Summer research experience provides opportunity to make lasting impact

When UCalgary researchers put out the call in October 2024 for 1,500 women to participate in a menopause study, they didn’t expect the amount of interest it would generate. More than 3,000 women from across Alberta signed up for MOMENTUM (MOvement, MENopause and opTimUM health), a collaborative research initiative in the Faculty of Kinesiology aimed at developing evidence and resources about menopause, movement, and health. 

This overwhelming response has kept zoology student Natasha Annor Bediako busy this summer, she has been working with the research group through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) program. Under the supervision of Dr. Cindy Barha, PhD, Annor Bediako has been helping with the cognitive testing for the study, which looks at the effects of perimenopause and menopause on memory and thinking ability.  

“I’ve been helping with the cognitive testing for the study, which looks at the effects of perimenopause and menopause on memory and thinking ability,” explains Annor Bediako. “The test looks at executive functioning, working memory, and processing speed.” 

The testing uses the NIH Toolbox Cognitive battery, which employs digital measures and assessments to evaluate cognitive function. Through these assessments, the team has been assessing participants' executive functions (planning, multi-tasking, attention, problem solving, and decision making), verbal and visual episodic memory (associating personal past events with a time and place), working memory (holding and manipulating information in the mind), and processing speed (how fast the brain receives, interprets, and responds to information). 

(This author can tell you from experience that the test is challenging and makes you feel quite unintelligent by the end!) 

‘It takes a whole team’ 

For this type of cohort study, with thousands of participants, Annor Bediako has been surprised at how much work goes on behind the scenes to make sure participants feel comfortable.  

“It takes a whole team and a lot of people for it to work, to make sure the testing is going right,” she says. “Setting things up behind the scenes and helping other researchers with their work has been really interesting. I didn’t realize I’d have so much responsibility, but it’s helped me learn a lot.” 

Over the summer, Annor Bediako has been able to experience research in action, not only from the clinical perspective, but from organic and social ways as well. She went into the project thinking she’d be working on her own. She was surprised that it was quite the opposite, adding that “It’s very social and communicative, and you have to work as a team to get things done.” 

Program sheds lights on different research methods 

Participating in the USRA program has been eye-opening, shedding light on various research methods and piquing her interest in exploring different types in the future. She encourages all undergraduate students to apply to the program. 

“University is the place to explore different areas of study and research. You have the safeguards and opportunities to try whatever you want,” says Annor Bediako. “Reach out to as many people as possible, even if they’re not in your faculty. Start early and be persistent. Remember that it’s never too late to be part of research.”   

Overall, the experience has been really rewarding for Annor Bediako, not only for the hands-on experience, but for being able to be part of something that will make such a huge impact.  

“MOMENTUM is about menopause and about women’s health, which is so underfunded and under-studied. I’ve interacted with participants who tell me they wish they had this kind of research when they were younger so they could have had the resources that this study will bring about. They’re very happy to be part of it so they can help younger women.” 

"Knowing that what I'm doing right now is going to help a lot of women in the future has been really rewarding."