Anita Coté, PhD

Associate Professor of Human Kinetics; Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Adaptation to Exercise; Sabbatical 2024/2025

Anita is cardiovascular physiologist researching how exercise affects the heart in health and disease. Growing up in Ontario and an avid athlete, Anita was always interested in how exercise affected the body, specifically how to train to optimize physical performance. This interest led her to move west and pursue a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology at the University of British Columbia (UBC) and certification from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. Choosing to apply her expertise, Anita worked in high performance sport working with athletes of various disciplines as a physiologist and strength coach, although dedicating most of her time to the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association. During this time, she also lectured in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of the Fraser Valley, and later as a high performance advisor for the Canadian Sport Institute.

In 2012 Anita turned her focus on finishing her PhD dissertation, and went on to complete two postdoctoral fellowships in the Faculty of Medicine (Pediatrics) at UBC. Currently she holds the positions of Assistant Professor in the School of Human Kinetics (TWU), and Affiliate appointments in the Faculty Medicine (Paediatrics) at UBC and BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, as well as Adjunct Professor in the Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology at Simon Fraser University. Anita was named Canada Research Chair in Cardiovascular Adaptation to Exercise in 2018 and is actively engaging students in both basic and clinical research projects.

Anita is on Sabbatical for the Academic Year 2024/2025.

  • PhD    Cardiovascular Physiology (University of British Columbia)
  • MSc    Exercise Physiology (University of British Columbia)
  • BPE    Physical Education (Brock University)

Expertise

Cardiovascular response to strenuous exercise, cardiac mechanics, athlete’s heart, arterial stiffness, ventricular-vascular interactions

LABORATORY

Integrative Cardiovascular Physiology Laboratory

Dr. Cote’s research explores how the cardiovascular system adapts to exercise training early in life and how this impacts one’s cardiovascular health long-term. Using state-of-the-art imaging techniques and genetic analyses, this research program aims to identify mechanisms associated with subtle changes in cardiovascular structure and function over time, and how this differs between women and men.

Recent Publications

SELECT PUBLICATIONS

  • Bovard JM, De Souza AM, Harris KC, Human DG, Hosking MC, Potts JE, Armstrong K, Sandor GGS, Cote AT (2019). Physiological Responses to Exercise in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 51(5); 850-857.
  • Cote AT, Hosking M, Voss C, Human DG, Sandor GG, Harris, KC (2018). Coronary Artery Vasculopathy and Ventricular Dynamics in Pediatric Heart Transplant Recipients. Congenital Heart Disease, 13(5); 663-670.
  • Duncombe SL, Cote AT, Hosking MCK, Potts JE, Harris KC (2017). Intimal Thickening Associated with Coronary Bifurcations in Children. Pediatric Transplantation, 22(2); e13100.
  • Verma AK, Xu D, Garg A, Cote A, Goswami N, Blaber A, Tavakolian K (2017). Nonlinear Heart Rate and Blood Pressure Interaction in Response to Lower-Body Negative Pressure. Frontiers in Physiology, 8; 767.
  • Cote AT, Duff DK, Escudero CA, De Souza AM, Williams L, Gill R, Zadorsky MT, Harris KC, Potts JE, Sandor GGS (2017). An Echo-Doppler Study of the Myocardial Inotropic Response to Peak Semi-Supine Exercise in Healthy Children: Normal Values and Development of a Simplified Index of Myocardial Reserve. Journal American Society for Echocardiography, 30(8); 790-796.
  • Sharma A*, Cote AT*, Hosking, M, Harris KC (2017). Endocarditis Rates in Patients with Bovine Jugular Vein Conduits Compared to Other Right Ventricle-to-Pulmonary Artery Conduits. Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions, 10(14); 1449-1458. *Equally contributed
  • Cote AT, Phillips AA, Harris KC, Sandor GGS, Panagiotopoulos C, Devlin AM (2015). The Effects of Obesity on Arterial Stiffness in Children: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Atherosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, 35(4); 1038-1044.
  • Cote AT, Panagiotopoulos C, Devlin AM (2015). Interaction Between the Val158Met Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Gene Variant and Second-Generation Antipsychotic Treatment on Blood Pressure in Children, The Pharmacogenomics Journal, 15; 95-100.
  • Cote AT, Bredin SSD, Phillips AA, Koehle MS, Warburton DER (2015). Greater Autonomic Modulation During Post-Exercise Hypotension Following High-Intensity Interval Exercise in Endurance-Trained Men and Women, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 115(1); 81-89.
  • Cote AT, Phillips AA, Foulds HJ, Charlesworth SA, Bredin SSD, Koehle MS, Warburton DER (2014). Sex Differences in Cardiac Function Following Prolonged Strenuous Exercise, Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine, 25(3); 276-283.
  • Foulds HJA, Cote AT, Phillips AA, Charlesworth SA, Bredin SSD, Burr JF, Drury CT, Ngai S, Fougere RJ, Ivey AC, Warburton DER (2014). Characterization of Baroreflex Sensitivity of Recreational Ultra-Endurance Athletes, European Journal of Sport Sciences, 14(7); 686-694.
  • Cote AT, Harris K, Panagiotopoulos C, Sandor GS, Devlin AM (2013). Childhood Obesity and Cardiovascular Dysfunction, Journal of American College of Cardiology, 62(15); 1309-1319. 
  • Cote AT, Bredin SSD, Phillips AA, Koehle MS, Glier MB, Devlin AM, Warburton DER (2013). Left Ventricular Mechanics and Arterial-Ventricular Coupling Following High-Intensity Interval Exercise, Journal of Applied Physiology, 115; 1705–1713.

  • HKIN 191 Exercise Physiology
  • HKIN 446 Advance Anatomy
  • HKIN 470 Advanced Exercise Physiology