Since 2005, Dr. Katherine Plewa has worked with athletes and clients to envision their success and wellness. While studying kinesiology at McMaster University, she put her expanding knowledge into practice, training younger brother and amateur motocross athlete, Pauly Plewa, to win countless championships across Canada and the USA. On campus, she volunteered with MacWheelers to provide inclusive and assistive rehabilitation programs to wheelchair users and those with spinal cord injuries, while focusing her studies on workplace health and safety. In 2009, she worked with the Hamilton Police Service, developing and implementing an Employee Health and Wellness training program, focusing on improving work-life balance and stress management through evidence-based holistic health strategies.  In 2009, she began her Masters’ in Kinesiology at the University of Western Ontario, working with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) on a research project aimed at reducing vibration-related workplace injuries in mining and forestry industries in Northern Ontario.

 

Being passionate about medicine, and ready to shift gears after completing her MSc, Dr. Katherine seized the opportunity to learn from and work with Dr. Michael Nicolle and his neuromuscular team in clinical neurology at the London Health Science’s EMG Laboratory in 2011. By 2013, she completed her board exams and registration as an EMG Technologist. Today, she continues to work with Trillium Health Partners and Trillium Neurology Consultants to improve patient outcomes.

 

Inspired and motivated by Pauly’s life-altering motocross accident that left him paralyzed, Dr. Katherine was determined to get back into research to find innovative ways to help Pauly walk again. Leveraging alternative medicines, such as nutrition, mindfulness and meditation, acupuncture, and energy healing, she has been guiding Pauly’s journey back to racing since 2012. In 2013, she began her PhD in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, working under the supervision of Dr. Tom Chau at Holland Bloorview Kid’s Rehabilitation Hospital on wearable technologies, enabling children and adults to incorporate rehab into their everyday lives. It was here, at the PRISM Lab, where Dr. Katherine and Marcela met and worked on exploring novel upper and lower limb rehab programs using MMG technology. In 2019, former lab mates Dr. Katherine and Marcela, began developing their ideas of stress management in the workplace, combining their interests in rehabilitation with wearable and assistive technologies, along with Pauly's athletic training and growth mindset, bringing Enterprise Stress Management to life.