Owen Soontjens
Originally from Belgium, Owen moved to the U.S. at 16 to pursue both basketball and academics. A few years later, he relocated to Montreal, Canada, where he continued playing university basketball while studying exercise science. After completing his undergraduate degree, Owen chose to pursue a research-based master’s in health and exercise science, in which his research focused on exploring how Achilles tendon stiffness relates to performance and injury in high-level athletes.
Owen is excited to keep growing in the research world and looks forward to contributing to public health through quality research, especially in ways that highlight how exercise can play a key role in building a healthier society.
Owen’s PhD research will use a citizen science approach to increase the magnitude of the impact of social innovation for active ageing.
Achievements
- Presented master’s research at international conferences.
- Led Concordia University’s basketball team as captain to a 5th place finish at the Canadian national championship in 2024-2025.
- Won the 2025 School of Health Conference Excellence Award, awarded in recognition of excellence in the student category poster presentation.
- Named 2025 Concordia Stingers Valedictorian
- Academic All Canadian 2023-23 & 2024-25
In your own words…
The key to driving real-world change lies in collaboration. High-impact research happens when skilled people from different fields come together, and I’m looking forward to being part of that kind of team.
