International Scientific Advisory Committee
Helping bring MIRA’s impact global and providing international perspective to our work.

Overview
The MIRA International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) is composed of highly accomplished and world-renowned scientists from the international community who are active in research on aging, ensuring objectivity and the highest standard of scientific excellence regarding research priorities and performance. The committee is an integral scientific oversight body that collaborates with the Scientific and Managing Directors to ensure that the research activities of the Institute, including the nested research centres, contribute to meeting their missions and goals.

David Hogan
University of Calgary (canada)
David Hogan
He/Him
Academic Leader
University of Calgary | Brenda Stafford Centre on Aging | O’Brien Institute for Public Health, Cumming School of Medicine
Born in Baie Comeau QC, David attended universities in Nova Scotia, Alberta, and Ontario. A specialist in geriatric medicine, after completing his postgraduate training he returned to Dalhousie University and was Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education there. He joined the University of Calgary in 1990 where he was the founding head of the Division of Geriatric Medicine, held the first Canadian University Chair in geriatric medicine, the Brenda Strafford Foundation Chair in Geriatric Medicine, for 25 years, and served for 10 years (2012-2022) as the Academic Lead of the Brenda Strafford Centre on Aging where he championed the inclusion of older adults in the life of the University. Nationally he has been the Chair of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Specialty Committee in Geriatric Medicine, President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society, editor of the Canadian Geriatrics Journal, and President of the C5R. David has authored approximately 350 peer-reviewed publications reflecting his long-standing interest in topics such as cognitive impairment and dementia, falls, and frailty. From 2010-2022 David was the Local Responsible Investigator for the Calgary Data Collection Site of the CLSA and formerly held leadership roles in the CCNA. He recently joined the CIHR Institute of Aging Advisory Board and chairs the MIRA International Scientific Advisory Board. He took part in the last four Canadian Consensus Conferences on the Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia, the creation of the Alberta Dementia Strategy and Action Plan and was a member of the CAHS Panel for the Assessment of Evidence and Best Practices for the development of a Canadian Dementia Strategy.

Agneta Malmgren Fänge
lund university (sweden)
Agneta Malmgren Fänge
She/Her
Senior lecturer, Associate professor, Applied Gerontology
Head of Department of Health Sciences, Lund University
Dr. Agneta Malmgren Fänge’s research focuses on different interventions to enhance and improve the life situation for people living with neurocognitive disorders and their informal caregivers. This includes the work situation among their formal caregivers. Ongoing projects target: Effects of using virtual communities of practice on quality of life, autonomy and citizenship; Effects for formal and informal caregivers of using technical monitoring devices in the homes; Fall prevention interventions in ordinary homes and in sheltered housing facilities. The projects also include the development of digital educational platforms for staff training and support, as well as the development of different technology implementation strategies for municipality staff.
Fänge’s research also focuses on experimental health science and the detailed study of people’s activity in the laboratory as well as in built and natural environments, within the project Human Movement in activity. The context of the research is the Movement and Reality Lab, MoRe-Lab, at the Faculty of Medicine, Lund University. Sensor-based technology and AI are applied for data collection and analysis and different methods are validated for use also out of the laboratory context, i.e., using the MoRe-Lab mobile platform.

Luis Miguel Gutierrez Robledo
national institute of geriatrics (mexico)
Luis Miguel Gutierrez Robledo
He/Him
Founding Director
National Institute of Geriatrics (Mexico)
Luis Miguel Francisco Gutiérrez Robledo studied Medicine at La Salle University and the Specialty in Internal Medicine at the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán” in Mexico.
In France, he obtained a Specialty in Geriatrics at the University of Grenoble and has specialized university studies in Social Gerontology at the same University. Later he completed a Master’s Degree in Biology of Aging at the University of Paris VII and a PhD in public health and epidemiology from the University of Bordeaux. He founded the Geriatrics Department of the National Institute of Medical Sciences and Nutrition “Salvador Zubirán” and headed it for 20 years. He was the Founding Director of the National Institute of Geriatrics at the National Institutes of Health.
He has been a visiting professor at the European Academy of Medicine of Aging, at the Universities of Sherbrooke in Canada, Southern California (USC) and Texas (Medical Branch) in the United States, Geneva in Switzerland and Bordeaux, Toulouse and Grenoble in France. PAHO and WHO consultant and member of the Steering Committee of the Clinical Consortium on Aging of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics and WHO.
He has more than 280 publications in scientific journals and chapters in books (H index 48, more than 15,000 citations in Google Scholar), as well as 27 edited books, most related to research in clinical geriatrics, Alzheimer’s disease, nutrition of the older adult and the epidemiology of aging. He is a member of the National Academies of Medicine of Mexico and France and has been distinguished with the decorations of the Legion d’Honor and the Academic Palms, both in the degree of Knight by the government of the French Republic. In 2022 he has been recognized by the World Health Organization as one of the 50 global leaders of the movement for healthy aging.

Jonathan Bean
harvard medical school (usa)
Jonathan Bean
He/Him
Professor
Department of physical medicine and rehabilitation, harvard medical school
Dr. Jonathan F. Bean is a Professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at Harvard Medical School and clinician scientist at the VA Boston Healthcare System. He is also on staff at Spaulding Rehabilitation, within MassGeneral Brigham in Boston, MA. He served as the Director of the New England Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center (NEGRECC) at VA Boston Healthcare System for over one decade, having stepped down from this role in November 2025. He was the first Physiatrist to ever be appointed as director of a VA GRECC.
Dr. Bean is an internationally recognized expert in geriatric rehabilitative care having extensive experience in the conduct of clinical trials and measurement of disablement outcomes. With advanced training in exercise physiology and epidemiology, his work has focused on mobility problems among older adults as a marker of adverse health outcomes among older adults. His work addresses both risk factor reduction and the development of clinically feasible prevention strategies. He also has a strong commitment towards the mentorship of trainees within geriatric rehabilitative research, having been awarded a Midcareer Investigator Award (K24) from the National Institute of Health

Wendy Rogers
university of illinois urbana-champaign (usa)
Wendy Rogers
She/Her
Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences; Department of Kinesiology and Community Health
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Wendy A. Rogers, Ph.D., is Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her primary appointment is in the Community Health Program. She has an appointment in Educational Psychology and is an affiliate of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology; Illinois Informatics Institute; Center for Social and Behavioral Science; Women and Gender in Global Perspectives; and the Discovery Partners Institute. She received her B.A. from the University of Massachusetts – Dartmouth, and her M.S. and Ph.D. from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a Certified Human Factors Professional (BCPE Certificate #1539).
Her research interests include design for aging; digital health; human-robot interaction; aging with disabilities; technology trust and acceptance; and training. She is Director of the McKechnie Family LIFE Home and the Health Technology Education Program; Program Director of CHART (Collaborations in Health, Aging, Research, and Technology); and Director of the Human Factors and Aging Laboratory.
Dr. Rogers’ research is funded by the National Institutes of Health through the National Institute on Aging as part of the Center for Research and Education on Aging and Technology Enhancement (CREATE); and through the National Institute of Nursing Research. In addition, her work is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services through the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research as part of the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers on Technologies to Support Aging-in-Place for People with Long-Term Disabilities (TechSAge) and the Center for Enhancing Neurocognitive Health, Abilities, Networks, and Community Engagement (ENHANCE).

Clemens Becker
Digital medicine for older persons, university medical centre heidelberg (germany)
Clemens Baker
He/Him
Lead Unit
Digital medicine for older persons, university medical centre heidelberg, germany
Dr. Clemens Becker is leading a unit to develop and evaluate novel digital solutions for the medical care of older persons and patients. This includes assessment tools and digital TX. From 2019 until June 2024 he has also worked as the lead of the clinical validation study of the Mobilise-D consortium. His group is now interested to repurpose the findings to other target groups including community dwelling cohorts. A particular interest to evaluate the use of DMOs for intervention studies.
About MIRA
The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) works to optimize the health and longevity of older adults through research, education and community engagement.
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