Faculty of Health Sciences

Sophie obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences under the supervision of Dr. Ali Ashkar with the support of a CIHR Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship and Ontario Women’s Health Scholars Award. Her doctoral research made landmark discoveries for developing new effective immunotherapies to treat poor prognosis cancers. Her findings have been published in numerous top tier academic journals and are already being incorporated around the world by academic groups, pharmaceutical companies, and clinical trials.  

During her time at McMaster, Sophie co-founded a national research network to connect leading researchers in her field, represented her peers as Student Ambassador for the Faculty of Health Sciences, led the Immunology Research Centre’s Communications Committee, and mentored many graduate and undergraduate students.  

As a result of her impactful PhD work, Sophie was recruited to a senior position in a European cancer immunotherapy company where she now leads their translational research and preclinical development of new therapies.

Dr. Janice Eng is a registered physical therapist who began her career working in the clinical environment and at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She was a lecturer at the University of Toronto for a year before completing her PhD in kinesiology at the University of Waterloo and then a post-doctoral placement at Simon Fraser University. In 1997, she started at the University of British Columbia as an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science and the Faculty of Medicine. At UBC, Dr. Eng has been associate director of the International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries, the university delegate for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the health research advisor for the UBC Office of the VP Research & International and the associate dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. She is currently a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and the Faculty of Medicine, the director of the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute’s Rehabilitation Research Program and she is also the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Neurological Rehabilitation and a University Killam Professor, UBC’s highest faculty honour.

Dr. Eng’s research has influenced neurological rehabilitation practice both in Canada and internationally. She developed, for example, innovative treatments such as high-intensity exercise to optimize brain recovery after stroke as well as wearable robotic devices to enable people recovering from severe stroke to walk. She also shaped clinical practice through the Graded Repetitive Arm Supplementary Program (GRASP), now utilized in more than 45 countries, and the Fitness and Movement Exercise (FAME) community exercise program. She recently adapted both initiatives into virtual formats to help people recovering during the isolation of the pandemic era. Her work has also influenced the Canadian Best Practice Guidelines “Aerobic Exercise Recommendations to Optimize Best Practices in Care After Stroke,” the American Heart Association Scientific Statement “Physical activity and exercise recommendations for stroke survivors,” the Canadian-led “Stroke Recovery in Motion” community exercise planning guide and the international “Stroke Recovery and Rehabilitation Roundtable” recommendations.

The lead researcher for the Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation Evidence (SCIRE) Project and co-principal investigator of the CanStroke Recovery Network, Dr. Eng has been recognized with several awards and honours including the March of Dimes Canada Jonas Salk Award for lifetime achievement in science and medicine, the YWCA Women of Distinction Award and an honourary doctorate from l’Université Laval. She received the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Foundation Research Award, has been named the Greene Lecturer in Physical Therapy by Springfield College and was recognized with the Distinguished Achievement Award for Overall Excellence from the UBC Faculty of Medicine. She is a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and one of only 10 physical therapists among the 700 academy fellows.

Dr. Stuart Phillips is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a member of the School of Medicine at McMaster University. He is a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health. Dr. Phillips’ work centres on the interaction of exercise/physical activity and nutrition in skeletal muscle and body composition. Dr. Phillips is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). He has delivered over 350 public presentations, including more than 60 keynote talks, to academic institutions local, national, and international audiences on five continents.