The PACE Lab has had 22 years of continuous funding from CIHR for a total of over $29M in health research funding (2008-2030). This includes 7 CIHR project grants, 4 CIHR team grants, 2 salary awards and numerous graduate student awards to support maternal-child health discoveries. The PACE lab also helped launch the DREAM Theme within CHRIM and an early-life origins research platform.

Determinants of health in youth-onset Type 2 Diabetes 

Type 2 diabetes in youth is a disease of poverty
​Type 2 diabetes is charactierized by severely impaired fitness and MASH
Lifestyle monotherapy for youth-onset type 2 diabetes 
​Physical activity is associated with a reduced odds of hypertension in youth with type 2 diabetes
Readiness for behaviour change predicts HbA1c and is related to sense of mastery and levels of stress among youth living with type 2 diabetes
Qualilty of life is impaired in youth onset type 2 diabetes
​​Cardiorepoiratory fitness and physical activity are severely impaired in youth-onset type 2 diabetes - a systematic review and meta-analysis

Lipotoxicity and Cardiometabolic Disease
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Clinical studides using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy of cardiac, liver and pancreatic lipid demonstrating the role of lipotoxicity as a risk factor for cardiometabolic disease in youth:
Dallas Heart Study: 
Cardiac steatosis and type 2 diabetes
Why cardiac steatosis could contribute to CVD
Fitness & steatosis studies:
High fitness, steatosis and diabetes risk in youth
​Hepatic steatosis is a determinant of type 2 diabetes in youth
Hepatic steatosis predits metabolic syndrome in overweight and obese adolescents
Youth-onset type 2 diabetes is not characterized by elevated pancreatic lipid content (lipotoxicity)

Physical activity and type 1 diabetes 

High intesnity exercise and hypoglycemia in young adults with type 1 diabetes
Physical activity and health outcomes in persons with type 1 diabetes: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized trials
Priorities for exercise in persons with type 1 diabetes a scoping review and James Lind Alliance priority setting activitry
How we do it. A qualitative study of strategies to live an active lifestyle with type 1 diabetes

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Vigorous intensity exercise and cardiometabolic risk in youth

Several observational studies and a randomized controlled trial demonstrated the importance of vigorous intensity exercise for preventing cardiometabolic risk in youth:
The POWER Trial: 
High intensity training insulin resistance and hepatic fat
Determinants of the metabolic response to endurance training
Predicting the inter-individual response to training in youth
Healthy Hearts Study:
Vigorous intensity activity lowers long-term cardiometabolic risk in youth
Vigorous intensity exercise is associated with a lower odds of high blood pressure and obesity in children.
Outdoor time is associated with higher fitness and physical activity among children and young adolescents
​High fitness protects against weight gain and obesity in youth

Peer Mentoring and Cardiometabolic Health

Healthy Buddies (Cluster RCT):  
Peer mentoring supports behaviour change and weight loss in youth
Indigenous Youth Mentorship Program (IYMP): 
School-based peer mentoring in remote First Nations promotes behaviour change and weight loss in youth
Essential conditions for implementing IYMP in Indigenous school communities
Systematic Review of Peer-led trials
Lay-led interventions are effective for weight loss in overweight and obese youth

Early Life Origins of Cardiometabolic Health

DEVOTION Network studies - Gestational Diabetes and Cardiometabolic Disease:
Exposure to GDM is associated with CVD and CVD Risk factors in offspring
Exposure to maternal obesity and hypertension risk in adolescence is mediated by adolescent weight status
Trends in GDM in Manitoba from 1981-2019
​Cadiac structure and function in youth exposed to gestational diabetes 
​Intensive glycemic management does not affect risk of child obesity in women with GDM- A systematic review and meta-analysis