Meet Cassandra Forsythe …

Cassandra is a PhD candidate at the University of Connecticut studying exercise science and nutrition. Originating from Northern British Columbia, she received her MS in Human Nutrition and Metabolism in 2004, and her BS in Nutrition and Food Science with distinction, in 2002 from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada. She will graduate in 2008 and will become certified as a Registered Dietitian (RD) in 2009. Her main research interests are low-carbohydrate nutrition, dietary fatty acids, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, weight-loss, female-specific nutrition and training, and the female athlete triad. Her PhD dissertation project is exploring the ideal fatty acid composition of a weight-maintaining low-carbohydrate diet though a highly-controlled feeding intervention.

Aside from her educational endeavors, Cassandra is the student representative for the International Society of Sports Nutrition, where she is helping to refine the Certified Sports Nutrition Certification, (CISSN) and co-coordinating the regional and annual meetings.

Once she is done her educational path, Cassandra plans on pursuing research at a top-level research university, focusing on low-carbohydrate nutrition and female-specific nutrition and training. She also will work through her own business doing nutritional & fitness consulting and writing for main-stream magazines and books.

She can be reached at cassandraforsythe@gmail.com. Thank you for visiting her website.

• Education
• Journal Publications
• Presentations
• Abstracts
• Honors and Awards
• Professional Affiliations
• Research
• Work
• Service

Education

Ph.D. Student, Exercise Science.
September 2004 - Present. Expected Graduation: 2008
Department of Kinesiology.
University of Connecticut
Supervisor: Dr Jeff Volek, R.D., Associate Professor of Kinesiology

M.Sc. Nutrition & Metabolism.
September 2002 - July 2004
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science.
University of Alberta
Supervisor: Dr Tom Clandinin, Professor of Nutrition

B.Sc. Nutrition and Food Sciences with Distinction.
September 1999 - May 2002
Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science.
University of Alberta

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Journal Publications

Forsythe CE, Phinney SD, Fernandez ML, Quann EE, Wood RJ, Bibus DM, Kraemer WJ, Feinman RD, Volek JS. Comparison of Low Fat and Low Carbohydrate Diets on Circulating Fatty Acid Composition and Markers of Inflammation. Lipids. 2007; Nov 29.

Forsythe CE, French MA, Goh YK, Clandinin MT. Cholesterolaemic influence of palmitic acid in the sn1,3 vs sn2 position with high or low dietary linoleic acid in healthy young men. Br J Nutr. 2007; Mar 29; 1-8.

Volek J.S. and Forsythe C.E. Diet,exercise and hormone interactions on skeletal muscle. Horm Res. 2006; 66 Suppl 1:17-21

Volek JS, Forsythe CE, Kraemer WJ. Nutritional Aspects of Women Strength Athletes. Br J Sports Med. 2006. Sep;40(9):742-8

Ruano G, Windemuth A, Kocherla M, Holford T, Fernandez ML, Forsythe CE, Wood RJ, Kraemer WJ, Volek JS. Physiogenomic Analysis of Weight Loss Induced by Dietary Carbohydrate Restriction. Nutr Metab. 2006 May 15;3:20

Lowery L and Forsythe CE. Protein and Overtraining: Potential Applications for Free-living Athletes. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. 3(1):42-50, 2006

Volek JS, Forsythe CE. The Case for Not Restricting Saturated Fat on a Low-Carbohydrate Diet. Nutr Metab. 2005 Aug 31;2:21

Volek JS, Sharman MJ, Forsythe CE. Modification of Lipoproteins by Very Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Review. J Nutr. 2005 Jun;135(6):1339-42

Volek JS, Vanheest JL, Forsythe CE. Diet and Exercise for Weight Loss: A Review of Current Issues. Sports Medicine. 2005; 35(1): 1-9

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Presentations

C.E. Forsythe. Nutritional aspects of the periodized athlete. National Strength and Conditioning Association. Periodization and Planning Symposium. Storrs, Connecticut. June 8 -9, 2007.

C.E. Forsythe and Rachel Cosgrove. Dispelling the myths surrounding women and weight training. International Society for Sports Nutrition Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. June 10 - 13, 2007.

C.E. Forsythe. Health and body composition effects of very low carbohydrate diets. International Society for Sports Nutrition Annual Meeting. Las Vegas, NV. June 16-18, 2006.

C.E. Forsythe. Nutritional demands of the off-season athlete. National Strength and Conditioning Association. Annual Club Symposium. Storrs, Connecticut. University of Connecticut. April 22, 2006.

C.E. Forsythe. Low-carbohydrate diets are superior to low-fat diets for treating lipid disorders in subjects with elevated triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol. Triglycerides and HDL: Role in Cardiovascular Disease and the Metabolic Syndrome. New York, NY. July 14-17, 2005.

Lowery, LL and C.E. Forsythe. Protein and overtraining: Considerations for male and female athletes. International Society for Sports Nutrition Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. June 17-19, 2005.

C.E. Forsythe. Nutritional considerations of women strength athletes. Be Athletic Sports Performance Symposium. College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA. December 10, 2005.

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Abstracts

Hatfield DL, Spiering BA, Fragala MS, Vingren JL, Ho JY, Forsythe CE, Yamamoto LM, Puglisi MJ, Anderson JM, Maresh CM, Volek JS, Kraemer WJ. Effects of Muscle ArmorTM Supplementation During a Resistance Training Program on Body Composition and Performance Outcomes In Men. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007 May;39(5 Suppl):S248

Cassandra E. Forsythe, Maria Luz Fernandez, Stephen D. Phinney, Richard D. Feinman, Erin E. Quann, Richard J. Wood, Michael J. Puglisi, Cherise C. Labonte, Brittanie M. Volk, William J. Kraemer, Doug M. Bibus, and Jeff S. Volek. Dietary carbohydrate restriction favorably alters circulating fatty acid composition compared to fat restriction. EB 2007.

Erin E. Quann, Timothy P. Scheett, Kevin D. Ballard, Michael J. Puglisi, Cassandra E. Forsythe, Brittanie M. Volk, William J. Kraemer, Maria Luz Fernandez, Jeff S. Volek. Carbohydrate restriction and resistance training have additive effects on body composition during weight loss in men. 2007 American Dietetic Association annual meeting in Philadelphia, PA.

Brittanie M. Volk, Timothy Graham, Maria Luz Fernandez, Barbara B. Kahn, Erin Quann, Cassandra E. Forsythe, Michael J. Puglisi, Cherise C. Labonte, Richard J. Wood, William J. Kraemer, and Jeff S. Volek. Comparative effects of dietary restriction of carbohydrate or fat on circulating adipokines. EB 2007.

Maren S Fragala, Kraemer WJ, Jeff S Volek, Barry A Spiering, Disa L Hatfield, Jakob L Vingren, Jen Yu Ho, Cassandra E. Forsythe, Michael J Puglisi, Jeffery M. Anderson, Carl M. Maresh. Influences of a dietary supplement in combination with an exercise and diet regimen in adipocytokines and adiposity in overweight women. EB 2007.

Jakob L Vingren, Ricardo Silvestre, Disa L Hatfield, Barry A Spiering, Maren S Fragala, Jen Yu Ho, Carl M Maresh, Jeff S Volek, Jason M Defreitas, Michael J Puglisi, Cassandra E Forsythe, Erin E Quann, Jeffery M Anderson, William J Kraemer. Effect of adding exercise to a diet containing glucomannan. EB 2007.

C.E. Forsythe, E.E. Quann, R.J. Wood, M.J. Sharman, W.J. Kraemer, M.L. Fernandez, J.S. Volek. A 12-week very low-carbohydrate diet causes greater weight loss and reduces risk factors for heart disease compared to a low-fat diet in subjects with metabolic syndrome. International Society for Sports Nutrition Annual Meeting. New Orleans, LA. June 17-19, 2005.

Clandinin, M.T., Forsythe, C., French, M., Goh, Y.K., Cook, S. and Konrad, S. Determinants of Total / HDL cholesterol concentration and its health consequences. Dairy Meeting. Utrecht, Holland. May 25-26, 2004.

Clandinin, M.T., French, M., and Forsythe, C. Human isotope studies on neutrality of palmitic acid. PIPOC - Food Technology & Nutrition Conference. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. August 24-28, 2003.

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Honors and Awards

American Egg Board-Egg Nutrition Center Dissertation Fellowship in Nutrition Award. June 2006-2009.

NGSA Graduate Travel Award. March 2006
Awarded by the Neag School of Education Graduate Student Association, University of Connecticut

Graduate Poster Presentation Award: First Place. June 19, 2005
Awarded by the International Society for Sports Nutrition at the Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA.

Graduate Assistantship. September 2004 - April 2005
Awarded by the Department of Kinesiology, University of Connecticu

Graduate Student Scholarship. September 2003 - April 2004
Awarded by the Government of Alberta, Alberta Learning Achievement Scholarship Program

2003 NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship. May 2003 - September 2004
Awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

Province of Alberta Graduate Scholarship. January 1, 2003 - April 30, 2003
Awarded by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research, University of Alberta

Graduate Intern Tuition Scholarship. September 1, 2002 - December 30, 2002
Awarded by the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta

NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award. May 2002 - September 2002
Awarded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada

The Russell Food Equipment Limited Scholarship. May 2002
Awarded by the University of Alberta, Student Awards Office

Bar None Undergraduate Leadership Scholarship. January 2002
Awarded by the University of Alberta, Student Awards Office

First Class Standing Dean's List 2000-2002 Academic Year
Awarded by the Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta

Beta Sigma Phi Legacy University Bursary. September 1998
Awarded by the University of Northern British Columbia

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Professional Affiliations

Student Member of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
September 2004- Present.

Student Member of the American Dietetic Association.
June 2007 - June 2008.

New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Nutrition (ACSM).
November 2004 - Present

Dietitians of Canada.
April 2001- September 2004

Golden Key International Honor Society.
September 2001- Present.

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Research

Ph.D. Student. September 2004 - Present
Low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets compared to low-fat weight loss diets for treatment of obesity, dyslipidemia and endothelial dysfunction in individuals with metabolic syndrome.
Duties: Team leader. Biochemical analyses. Nutritional counseling. Exercise training. Data management.
Supervisor: Dr Jeff Volek, R.D

M.Sc. Student. September 2002 - July 2004
Is palmitic acid in the sn-1 position of dietary triglyceride in palm oil less cholesterolemic for normocholesterolemic humans than palmitic acid in the sn-2 position in lard?
Supervisor: Dr. M.T. Clandinin

Undergraduate Summer Student Research Project. May 2002 - September 2002
The effects of positional distribution of dietary palmitic acid in triglycerides on plasma cholesterol and postprandial lipemia in humans and animals.
Supervisor: Dr. M.T. Clandinin

Undergraduate Student Research Project. May 2002 - September 2002
The effects of Panax Ginseng in the immune and stress response in females after acute exercise stress.
Supervisor: Dr. Linda McCargar, Professor of Nutrition. University of Alberta The effects of Panax Ginseng in the immune and stress response in females after acute exercise stress.
Supervisor: Dr. Linda McCargar, Professor of Nutrition. University of Alberta

Summer Research Assistant. June 2001 - November 2002
Data compilation of lipid analyses from retina phospholipid in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats presenting hereditary retinal degeneration.
Supervisor: Dr. M.T. Clandinin

Undergraduate Summer Student Research. May 2002 - September 2002
Sports Performance and Nutrition
Effect of adenosine receptor antagonism on muscle metabolism.
Supervisor: Dr. Vickie Baracos, Professor of Nutrition, University of Alberta

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Work

Teaching Assistant.
Course title: Sport and Exercise Science for Coaches, University of Connecticut
September 2005 - December 2006

Academic Tutor and Study Hall Monitor.
Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes (CPIA), Tutoring Program at the University of Connecticut
September 2004 - 2007

Teaching Assistant.
Course title: Advanced Energy, Carbohydrates, Lipids and Proteins.
July 2002 - December 2002

Dietary Aide.
University of Alberta Hospital.
June 2001 - April 2002

Diet Clerk.
University of Alberta Hospital.
May 2000 - May 2002

Food Service Aide.
Sturgeon Community Hospital St. Albert, Alberta.
May 2000 - April 2002

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Service

Student Representative, International Society for Sports Nutrition.
March 2007 - March 2009

Graduate Student Senate Senator, Neag Graduate Student Association.
University of Connecticut. September 2006 - 2007

Graduate Student Representative, Public Relations Committee.
University of Alberta. September 2002 - 2004

Vice President Social Activities, Nutrition and Food Sciences Student Association.
University of Alberta. June 2001- January 2002

Vice President Communications, Delta Gamma Women's Fraternity.
University of Alberta.
December 1999 - September 2002