About Amy
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta
PhD, Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
MSc, School of Kinesiology, Faculty of Education, University of British Columbia
BSc Kinesiology, Faculty of Health, York University
Athletic Therapy Certificate, Faculty of Health, York University
Dr. Kirkham’s research program, operating within CODE-W, aims to:
- characterize the intersection of cancer, cardiovascular, and metabolic disease in women and
- quantify the therapeutic benefit of lifestyle interventions including exercise, diet, and multi-modal rehabilitation, to prevent or ameliorate cardiometabolic dysfunction and disease.
Dr. Kirkham’s assessment approach is comprehensive and holistic. While exercise is a key diagnostic and therapeutic tool, she takes a multi-disciplinary approach to characterize, treat, and improve the health of individuals with or at risk for cardiovascular and oncologic diseases. Both established and novel imaging methods are central tools, including magnetic resonance imaging, cardiovascular ultrasound, exercise echocardiography, transcranial Doppler ultrasound, and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). Cardiopulmonary exercise testing and biochemical analyses of blood biomarkers are also widely employed. Other available tools include tonometry (to assess vascular stiffness), BodPod and bioelectrical impedance (to assess body composition), Finapress Nova (to assess resting and exercise hemodynamics), near-infrared spectroscopy (to assess muscle oxygen), accelerometry, continuous glucose monitoring, diet records, cognitive function tests, and patient-reported outcomes.
Intervention approaches of interest include acute and chronic exercise, healthy eating, intermittent fasting (including time-restricted eating), and multi-dimensional cardiac rehabilitation.
Visit her website for more information about research and student/employment opportunities in the lab.
Cardio-oncology and cardiotoxicity
Women’s cardiovascular health
Breast cancer (https://kpe.utoronto.ca/breast-cancer-research)
Chemotherapy
Diet quality, healthy eating, time-restricted eating,
Skeletal muscle mass and quality, fat deposition
Non-invasive imaging (magnetic resonance, ultrasound, DXA)
Small SD, Iglesies-Grau J, Gariepy C, Wilkinson M, Taub P, Kirkham AA. Time Restricted Eating: A Novel Dietary Strategy for Cardiac Rehabilitation [Invited Review]. Canadian Journal of Cardiology 2023;39(11S):S384-S394.
Christensen RAG, Haykowksy MJ, Nadler M, Prado CM, Small SD, Rickard JN, Pituskin E, Paterson DI, Mackey JR, Thompson RB, Kirkham AA. Rationale and Design of IMPACT-women: A randomized controlled trial of the effect of time-restricted eating, healthy eating, and reduced sedentary behavior on metabolic health during chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. Brit J Nutr 2022; doi: 10.1017/S0007114522003816.
Kirkham AA, Ford KL, Topolnyski J, Ramos Da Silva B, Paterson DI, Prado CM, Joy AA, Boulé NG, Pituskin E, Haykowsky MJ, Thompson RB. Time-Restricted Eating to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk Among Older Breast Cancer Survivors: A Single-arm Feasibility Study. JACC: Cardio-Oncology 2022;4(2):276–278.
Kirkham AA, Ford KL, Ramos Da Silva B,Topolnyski J, Prado CM, Joy AA, Paterson DI, Boulé NG, Pituskin E, Haykowsky MJ, Thompson RB. Implementation of weekday time-restricted eating to improve metabolic health in breast cancer survivors with overweight/obesity. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2023; 31(Suppl. 1):150‐160. Impact factor: 5.0.
Kirkham AA, Parr EB, Kleckner AS. Cardiometabolic health impacts of time-restricted eating: Implications for type 2 diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases [Invited review]. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 2022; doi: 10.1097/MCO.0000000000000867. Impact factor: 4.3.
Kirkham AA, Jerzak KJ. Prevalence of Breast Cancer Survivors among Canadian Women. Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2022;20(9):1005-11. Impact factor 11.9.
Kirkham AA, Pituskin E, Mackey JR, Grenier JG, Paterson DI, Haykowsky MJ, Thompson RB. Longitudinal changes in skeletal muscle metabolism, oxygen uptake, and myosteatosis during cardiotoxic treatment for early-stage breast cancer. The Oncologist 2022;27(9):e748-e754
Kirkham AA, Beaudry RI, Paterson DI, Mackey JR, Haykowsky MJ. Curing breast cancer and killing the heart: A novel model to explain elevated cardiovascular disease and mortality risk among women with early stage breast cancer. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases 2019;62(2):116-26.
Kirkham AA, Haykowsky MJ, Beaudry RI, Grenier JG, Mackey JR, Pituskin E, Paterson DI, Thompson RB. Cardiac and skeletal muscle predictors of impaired cardiorespiratory fitness post-anthracycline chemotherapy for breast cancer. Scientific Reports 2021;11:article14005.
Rickard JN, Eswaran A, Small SD, Bonsignore A, Prakosh M, Oh P, Kirkham AA. Evaluation of the structure and health impacts of exercise-based cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation and prehabilitation for individuals with cancer: A Systematic review and meta-analysis. Frontiers in Cardiovascular Medicine 2021;8:739473.
Norris C, Yip C, Nerenberg K, Clavel MA, Pacheco C, Foulds H, Hardy M, Gonsalves C, Jaffer S, Parry M, Colella TJF, Dhukai A, Grewal J, Price J, Levinsson A, Hart D, Harvey P, Van Spall H, Sarfi H, Sedlak T, Ahmed S, Baer C, Coutinho T, Edwards J, Green C, Kirkham AA, Srivaratharajah K, Dumanski S, Keeping-Burke L, Lappa N, Reid R, Robert H, Smith G, Martin-Rhee M, Mulvagh S. State of the science in women's cardiovascular disease: a Canadian perspective on the influence of sex and gender. Journal of the American Heart Association. 2020;9(4): e015634.
- IMPACT-Women-Chemo: Impact of Metabolic health Patterns And breast Cancer over Time in Women during Chemotherapy; 2-site (Toronto, Edmonton), 2-arm RCT of novel metabolic health program (time-restricted eating, diet quality, and reduced sedentary time) vs usual care during chemotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. Funded by CIHR.
- IMPACT-Women-Control: Impact of Metabolic health Patterns And breast Cancer over Time in Women in controls; 2-site (Toronto, Edmonton), observational 2-year cohort of changes in cardiometabolic health and influence of lifestyle changes women without cancer or other chronic disease. Funded by CIHR.
- Ms. FIT: Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial; 3-arm RCT of 6-months of following the physical activity guidelines alone, the physical activity guidelines and the dietary guidelines, or stretching only among pre and postmenopausal women who have at least 3 cardiometabolic risk factors. Funded by CIHR.
- Ms. FIT-BC: Multiple Risk Factor Intervention Trial in Breast Cancer; 3-arm RCT of 6-months of following the physical activity guidelines alone, the physical activity guidelines and the dietary guidelines, or stretching only among breast cancer survivors completed chemotherapy and at least 12 months of aromatase inhibitor treatment. Funded by CIHR.
- CORE: Cardio-Oncology REhabilitation; Single-arm effectiveness trial of multi-modal cardiac rehabilitation in breast cancer survivors to improve cardiometabolic health.
- PACE: Alternative Physical Activity Strategies for Breast and Prostate CancEr Survivors: randomized crossover trial comparing the acute glycemic effects of different types of physical activity (standard brisk walk, exercise snacks, post meal walking, resistance exercise) among breast and prostate cancer survivors on hormonal therapy. Funded by CIHR.
- ESTABLISH: Effects of Sex, eaTing window, And diaBetes on gLycemIc Status and Health; randomized crossover trial of early, mid-day, and late time-restricted eating windows among women and men with obesity and with or at risk for type 2 diabetes. Funded by Diabetes Canada.
- STRIVE (short-term): STudying EndocRine Therapy Impacts on CardioVascular and Brain HEalth Outcomes in Breast Cancer; observational study of the effects of the first 6 months of aromatase inhibitors on cardiovascular and brain health among women with early stage breast cancer. Funded by Cancer Research Society and CIHR.
- STRIVE (long-term): STudying EndocRine Therapy Impacts on CardioVascular and Brain HEalth Outcomes in Breast Cancer; cross-sectional study comparing cardiovascular and brain health among women 1, 5, and 10 years post diagnosis with early stage breast cancer treated with aromatase inhibitors and age and BMI-matched controls. Funded by Cancer Research Society and CIHR.
- TEST: Time-restricted Eating in Survivors Trial; 2-site (Toronto, Edmonton), 2-arm RCT of time-restricted eating with protein counselling vs healthy eating among older breast cancer survivors with elevated cardiovascular risk and mild-moderate cognitive dysfunction. Funded by CIHR.
- RESILIENCE: ImpRoving hEalth behaviourS for LIfe after ENdometrial CancEr; 2-site (Toronto, Edmonton), 2-arm RCT of multimodal digital health intervention to optimize waist circumference, body composition, and cardiometabolic health in endometrial cancer survivors. Funded by CIHR.
- Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada National New Investigator (2022-2026)
- CIHR Institute of Gender & Health Early Career Researcher Award (2023)
- CIHR National Women's Health Research Initiative Early Career Researcher Award (2023)
American College of Sports Medicine
Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology
Canadian Women's Heart Health Alliance