McGill Expert Alert: Heart Month/Valentine’s Day
With February being Heart Month and St. Valentine’s Day celebrated on February 14, we suggest the following experts on timely topics ranging from heart health to the chemistry of love:
The other heart/St. Valentine’s Day:
Relationships/Romance
jlydon [at] hebb.psych.mcgill.ca (John Lydon)
Professor, Department of Psychology
Expertise: Commitment and its relation to stress, well-being and the self
514-398-8319
brian.lewis [at] mcgill.ca (Brian Lewis)
Chair, Department of History
Expertise: Sexual Diversity Studies, women’s, gay, lesbian and queer studies
514 398-1084
Anti-St. Valentine’s Day
shirley.steinberg [at] mcgill.ca (Shirley Steinberg)
Professor, Department of Integrated Studies in Education
Expertise: The negative effects of the St. Valentine’s Day season on singles; symbol of the lonely hearts
Aphrodisiacs and love potions?
joe.schwarcz [at] mcgill.ca (Joe Schwarcz)
Professor, Director, McGill Office for Science and Society, Department of Chemistry
Expertise: Do aphrodisiacs exist? Can love potions be brewed?
514-398-6238
The Chemistry of Love
ariel.fenster [at] mcgill.ca (Ariel Fenster)
Professor, Department of Chemistry
Expertise: When people fall in love, they have the “right chemistry.” Emotions are ruled by an array of chemicals such as phenylethylamine (found in chocolate) or some brain chemicals such as dopamine or oxytocin.
514-398-2618
Can’t buy me “love”
louis.chauin [at] mcgill.ca (Louis Chauvin)
Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Expertise: Commercialism and the culture of gift giving on for St. Valentine’s Day
Heart Month topics
Cardiovascular Health
Dr. Renzo Cecere
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Surgical Director of the Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Program, 㽶Ƶ Health Centre (MUHC)
Expertise: Surgeon who implanted Canada’s first successful mechanical heart
Dr. Nadia Giannetti
Professor, Faculty of Medicine, Cardiology Division, Medical Director of the Heart Failure and Heart Transplant Program, 㽶Ƶ Health Centre (MUHC)
Expertise: Heart failure, heart transplants, defibrillators, cardiac resynchronization therapy, mechanical hearts
Please contact Dr. Cecere or Dr. Giannetti via seeta.ramdas [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Seeta Ramdas), MUHC Communications, 514-843-1560.
Lifestyle/Diet Choices for healthy hearts
laurette.dube [at] mcgill.ca (Laurette Dubé)
Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management
Expertise: Internationally respected professor in consumer and lifestyle psychology; marketing, food and health specialist; and founding chair and scientific director of the 㽶Ƶ Integrative Health Challenge Think Tank. Studies the role of comfort foods in alleviating negative emotions; which foods men choose, which ones women choose and why
514-398-4026
baerbel.knaeuper [at] mcgill.ca (Baerbel Agnes Knaeuper)
Professor, Department of Psychology
Expertise: How individuals make food-related judgments, compensatory behaviour, the effectiveness of crash diets, cardiovascular psychophysiology
Exercising for your ticker
rene.turcotte [at] mcgill.ca (René Turcotte Knaeuper)
Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education
Expertise: Exercise and your heart
Smoking Cessation
John Kayser
Nurse clinician and coordinator of the MUHC Smoking Cessation Program
Expertise: Methods to conquer nicotine addiction, as smoking causes coronary heart disease and smokers are 2-4 times more likely to develop coronary heart disease than non-smokers.
Please contact via seeta.ramdas [at] muhc.mcgill.ca (Seeta Ramdas), MUHC Communications, 514-843-1560.