Our Physiotherapy Team
Janet MacKinnon
Registered Physiotherapist, Pelvic Physiotherapist MSc (PT), MSc (Bio Med), BSc HonJanet has a passion for keeping people active at all ages and stages of life. By working closely as a team with her clients, Janet is able to create a personal achievable program for any level of fitness. Janet works with all genders experiencing orthopaedic or pelvic health issues.
Janet is a graduate of University of Guelph and McMaster University. Having over 10 years of experience in both pelvic health and orthopaedic physiotherapy allows her to generate a comprehensive treatment plan that addresses the whole body. Janet specializes in Pelvic Health having taken Pelvic Health Physiotherapy levels 1-5 (Female and Male Urinary Incontinence), Pelvic Pain, Pregnancy, and Anorectal Disorders as well as further courses for pregnancy and exercise. Janet has completed courses in acupuncture through McMaster University, as well as many running injury and female athlete courses.
Janet has taught at the University of Guelph and at the Canadian Sport Institute Ontario sharing her passion for physiotherapy and health.
Janet can often be seen running around Guelph either driving kids to hockey, dance and swimming or herself running the roads and trails.
Areas of Specific Training:
Running rehabilitation
Female athlete rehabilitation
Pregnancy and pelvic girdle pain
Post-partum care including vaginal and cesarean birth
Urinary Incontinence
Dyspareunia
Acupuncture
Areas of Clinical Interest:
Athletic rehabilitation
Incontinence
Pelvic pain and prolapse
Exercise through the perinatal period
Menopause
Transgender health
Aishwarya Desai
Registered Physiotherapist, BSc (Bio), MPTAishwarya Desai graduated from Western University in 2020 with a Masters of Physical Therapy. She also obtained a Bachelor of Science with honours in the fields of Biology and Medical Physiology from the University of Waterloo in 2018.
Aishwarya offers over 2+ years of clinical experience in orthopedics and neural rehabilitation and has been treating pelvic floor dysfunction since 2021. Aishwarya has experience working with women of all ages, helping them overcome urinary, fecal and urge incontinence, as well as pelvic pain. She works alongside expecting mothers, with the aim of helping them prepare for childbirth, postpartum rehabilitation and returning to exercise and/or day to day activity following their pregnancy. She also treats pelvic organ prolapse and constipation and guides her patients as they undergo menopausal and peri-menopausal changes.
Aishwarya has worked with a wide variety of patient population, including those suffering from adhesive capsulitis, low back pain, carpal tunnel, plantar fasciitis, post-operative rehabilitation, arthritis; cardiorespiratory conditions such as pneumonia, COPD, atelectasis; and neurological conditions such as stroke, MS, Glioma, and Parkinson’s Disease.
Aishwarya speaks English, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and Marathi and would love to use this knowledge to provide the best possible care for her patients.
Areas of Specific Training:
Level 1 Manual Therapy
Hand and upper extremity rehabilitation from Roth/McFarlane Hand and Upper Limb Center
Level 1 and 2 of Pelvic Health Physiotherapy
Post-partum rehabilitation following cesarian birth
Areas of Clinical Interest:
Urinary, feal and urge incontinence
Pelvic pain, including pain associated with intercourse
Post-partum recovery, and post-partum return to exercises
Acute and chronic neck and shoulder pain
Jessica Moretto
Physiotherapy ResidentJessica is a new graduate from McMaster University’s Master’s of Physiotherapy program. She has a passion for pelvic health, is dedicated to ongoing education and looks forward to continuing to advance her skills in the field of women’s health.
Jessica strives to empower clients with the knowledge and tools needed to optimize their health and well-being. She has taken courses to practice pelvic health physiotherapy, including attaining her level 1 (bowel and bladder disorders) and level 2 (pelvic pain) training, and is in the process of completing her level 3 training. Jessica holds a Bachelor of Science, Honours Biology, and a minor in French from McMaster (2021), and a Masters of Science in Physiotherapy from McMaster (2023) as well. Outside of work, Jessica enjoys cooking, baking, volunteering, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and spending time with family and friends.
Sara Riazi
Registered Physiotherapist & Pediatric Pelvic Health PhysiotherapistSara is a graduate of McMaster University Masters of Physiotherapy program. Prior to this, Sara completed her Master’s of Science in Biomechanics and her Bachelor of Science in Human Kinetics at the University of Guelph.
Sara has furthered her education by taking a Soft Tissue Release course, Manual Therapy Level 1, Concussion Management, Vestibular Rehabilitation and Acupuncture. Sara has a keen interest in paediatric physiotherapy including paediatric pelvic health. She has taken courses in manual therapy, acupuncture and dry needling and has expanded her scope to treat children. Sara has taken courses in paediatric physiotherapy which includes paediatric pelvic level 1 (bowel and bladder disorders) and level 2 (paediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders). Outside of work, Sara enjoys cooking, baking, playing the guitar, and maintaining an active lifestyle.
Eliza Pereira-Karve (on-leave)
Eliza has a special interest in women’s health and pelvic health physiotherapy. Her foray into pelvic health physiotherapy began not as a therapist, but as a patient. Her firsthand experience of the benefits of pelvic health physiotherapy and the positive influence it had on her quality of life, motivated her to pursue formal training in pelvic health.
Eliza graduated in 2009 with a Master in Physiotherapy. She began practising in Ontario in 2011 with a diverse orthopaedic caseload and gradually transitioned to a focus on treating women. She has completed numerous courses focussed on treating incontinence, pelvic pain, dyspareunia, vaginismus, diastasis rectus abdominis, pelvic organ prolapse and pelvic girdle pain, to name a few. In 2021, she completed a pelvic health focussed, clinical mentorship in the Integrated Systems Model (ISM) approach with Diane Lee and associates in British Columbia.
Eliza has experience working with women of all ages, assisting them to overcome sexual health-related challenges, prepare for childbirth, return to exercise and activity after pregnancy and to age gracefully from peri to post-menopause.
Eliza strongly believes that optimal health is a combination of a healthy body, and a resilient spirit and mind. She uses a whole-person treatment approach that involves sensitive communication, education, manual therapy and individualized exercise prescription and modalities.
When she is not practising, Eliza likes travelling with her spouse to off-the-beaten-path destinations. She also enjoys all things artsy and craftsy.
Jessica Dorado
Regional Administrative TrainerJessica holds a degree in Geography from the University of Guelph and a diploma in Baking and Pastry Arts Management from George Brown College.
She first joined EPA’s Bullfrog location in 2015 where she worked full-time reception for a year before going to pastry school. Jesica worked at the University of Guelph pastry kitchen where she focused on recipe development and ensuring smooth day to day operations. With the impacts of COVID-19 on the hospitality industry, Jessica excitedly rejoined the EPA team in 2020 at the Guelph Women’s Health location. Jessica is your main contact person for any booking and billing inquiries at GWHA.
Megan Benfeld
ReceptionistMegan graduated from the University of Windsor with a degree in Family and Social Relations with a concentration in Gender Studies. Megan was a personal nanny for 6 years and joined the GWHA team in 2020.
Once completing her degree, Megan started classes to become a Certified Lactation Counselor through the CAPPA program. She is currently working toward becoming an International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant through the Newman Clinic.
Megan’s goal is to educate and help new parents with feeding their babies; this could be through the means of breast/ chestfeeding, pumping, bottle feeding, or formula use. Megan was recently married and gave birth to a beautiful little girl. In her free time, Megan can be found baking with her daughter, shopping at the mall, or practicing yoga.
Janette MacMillan
Janette has just recently joined GWHA as a full-time receptionist and has many years working in Customer Service. In my spare time, I like to spend it in my craft room crafting and creating floral arrangements for all occasions. You will often find me throughout the year being a vendor at various craft shows
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