Research Chair in the Department of Health, Kinesiology and Applied Physiology at Concordia University.

Alongside her academic training in health promotion and disease prevention, she has over 15 years of experience working with children, youth and adults as a camp counselor, educator, mentor, coach, instructor, personal trainer and clinical exercise physiologist in academic and community settings across Canada.

Staff

  • Lab Coordinator

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s): 

    Canadian Health Care Providers’ Attitudes and Practices Towards Pharmacotherapy and Bariatric Surgery in Youth 

    Other interests include Physical activity in children and youth, mhealth apps in youth, weight stigma in the fitness industry and pediatric weight management interventions.  

    Publication: Submitted - In progress 

    LinkedIn

  • Research Coordinator

    Research Interests/Projects: Weight-related commentary, body dissatisfaction, and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors among elite figure skaters; Adverse events of pharmacological obesity management; Unintended consequences and barriers to implementing obesity management interventions.

    Publication: In progress

    Current position: Master's student at Yorkville University (Counselling Psychology)

    LinkedIn

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Bariatric surgery, pediatrics, art-informed research methods, qualitative research, patient experience, quality improvement

    Recent Publication(s): Farnesi, B. C., Kaffash, K., Cohen, T. R., & Alberga, A. S. (2023). A qualitative exploration on the needs of health care providers working with adolescents who are undergoing bariatric surgery. Obesity Pillars, 6, 100067.

    Wang, Y. N., Heidl, A. J., Angeles, P. M., Farnesi, B. C., Alberga, A. S., & Cohen, T. R. (2023). Assessment of electronic patient education materials for adolescent bariatric surgery candidates: An environment scan. PEC Innovation, 100143.

    Farnesi, B. C., Perez, A., Holt, N. L., Morrison, K. M., Gokiert, R., Legault, L., ... & Ball, G. D. (2019). Continued attendance for paediatric weight management: a multicentre, qualitative study of parents' reasons and facilitators. Clinical obesity, 9(3), e12304.

    Current position: Research Liaison for the Centre of Excellence in Adolescent Severe Obesity at the Montreal Children's Hospital

  • Research Assistant

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s):

  • Research Coordinator

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s):  Weight bias internalization, associations with health behaviours, health behaviours and mental health during pregnancy, population and public health

    Publication: Weight Bias Internalization and Beliefs about the Causes of Obesity Among the Canadian Public, published in BMC Public Health

  • Research Assistant

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Examining adverse events in behavioural, pharmacological, and surgical pediatric obesity interventions. 

    Publication: In progress  

    Current position:  Master’s student at University of Ottawa (Counselling Psychology) 

  • Research Assistant

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Psychological impacts of weight stigma and bias in populations with overweight and obesity, with a focus on paediatric populations and the long term developmental impacts.

    LinkedIn

  • Research Assistant

    Thesis/ Research Interest(s):

Doctoral Students

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): The psychological and social outcomes/consequences of obesity interventions and internalized weight bias. 

    Publication: In progress (related publication: Alberga AS, Sacco S, Booij L. Overlooked Outcomes in Pediatric Obesity Management—Unintended Consequences. JAMA Pediatr. Published online August 07, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.2190)  

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Integration of social determinants of health in pediatric obesity care

    Publications:

    Watelle L, Dahoud A, Blais S, Scuccimarri R, Renaud C, McCrindle BW, Human D, Dallaire F, Dahdah N. Males affected with Kawasaki disease develop medium and large coronary artery aneurysms more than twice as much as females, Paediatrics & Child Health, 2025; pxae106, https://doi.org/10.1093/pch/pxae106

    Khalilipalandi S, Lemieux A, Lauzon-Schnitka J, Perreault L, Dubois M, Tousignant A, Watelle L, Pratte G, Dallaire F. Systematic review and meta-analysis of prenatal risk factors for congenital heart disease: maternal chronic diseases and parental exposures. Canadian Journal of Cardiology. 2024 Jul 10:S0828-282X(24)00524-5. doi: 10.1016/j.cjca.2024.07.004.

    Watelle L, Roy LO, Lauzon-Schnittka J, Newell G, Dumas A, Nadeau A, Xiong WT, Rego K, Beaulieu C, Roy-Lacroix ME, Drolet C, Dancea A, Dahdah N, Vaujois L, Dallaire F. The Quebec Congenital Heart Disease Registry: A Model of Prospective Databank to Facilitate Research in Congenital Cardiology. The CJC Pediatr Congenit Heart Dis. Avril 2024.3(2):57-66. doi: 10.1016/j.cjcpc.2023.12.001.

    Watelle L, Touré M, Lamour JM, Kemna MS, Spinner JA, Hoffman TM, Carlo WF, Ballweg JA, Greenway SC, Dallaire F. Monotherapy immunosuppression is associated with equivalent medium-term graft survival in children after heart transplantation.  The Journal of Heart and Lung Transplantation (facteur d’impact 13.569). Août 2023. 42(8):1074-1081.  

    Watelle L, Girard A, Dallaire F. My heart is honking loudly, but it does not even murmur. The Canadian Journal of cardiology (facteur d’impact 6.2). 14 Août 2023. 14:S0828-282X(23)01618-5.

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Automatic expression recognition of hesitance and ambivalence in behavioural change interventions. Behaviour change. Qualitative research methods.  

    Publication: In progress  

Masters Students

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Demographic and psychosocial profiles in adolescents who undergo bariatric surgery

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Feasibility testing of a clinical dialogue tool, Conversation Cards for Pregnancy, aiming to facilitate sensitive conversations about health behaviors and gestational weight gain in prenatal care settings.

    LinkedIn

Undergraduate Students & Volunteers

Saruul Bazarsuren

Adyn Lamont

Emma Carroll

Mia Lasalle

Melissa Lai Kwan

Michael-Norman Lagendyk

Alumni Graduates

  • Description text goes here

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Weight bias and on the impact of weight stigmatization on body image and health behaviors, the interconnection between eating, weight, and personal relationship issues.  

    Recent publication: Weight bias among Canadians: Associations with sociodemographics, BMI and body image constructs https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117061 

    Current position: Adjunct professor at the University of Laval and a registered clinical psychologist at the Centre d’expertise poids, image et alimentation at Université Laval (Québec)  

    Active from October 2022 to March 2024

  • Description text goes here

  • Thesis/ Research Interest(s): Unintended psychosocial consequences are defined and measured in interventions for pediatric obesity

    Recent publication: Proof-of-concept testing of a mobile application-delivered mindfulness exercise for emotional eaters: RAIN delivered as a step-by-step image sequence.

    Carrière, K., Siemers, N. & Knäuper, B. A Scoping Review of Mindful Eating Interventions for Obesity Management. Mindfulness 13, 1387–1402 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-022-01883-x 

    Current position: Clinical psychologist at the MUHC  

    Active from July 2022 to June 2024

  • MSc Student 2018-2020

    Field: Health & Exercise Science

    Thesis: The Relationship between Weight Bias Internalization and Healthy and Unhealthy Weight Control Behaviours.

    Co-Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Kakinami

    Publications: The relationship between weight bias internalization and healthy and unhealthy weight control behaviours & Weight bias internalization: Relationships with mental health, physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

    Current position: Research assistant

    Next steps: Medicine, Technion American Medical School in Haifa, Israel.

  • BSc Honours Exercise Science 2019 - 2020

    Thesis: What Are the Needs of Health Care Providers Working With Adolescents Who Are Undergoing Bariatric Surgery.

    Co-Supervisor: Dr. Tamara Cohen

    Current position: McGill Medicine starting Fall 2020ion text goes here

  • Independent Study Student Winter 2020
    MILOH Lab Volunteer 2019-2020

    Current position: Research Coordinator

  • Research Assistant Summer 2019

    Complete and submit the scoping review entitled Predictors of weight bias in health science students and fitness professionals. Organize all documents and surveys needed for the study conducted during September, December and April months.

    Current position: BSc in Pharmacy, Dalhousie University

  • Independent Study Student 2019

    Independent study course: EXCI 698 Selected Topics in Exercise Science Winter 2019.

    Current position: Medical Student, McGill University. MSc Student, Concordia University

  • Msc Student 2017-2019
    Health & Exercise Science
    Research Assistant Summer 2017, 2017-2019

    Thesis title: Weight bias and support of public health policies.

    Publications: Weight bias and health care utilization: a scoping review and working paper in press at Canadian Journal of Public Health.

    Current position: PhD in Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia starting Fall 2019

  • Summer Research Internship 2018

    Project: Social media: What are the effects on the health of its users?

    Current position: Talent Acquisition Specialist, studying social psychology

  • PhD Internship Student 2018

    Practicum in Psychology January- April 2018 (Carleton University & Concordia University).

    Internship research project: weight bias, peer teasing, physical activity and sedentary behaviour.

    Current position: PhD Carleton University

  • Independent Study Student 2017-2018

    Course: EXCI 499 Advanced Topics in Exercise Science Fall/Winter 2017-2018.

    Current position: Customer Relations Manager at Hypertec

Alumni volunteers & Staff

  • Wendy Luo

  • Mustafa Kawish

  • Rachel Mehling