Jonathan Smirl is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary specializing in the area of sport-related concussions. He completed his BSc in Biology at the University of Victoria in 2004 and spent several years working as a swim and triathlon coach throughout Victoria, BC. He re-entered academia in 2008 at the Okanagan campus of the University of British Columbia where he completed both his MSc (2011) and PhD (2015) at UBC Okanagan focusing on cerebral blood flow regulation under the guidance of Prof. Philip Ainslie. After completing his PhD, he was a Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Concussion Research Lab at UBC working alongside Prof. Paul van Donkelaar. In 2019, he joined the faculty of Kinesiology at the University of Calgary as an assistant professor.

He is a cerebrovascular and exercise physiologist, and in 2017 was the first Canadian ever elected to the International Cerebral Autoregulation Research Network (CARNet) steering committee and was re-elected to this position in 2019. His research focuses on understanding the cerebrovascular and autonomic dysregulation which occurs following a concussion and aims to use this knowledge to develop informed exercise interventions which can be used to help aid in the recovery process during both acute and prolonged symptom periods. 

Trainees: Lauren Muitz, Courtney Kennedy

Publications: PubMed

Website: Cerebrovascular Concussion Reseach Lab

Contact: jonathan.smirl@ucalgary.ca