Cindy Kalenga, MD/PhD Student
Calgary, AB
University of Calgary
Lead, IGH Sex and Gender Trainee Network, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Western Regional Director, Canadian Federation of Medical Students
Calgary, AB
CWHHA member since 2023
Biography
Cindy Kalenga is an emerging leader in women’s cardiovascular health. She is currently a part of the competitive and prestigious Leaders in Medicine program at the University of Calgary where she is completing a joint MD/PhD degree. Her doctoral work is centered on improving the health of women globally, specifically her work examines the effects of estrogen, in the forms of contraceptives and postmenopausal hormone therapy, on markers of cardiovascular risk in women. Kalenga is a highly sought-after speaker at both national and international conference including the 2022 American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting (Washington, D.C., USA), the 2021 Canadian Women’s Heart Health Summit (virtual), the 2019 Organization for the Study of Sex Differences Conference (Washington, D.C., USA), and the 2018 American Heart Association Annual Meeting (New Orleans, LA, USA). Her leadership in women’s cardiovascular health has been further recognized as a co-investigator on a 2020 CIHR Women’s Health Mentorship Grant, as well as a 2022 CIHR Planning and Dissemination Grant supporting work to identify the top ten priorities in women’s cardiovascular health.
Kalenga is widely recognized in the research community with grants from the Canadian Health Research Institute, Alberta Innovates, Libin Cardiovascular Institute and many others. She was awarded Alberta’s 2021 Top 30 Under 30 and the University of Calgary’s Women’s Resource Centre Distinguished Graduate Award. Kalenga was recently elected as the Western Regional Director with the Canadian Federation of Medical Students and is a strong advocate for the inclusion of collaborative research opportunities in medical school. She serves as the representative voice of over 8,300 medical students at 15 institutions across Canada to national health organizations, the federal government, and the public.
Kalenga is highly committed to supporting women and vowed to optimize the participation of minorities into research to impact the health of all Canadians regardless of race, ethnicity, sex, or gender. As the lead of the Canadian Institute of Health Research’s Sex and Gender Trainee Network at UCalgary, she is working to build awareness and capacity in sex- and gender-based considerations among trainees conducting health research in Canada alongside 18 other Canadian universities. She is also a member of CV&Me, an initiative of the Libin Cardiovascular Institute that focuses on sex and gender in research.
