MIRA Events
MIRA hosts several scientific and public events a year. These events help MIRA to bring attention to the aging research at McMaster University, and to facilitate the development of new partnerships while enhancing existing partnerships. If you are interested in sponsoring or co-hosting an event with MIRA, please contact Kara Aaserud at aaserudk@mcmaster.ca
Some MIRA events are recorded and made available on this website, as well as on the MIRA Youtube playlist.
Date: December 7, 2020
Speakers: Dr. Ayse Kuspinar, Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science; Dr. Marla Beauchamp, Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science; Dr. Rong Zheng, Associate Professor in the Department of Computing and Software; and Dr. Mike Wilson, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI).
Description: As part of the afternoon portion of the MIRA Labarge Research Showcase, MIRA members Ayse Kuspinar, Marla Beauchamp, Rong Zeng, and Mike Wilson spoke about how they leveraged MIRA and Labarge funding to strengthen their research on aging.
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Date: December 7, 2020
Speakers: Dr. Andrew Costa, Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Dr. Victor Kuperman, Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages; and Dr. Ravi Selvaganapathy, Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering.
Description: As part of the morning portion of the MIRA Labarge Research Showcase, MIRA members Andrew Costa, Victor Kuperman and Ravi Selvaganapathy discuss how they leveraged MIRA and Labarge funding to enhance their research on aging.
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Date: October 30, 2020
Description: The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging Trainee Network held their annual 'Pitch Your Project' event as an opportunity for MIRA Trainees to present their research on aging at McMaster. Undergraduate, graduate level and post-doctoral fellows gave "3-Minute Thesis" style presentations in competition with one another. Winners for best presentation include Kevin Dai in the undergraduate category, Michelle Mei in the Masters category, Vanessa De Rubeis in the Ph.D. category and Lea Ravensbergen in the Post Doc category.
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Date: August 5, 2020
Speakers: Dr. Parminder Raina, scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), lead investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), and the Canada Research Chair in Geroscience.
Description: As part of Alumni Day 2020, Dr. Parminder Raina was featured in a webinar on the connection between wisdom and healthy aging. In this presentation, Dr. Raina first unpacks the recent growth of interest in aging and aging populations and explores the concept of wisdom and what it means in the context of research. He then details the connection between wisdom, healthy aging and the whole aging process. Dr. Raina finishes his talk with a reflection on how these topics link to current events and their significance to us as we move through these difficult times.
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Date: June 10, 2020
Speakers: Dr. Maura Marcucci, member of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and Assistant Professor in the Departments of Health, Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) and Medicine, at McMaster University; Dr. Parminder Raina, scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and the Canada Research Chair in Geroscience.
Description: Older patients have been suffering the greatest consequences from the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day the media give us an idea providing the numbers and demographics of the victims of the infection. However this is not the only way older people, in particular older people with chronic diseases, are affected by the pandemic. Social distancing, mobility constraints, deferral or cancellation of services, disruptions to the continuity of care, these are only examples of how older people, even without the SARS-CoV-2 or any COVID-19 infection, are also victims of the pandemic. The talk takes the lens of a general internist, with interest in geriatric and perioperative medicine, and will use the example of the changes imposed by the COVID-19 contingency plan to the use of the operating rooms.
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Date: February 5, 2019
Speakers: Dr. Parminder Raina, scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and the Canada Research Chair in Geroscience.
Description: McMaster Innovation Park (MIP) is an award winning, premier research and innovation park located approximately 2 kilometers from the internationally recognized McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. MIP hosted a Science in the Park event featuring Dr. Parminder Raina, exploring how longer lifespans change the way we live as individuals and as a society in this Science in the Park lecture.
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Date: November 8, 2018
Speakers: Dr. Susan Hunter, Assistant Professor from the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Western Ontario; Dr. Maureen Markle-Reid, Professor in the School of Nursing, Canada Research Chair in person-centred interventions for older adults with multimorbidity and Co-Director of the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU) at McMaster University; Dr. Richard Sztramko, who practices Geriatrics and General Internal Medicine at St. Peter's, Hamilton General and Juravinski Hospitals.
Description: Did you know that those who are cognitively impaired are four to five times more likely to fall than those who are not? According to the Alzheimer Society, these falls carry three-times higher risk for fracture, and a five-times higher risk of hospitalization or transition to a long-term care setting. Last November, the Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation and the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) partnered to organize a panel discussion on fall prevention for older adults with cognitive impairment. Expert panelists discussed what is needed to mitigate the risk of falls, particularly in those who are vulnerable.
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Date: October 5, 2017
Speakers: Dr. Parminder Raina, scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and the Canada Research Chair in Geroscience.
Description: There are more seniors in Canada right now than there are children under fifteen. And contrary to public perception, there is more than one trajectory for growing old. Helping seniors age successfully and gracefully is an intergenerational issue that we cannot ignore. Parminder Raina is a professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evaluation, and Impact at McMaster University. He is the inaugural scientific director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging. This talk was part of "The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging presents The Walrus Talks Mobility." It was filmed by Lucas Boron Productions in Hamilton on October 5 at the David Braley Health Sciences Centre.
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Date: January 27, 2017
Speaker: Dr. James L. Kirkland, MD, PhD, Director of the Robert and Arlene Kogod Center on Aging and a professor of medicine at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.
Description: The McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) welcomed Dr. James L. Kirkland, MD, PhD, as a Harry Lyman Hooker Distinguished Visiting Professor on January, 27, 2017. The renowned geroscientist and expert on aging led two seminars focusing on cellular aging and the crucial role fat plays in health and age-related dysfunction.
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