A Laval University PhD student has won a national award for her research into eating behaviour and patterns in children, adults and families and how these behaviours relate to obesity.
Annette Gallant , who holds an honours bachelor of science degree in human kinetics from the University of Ottawa and a master’s of science degree in kinesiology from Laval, was given this year’s
J.H. Stewart Reid Memorial Fellowship by the Canadian Association of University Teachers, in recognition of the quality and level of research being undertaken.
The fellowship is awarded for academic excellence and comes in the form of a $5,000 grant to fund a doctoral student who studies at a Canadian university.
In her research proposal, Annette focused on the night-eating syndrome in families and she is the first to explore this disorder in children. After her PhD, she plans to broaden her research expertise and to explore the relationships between the timing of food intake, the circadian system and appetite control all in the context of weight gain susceptibility.
She has published 10 peer-reviewed articles and two book chapters relating to eating behaviour, appetite control and obesity and is a review editor for the scientific journal Frontiers in Eating Behaviour. She is also the recipient of several awards, including a $40,000 Richard J. Schmeelk Fellowship for academic achievement and for pursuing her MSc in Canada’s other official language, and a $45,000 doctoral research grant from the Quebec Heart and Lung Research Institute.
With the CAUT award, Annette said she plans to organize an international research internship to further her expertise on the circadian aspects of food intake and associated health consequences.
Stewart Reid scholars are granted the award to commemorate the life and work of CAUT’s first executive secretary and are determined by a national selection committee, which this year included University of Manitoba botany professor Tom Booth, Victor Catano, professor and chair of psychology at Saint Mary’s University, and Jean-Charles Cachon, who teaches organizational strategy at Laurentian University’s faculty of management.