Dr. Taniya Nagpal completed her PhD from The University of Western Ontario in 2019 under the supervision of Dr. Michelle Mottola (Exercise and Pregnancy Lab) and Dr. Harry Prapavessis (Exercise and Health Psychology Lab). Her doctoral thesis explored strategies to enhance adherence to prenatal physical activity and nutrition interventions. Following this, Taniya completed a Mitacs-funded Post-Doctoral Fellowship with The University of Ottawa with Dr. Kristi Adamo at the Adamo Lab and The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC) with Dr. Jocelynn Cook. Taniya explored weight stigma experienced in pregnancy and specifically in prenatal physical activity contexts. She also gained experience in knowledge translation and project management with The SOGC, working on various maternal health projects such as improving prenatal alcohol screening and developing practical tools for healthcare providers for updated obstetrics clinical practice guidelines. Taniya’s research aims to identify person-centred strategies to improve accessibility to prenatal physical activity while considering an intersectional lens with the social determinants of health, with the ultimate goal of improving adherence to activity recommendations and downstream maternal and newborn outcomes. Her research includes documenting lived experience of health-stigmas in pregnancy, such as weight stigma, and informing mitigation strategies to be applied in clinical and physical activity settings. She is actively involved with health promoting organizations, such as Obesity Canada, Exercise is Medicine Canada and The International Society of Behavioural Nutrition and Physical Activity. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Brock University, and she will be beginning a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment at The University of Alberta in July 2022 with The Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport and Recreation.
