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​Are you on the map? 

In order to facilitate interdisciplinary connections, MIRA has constructed a Research Map. Displayed to the right, researchers have been asked to position themselves within the two-dimensional plot, with the Y-axis illustrating research output (policy, product/service or academic, where academic output is represented at the intersection with the X-axis), and the X-axis displaying the type of research conducted, from theory/discovery to practice/application.

The map is intended to allow MIRA researchers to view themselves as part of a broader community, and will facilitate connections by highlighting areas of strength and opportunity among MIRA members.

Are you on the map? If not, reach out to ​mirainfo@mcmaster.ca ​to express your interest. 

MIRA Landscape Map_Sep 10 2019
Julia Abelson is a professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) and Director of the Health Policy Program in the Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis at McMaster University. Julia obtained her master’s degree in Health Policy and Management from the Harvard School of Public Health and her doctorate in social and policy sciences at the University of Bath, U.K. She is a past recipient of a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator award, and an Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care Career Scientist award. Her research interests are focused on older adult engagement (as citizens and patients) in health system decision making and research design, implementation and evaluation. Julia is also interested in the development of public and health policies related to ageing and older adults. View Bio

Julia Abelson

Faculty of Health Sciences
Gina Agarwal is an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McMaster University. She joined the department in 2000 after training and working in England. Gina is the Principal Investigator of the McMaster Community Paramedicine Research Team and a practicing family physician at the McMaster Family Practice (MFP). Her research focuses on improving health systems for vulnerable populations. Gina is committed to ensuring adequate care is provided at the right time and place to those most in need. Her most recent research with the Community Paramedicine at Clinic (CP@Clinic) ​involves paramedics holding drop-in sessions at select subsidized housing buildings with high numbers of 911 calls. The results of a pilot study showed that the program significantly lowered the number of ambulance calls, improved quality of life, and lowered systolic blood pressure among older adults in subsidized housing. Gina is also involved in training family medicine residents and supervising undergraduate, masters and doctoral students. View Bio

Gina Agarwal

Faculty of Health Sciences

Baraa Al-Khazraji is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. Baraa’s laboratory explores blood flow control and vascular physiology in blood vessels. Aging increases risk of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease as well as risk of other diseases, such as osteoarthritis. Baraa’s research focuses on understanding basic vascular control mechanisms across the lifespan and understanding whether different exercise training methods can protect against aging-associated declines in vascular health. She is also investigating how to improve peripheral and brain vascular imaging tools, which can influence how these technologies are used, how they are interpreted for data collection, and how to better implement them in clinical settings or community activity centres.

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Baraa K. Al-Khazraji

Faculty of Science

Elizabeth Alvarez is an experienced family/public health physician and Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. After completing her medical degree and family medicine residency at the University of Toledo in Ohio, she earned a master’s degree in public health through the Northwest Ohio Consortium for Public Health, and a PhD in Health Policy at McMaster University. She also holds a certificate in cognitive behavioural therapy (CMCBT).

Her research uses policy analysis and qualitative and mixed methods for applied knowledge translation, spanning the role of context in evidence informed decision making, public health topics, sustainable health behaviour change across the lifespan, and multidisciplinary care.

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Elizabeth Alvarez

Faculty of Health Sciences

Ellen Amster focuses on public health and the encounters between western and Islamic medicines. She seeks to understand aging through a Humanities and Social Science lens, and uses qualitative and mixed research methods to study the social, cultural, and political aspects of health, gender, and sexuality in Morocco. She has worked closely with older adults in Morocco, where she created a “determinants of health” field study program. She is an expert on transnational health issues and the social history of biomedicine.

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Ellen Amster

Faculty of Humanities
Laura Anderson is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. Her research focuses on areas of epidemiology and health services and systems. Laura is interested in population and public health, specifically chronic disease prevention and modifiable determinants of health in early life. She is currently analyzing data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) to support her research around the characteristics associated with obesity. The goal of this research project, which is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Space Agency and Quebec Network for Research on Aging, is to understand whether treatment and prevention strategies can be tailored to adult subgroups with obesity. Laura also supervises students in the Masters of Public Health program. View Bio

Laura Anderson

Faculty of Health Sciences

Gavin Andrews is a leading health geographer based at McMaster University’s Department of Health, Aging and Society. He was the inaugural chair between 2006 and 2011 and the Acting Director of the Gilbrea Centre for Studies in Aging from 2017 to 2018. Gavin’s multidisciplinary research explores a range of empirical themes including aging, health care work, sports and fitness, complementary medicine, health histories and popular music. Gavin asks important questions about the relationships between older people and place, and about the current state and future development of health geography. He recently co-edited a book, "Geographical Gerontology", that highlights the importance of where aging occurs, and how it is experienced differently by different people in different places. 

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Gavin Andrews

Faculty of Social Sciences

Norm Archer has collaborated for many years with physicians who carry out research on the chronic illnesses most prevalent among our aging population. He helps devise technological solutions, such as an online system that supports outpatients in coping with arterial disease, and a social media tool to overcome loneliness and social isolation through cognitive behavioural therapy. Norm carries out research on electronic health applications and systems, electronic business, identity theft, supply chain management, project management, change management in eGovernment, and mobile commerce. He serves as the Program Coordinator for the collaborative Master of Science in eHealth, a joint program between the DeGroote School of Business, Faculty of Health Sciences, and the Computing and Software Department.

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Norm Archer

Faculty of Business
Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald is a clinically-trained speech-language pathologist and Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Ashwini completed her doctoral training at the University of Toronto where she explored the relationship between malnutrition and swallow impairments (dysphagia) in long-term care. Her overarching research goal is to develop a more comprehensive and collaborative approach to dysphagia management that unites the biomedical and psychosocial aspects of care. Her current research focuses on developing multidisciplinary interventions to prevent impairment and maintain swallowing function in older adults, and understanding dysphagia in older adults with dementia as well as dysphagia-related caregiver burden in caregivers of older adults. Ashwini is highly motivated to conduct clinically salient research that impacts patient care in order to improve health and quality of life.  View Bio

Ashwini Ashwini Namasivayam-MacDonald

Faculty of Health Sciences

Carol Bassim is the Scientific Manager for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). She graduated Dental School in 2004 from the University of Florida, then spent several years with the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and the NIDCR of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a Clinical Research Fellow. Carol’s research explores oral health in older adults and the interdependent relationships between tooth loss, food choice, weight loss and frailty. She is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University and a Section Editor for the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

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Carol Bassim

Faculty of Health Sciences

Pamela Baxter is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at McMaster University. Currently, Pamela is examining the issue of resident-to-resident aggression in long-term homes in Canada. Her research is focused on the impact of health policy on health service delivery for older adults living with dementia in long-term or in the broader community. Using various research designs, she is investigating resident, caregiver and leadership issues. Pamela’s overall goals are to support, challenge and inform policies in order to promote quality care, healthy aging and improve the lives of older adults.

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Pamela Baxter

Faculty of Health Sciences

Dr. Beauchamp is a Physical Therapist and Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster.  She is also an Associate Member in the Department of Medicine.  Marla completed her PhD in Rehabilitation Science at the University of Toronto (2012) and her postdoctoral training in outcomes measurement at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

 

The overall objective of Dr. Beauchamp’s research program is to develop evidence-based strategies to improve mobility among older adults. Her research has two key arms related to this aim: 1) advancing the assessment of mobility problems among older adults; and 2) personalized rehabilitative interventions to optimize late-life mobility. Dr. Beauchamp’s ongoing research is supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), Canada’s Aging and Technology Network (AGE-WELL NCE), the Canadian Respiratory Research Network (CRRN), and the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging within the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA).

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Marla Beauchamp

Faculty of Health Sciences

Sue Becker is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, and the Principal Investigator of the Neurotechnology and Neuroplasticity Lab at McMaster University. She has affiliations with the Faculties of Engineering, Humanities and Science. Sue’s research focuses on cognitive neuroscience and computational studies of learning and memory. Her research on older adults aims to understand the impact of lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise, on memory, stress, and mental illness, as well as examining and developing treatments for age-related hearing loss.

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Sue Becker

Faculty of Science
Lofti Belkhir is currently an associate professor in entrepreneurship and innovation at the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology. He is the founder of Kirtas Technologies, which launched the world’s first automatic book scanner. Lofti is a physicist, researcher, teacher, inventor, and business leader with 17 years of industrial experience. His research and teaching focuses on total sustainable management, eco-entrepreneurship, and the environmental impact of digital convergence. As a mentor to graduate students at McMaster, Lofti aims to build leaders in innovation and sustainability.  View Bio

Lotfi Belkhir

Faculty of Engineering
Patrick Bennett is the Canada Research Chair in Vision Science. Using a multidisciplinary approach, Patrick’s research ​explores new methods of treating visual processing problems related to age and disease. Patrick’s current research interests include pattern vision, psychophysics, neuroimaging, and perceptual learning and development. As well as being an Adjunct Member in the Centre for Vision Research at York University, Patrick serves as the director of the McMaster Vision and Cognitive Neuroscience Lab with MIRA researcher Allison Sekular. At the VNC Lab, they aim to understand the limits and functional consequences of compensatory reorganization in older adults, a process where new brain regions are recruited for tasks related to visual performance.  View Bio

Patrick Bennett

Faculty of Science
Sheila Boamah is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing at McMaster University. Her previous research has focused on health systems, aiming to improve organizational structures and processes, and health technologies that affect access to and quality of health care. Sheila's emerging research program at McMaster will focus on improving quality of care and quality of life for older adults in post-acute care settings in Canada. ​In addition, by taking an interdisciplinary approach, her research will contribute to understanding how currently siloed systems, sectors and teams across the health care spectrum can work together to combat disparities in the older adult population. View Bio

Sheila Boamah

Faculty of Health Sciences
Gary Bone has been a Faculty member in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at McMaster University since 1994. He is involved in the development and application of sensing technologies and robotic technologies to enhance people's daily lives. He is particularly focused on better understanding the needs of aging adult communities and working with collaborators on technological solutions that can be applied to their daily lives. Gary teaches undergraduate courses on robotics, control systems, design, manufacturing processes, and kinematics. He is a member of the McMaster Manufacturing Research Institute.  View Bio

Gary Bone

Faculty of Engineering

Jackie Bosch is primarily focused on the area of clinical adult neurological rehabilitation. She began her work with large clinical trials at the Population Health Research Institute where she completed her Master’s in Clinical Epidemiology, which focused on functional recovery post-stroke. She currently acts as co-investigator on both primary and secondary trials on the prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Her research also examines cardiovascular disease prevention and studies improving function. Jackie has over 65 peer reviewed publications.

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Jackie Bosch

Faculty of Health Sciences
Dawn Bowdish is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. Motivated to keep her children’s grandparents healthy, Dawn started to look at how streptococcus pneumonia affects older adults. Hospitalizations and deaths due to pneumonia are unacceptably high in the elderly. Dawn’s research focuses on developing a better understanding of how the immune system fights this infection in older adults. Her research question asks why older adults are particularly susceptible, and her research lab explores ways in which age-related changes in immune response contribute to increased susceptibility to infection and diseases. Dawn strives to extend lives by developing new therapies that bolster the body’s own natural defence mechanisms.  View Bio

Dawn Bowdish

Faculty of Health Sciences
Dina Brooks is the vice-dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences and executive director of the School of Rehabilitation Science. Dina is an established researcher known for her ​work in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cardiovascular rehabilitation. Her aging research focuses on rehabilitation and aging, specifically the role of exercise and the impact of multimorbidity. Dina is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences, a recipient of the Enid Graham Award, and a recipient of a Queen’s Jubilee Medal for her research on lung disease.
 
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Dina Brooks

Faculty of Health Sciences
Since 2002, Ian Bruce has worked within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University. He is a Professor for the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering, Associate Member of the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour and Associate Director of McMaster’s LIVELab. His research focuses on applications of biomedical engineering and neuroscience approaches to hearing and hearing disorders. As the Director of the Auditory Engineering Laboratory, he is looking to improve assistive devices for the hearing impaired, specifically older adults. By using engineering methods to understand the physiological mechanisms that contribute to hearing loss, he aims to study and improve the lives of hearing impaired individuals. View Bio

Ian Bruce

Faculty of Engineering
Lisa Carlesso is a licensed physiotherapist and an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Her extensive academic background in physical therapy and clinical epidemiology have shaped her research interests in common age-related musculoskeletal problems. Her most recent studies focus on improving treatment and outcomes for people with musculoskeletal disorders, such as knee osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain. Lisa is interested in understanding the mechanisms and consequences of pain as they relate to disability, mobility, participation and healthy aging.
 
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Lisa Carlesso

Faculty of Health Sciences

Narat Charupat is a Professor and Area Chair of Finance and Business Economics at McMaster University. He is the co-author of Strategic Financial Planning over the Lifecycle, a textbook on financial planning, and his work has been published in multiple business journals. Narat’s research has explored areas of financial innovation, security designs, annuity and insurance products, arbitrage relationship, commodity investment, and behavioural finance. His recent aging research focuses on Canada’s retirement income system, examining data on Canadian Pension Plan decisions among older adults.

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Narat Charupat

Faculty of Business
Fei Chiang is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing and Software in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University. She is interested in exploring opportunities that investigate how data analytics and data quality can improve social services and quality of life for the aging population. Fei also leads the Data Science Research Lab, which is focused on developing tools to facilitate data cleaning, improved data quality and fostering knowledge discovery. She has worked at IBM Global Services, the Autonomic Computing Group at the IBM Toronto Lab, and the Data Management, Exploration and Mining Group at Microsoft Research.  View Bio

Fei Chiang

Faculty of Engineering
Catherine Connelly is a professor for the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. She holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Organizational Behaviour and is a member of the College of New Scholars of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC). Catherine’s research explores people’s behaviours and motivations. She is interested in the attitudes, behaviours, and experiences of non-standard workers, the effects of leadership styles on leader well-being, and knowledge hiding in organizations. The Connelly Research Lab focuses on understanding how workplaces and employees are changing. Catherine is currently researching the experiences of workers with disabilities. She has published academic articles on life course differences in employment and arthritis among aging adults. View Bio

Catherine Connelly

Faculty of Business
John Connolly is the Chair and Director of McMaster University’s Cognitive Science of Language program, co-directs the Language, Memory and Brain Lab (LMBLab), and is a member of MINDS (McMaster Institute for Neuroscience Discovery and Study). John’s research examines consciousness, with applications to brain injury, such as the vegetative state, the locked-in syndrome, and coma. His work aims to develop methods to record brain activity, allowing cognitive function assessment for those who are unable to use language to communicate. Over the past 35 years, John has published extensively on cognitive neuroscience of language with a particular emphasis on the use of brain imaging techniques. View Bio

John Connolly

Faculty of Humanities
Andrew Costa is an Assistant Professor and Schlegel Chair in Clinical Epidemiology and Aging in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster University. He also serves as the Research Lead at the DeGroote School of Medicine, Waterloo Regional Campus. He is currently developing and evaluating models of care for affordable emergency room use for older adults. Andrew’s work aims to promote evidence-based care and policy while utilizing health information. His research program has the expertise to create better care and support systems for older adults in health care facilities. View Bio

Andrew Costa

Faculty of Health Sciences
Vanina Dal Bello-Haas is an associate professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science and assistant dean, Physiotherapy at McMaster University. She specializes in the assessment and management of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases with particular attention to older adults. Vanina’s research interests ​explore amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and dementia; therapeutic interventions that maximize function and quality of life along the aging continuum; and education research on the use of web-based interfaces in teaching, peer evaluation and strategies to increase health care professionals working with older adults. She has been a researcher, educator, and physiotherapist with McMaster since 2011. View Bio

Vanina Dal Bello-Haas

Faculty of Health Sciences
Jamal Deen is co-leading the development of a Ubiquitous Healthcare Smart Medical Home. This project uses information technology, wireless communication, web-based technologies and autonomics to develop new, smart and cost-effective solutions for the health and wellness of older adults. These innovations are intended to help older adults lead independent lifestyles and to use in-home monitoring to detect early symptoms of diseases. Detecting these diseases can lead to early treatment. Jamal is the Senior Canada Research Chair in Information Technology and Director of the Micro-and Nano-Systems Lab. View Bio

Jamal Deen

Faculty of Engineering
Margaret Denton is Professor Emeritus in the Departments of Health, Aging, and Society and Sociology and the former Director of the McMaster Centre for Geriatric Studies. Margaret has examined issues related to the factors that affect community care, age inequality, retirement planning, and income, health and social services. Margaret’s research focus explores long term care facilities, income inequality, and age and gender inequality. As a Director for the Hamilton Council on Aging, Margaret Denton is leading initiatives to make Hamilton an age-friendly city. View Bio

Margaret Denton

Faculty of Social Sciences

Tohid Didar is developing the next generation of biomaterials, biosensors and medical coatings. He plans on implementing bio-functional interfaces in the forms of large-scale microfluidic systems for developing new diagnostics, drug discovery and personalized medicine platforms that will innovate different aspects of our aging world. Tohid’s lab is currently focused on engineering an organs-on chip platform that could reproduce key structural and functional properties of organs such as a lung or kidney. These personalized devices will help progress patient-specific treatments that could change the ways in which our aging population is received in health care facilities.

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Tohid Didar

Faculty of Engineering

Lisa Dolovich is the Research Director and Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine. She is a scientist with the Centre for Evaluation of Medicines at St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton. Lisa co-leads Health TAPESTRY, a research program and health intervention which aims to help older adults stay healthy longer and to age well in their own home and community. This approach is identifying people at risk before they require emergency medical care or hospitalization, which reduces health care costs and improves outcomes for older adults in health care facilities. The program has successfully been funded to expand to new communities across Canada. Lisa’s expertise is based on the emerging eHealth discipline, population health, and community-based primary health care interventions.

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Lisa Dolovich

Faculty of Health Sciences

Tom Doyle is the Director of McMaster University’s eHealth Graduate Program and Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His recent research has focused on remote and predictive medicine as well as hearing prosthetics to improve autonomous control by the person using the device. Using machine learning and mobile devices he has been looking at various ways to provide advanced support for the health and wellness of various populations, and at the importance of autonomy in relation to assistive devices which allows the user to have control over technology. Having assistive devices respond to their users allows for the independence of vulnerable populations, such as older adults in health care facilities.

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Tom Doyle

Faculty of Engineering

Department chair and urban geographer James Dunn believes in the importance of building environments that allow marginalized populations, such as older adults and people with disabilities, to navigate through their neighbourhoods. He studies living communities as they undergo transformations, and explores how built environments affect the mental and physical health in neighbourhoods and communities. His current research programs focus on how economic and social policies influence social aspects of population health, as well as the importance of building accessible communities which can directly affect the health and mobility of people living within those communities.

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James Dunn

Faculty of Social Sciences
MyLinh Duong is a professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster and a Respirologist at Hamilton Health Sciences. Her research interests include respiratory epidemiology, and understanding the environmental and social determinants of lung development and function. Her research in aging involves examining population-based data to address lung health over time, including respiratory diseases and symptom, socio-environmental determinants of lung function and the mechanisms linking lung function decline with co-morbidities. MyLinh is the respiratory lead investigator for the Population Health Research Institute where she is involved in various population-based studies, such as PURE, FAMILY and G-CHF. 
 
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MyLinh Duong

Faculty of Health Sciences
Evelyne Durocher is an Occupational Therapist and Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Through her work with older adults in inpatient rehabilitation and complex continuing care, Evelyne became interested in ethical issues in older adult health and social care. Her current research focuses on ethics and rehabilitation practice, specifically relating to questions of justice, vulnerability and equity in healthcare services for older adults. Her goals is to improve the health and social care experiences of older adults, family members and healthcare professionals.

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Evelyne Durocher

Faculty of Health Sciences
Jonathan Dushoff is a Professor in the Department of Biology and an Associate Member in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at McMaster University. His research is based on theoretical biology and focuses on computational and statistical approaches to practical biological questions. Jonathan has a particular interest in methods that combine dynamical mechanisms with statistical inference. He is currently focusing on the evolution and spread of infectious diseases among humans. View Bio

Jonathan Dushoff

Faculty of Science
Jenna Evans is an Assistant Professor in the DeGroote School of Business in the Department of Health Policy and Management at McMaster University. Her research interests include the contextual, social, and psychological factors that influence inter-professional and inter-organizational collaboration in healthcare. Jenna has conducted research on symptom management and palliative care for older adults with cancer and chronic kidney disease during her time as a scientist with Cancer Care Ontario and the Ontario Renal Network. In addition, she also worked with the Health Links and Implementing Integrated Care for Older Adults with Complex Health Needs (iCOACH).
 
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Jenna Evans

Faculty of Business
Margaret Fahnestock is a molecular neurobiologist at McMaster University. She is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences, as well as an Associate Member of the Department of Biology and a member of the Medical Sciences graduate program. Margaret has been working with McMaster since 1991, when she joined the Department of Biomedical Sciences. Her research is focused on neurotrophic factors, specifically understanding how neurotrophin gene expression, regulation, signaling and trafficking are dysregulated in Alzheimer's disease and autism. Currently, her research is focused on the molecular mechanisms of the benefits of exercise and diet on cognition. Margaret has done extensive research on neurological disorders during her time at McMaster and continues to work as a highly respected researcher in the field of neuroscience. View Bio

Margaret Fahnestock

Faculty of Health Sciences
Qiyin Fang is a Canada Research Chair in Biophotonics and a Professor in the Department of Engineering Physics.He is currently leading a project that retrofits the interior of a house to develop and test smart technology that will allow older adults to live at home longer. Qiyin aims to create more efficient care for our aging population by creating the means that will give older adults more independence while aging in place. Qiyin’s expertise includes microscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging, intelligent sensing for point-of-care, and environmental monitoring. View Bio

Qiyin Fang

Faculty of Engineering
Kathryn Fisher is an assistant professor in the School of Nursing at McMaster University. She is actively involved in shaping the undergraduate nursing curriculum as it relates to health sciences and evidence-informed decision making. Kathryn’s research focuses on chronic illness and multimorbidity in older adults. She is currently using her expertise in quantitative analyses to analyze population-level data with the goal of answering questions about the prevalence of chronic illness and multimorbidity, changes over time in disease prevalence, how multimorbidity shapes healthcare service use or other outcomes, measurement issues, and socio-demographic and other factors shaping the relationship between multimorbidity and service use. Kathryn is interested in improving clinical trial methods, with interests in linking quantitative results with those from implementation science, designing trials to support large-scale implementation, and linking patient-reported data with administrative data.
 
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Kathryn Fisher

Faculty of Health Sciences
Robert Fleisig is an associate professor at the Walter G. Booth School of Engineering Practice and Technology (W Booth School) in the Faculty of Engineering. Robert is the co-leader of the IMPACT Initiative, an interdisciplinary collaboration between Engineering, Biology/Science, Occupational Therapy and Medicine, McMaster Alumni, Community Healthcare Partners, and volunteer clients. The project brings together students from various academic disciplines to encourage learning and innovation by addressing challenges experienced by the aging population and people living with disabilities.
 
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Robert Fleisig

Faculty of Engineering
Terry Flynn has over three decades of academic and professional communications experience. He believes helping Canadians live a healthy and productive life is central to ensuring that they understand the changing nature of their own behaviours, cognitions and beliefs. Communications plays a pivotal role in adapting to these changes as our communities and societies seek to age optimally. Terry's research looks at how and to what extent communications must change between organizations and older Canadians in order to achieve better understanding and better health outcomes. He was recently awarded the 2018 Mentor of the Year at the CPRS National Conference.  View Bio

Terry Flynn

Faculty of Humanities

Vickie Galea is an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Her expertise is in sensory/motor neuroscience with a focus on sensory/motor development. Her research focuses on using neurophysiological assessments to study motor behaviour in child patient populations. In addition, she is the Co-Director of the Human Movement Laboratory and a member of the McMaster Institute for Music & the Mind, due to her interest in dance and motor control in relation to coordination with rhythmic sounds. Vickie’s interest in aging research is focused on pain management and mobility in older adults.

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Vickie Galea

Faculty of Health Sciences

Rebecca Ganann is a full-time Assistant Professor at McMaster University's School of Nursing. She teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs. After completing her PhD, Dr. Ganann completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU) to study the impact of patient, caregiver, and community engagement in research teams under the supervision of Dr. Maureen Markle-Reid, Ruta Valaitis, and Carrie McAiney.

Dr. Ganann is an early career researcher with ACHRU and the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA). Her research focuses on the real-world impact of patient, caregiver and community engagement on older adults.

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Rebecca Ganann

Faculty of Health Sciences
Paula Gardner is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies and Multimedia, the Asper Chair in Communications, and the director of the Pulse Lab at McMaster University. Her research interests include feminist media studies, digital culture, and biometric technological practices. Paula’s media background allows her to explore research using various production mediums. The ABLE project (Arts Based Therapies Enabling Longevity for Geriatric Outpatients) brings together researchers from five McMaster Faculties to develop technologies that will enhance the cognitive, physical and emotional health of frail older adults.  View Bio

Paula Gardner

Faculty of Humanities
Maryam Ghasemaghaei is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems. Maryam’s research falls in the area of effective data analytics for organization use. She is currently researching the impact of individual's cognitive age on their intention to use new technologies, including wearable fitness monitoring devices. Her Ph.D. thesis examined the impact of cognitive age on individual intention to use online agents. Maryam has also studied the potential of eHealth applications for aging in rural and remote areas. View Bio

Maryam Ghasemaghaei

Faculty of Business
James Gillett is an Associate Professor in Health, Aging and Society and Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences. His research interests include human to animal relationships, leisure and recreation, mental health and well-being, media and communications, perspectives on living with health and illness across the life course, and injury as an approach to education and learning. His most recent aging research focuses on using the Royal Botanical Garden as a living lab to track how older adults engage with and benefit from spending time outdoors. He is also involved in creating a platform for studying multiple generations within the same family in the Hamilton area. James is involved in many animal-focused research programs, including the Dogs at MAC program, in which the use of therapy dogs is explored among staff members on campus. His research focuses on improving quality of life for humans and animals of any age.
 
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James Gillett

Faculty of Social Sciences
Anne Gilsing is a nutritional epidemiologist with the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). She examines the role of nutrition in aging and obesity. Anne is interested in the controversy that exists around the definition of obesity in older people, called the "the obesity paradox" or the harm of being overweight in older age. She is also interested in the need for obesity treatment in older adults. At the CLSA, Anne is helping to define age-appropriate BMI cut points that optimally reflect the health risks associated with obesity in older adults, as well as examining how menopause impacts mental health and well-being. View Bio

Anne Gilsing

Faculty of Health Sciences

Andrea Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. Her research aims to understand the mechanisms by which early human experiences are transmitted across generations and how preventive interventions may affect this transmission. Andrea looks to identify biological, neuropsychological and psychosocial risk and resilience factors contributing to parenting and subsequent child developmental outcomes. Andrea’s research is an important key for understanding links between intergenerational trauma and how some people live longer, healthier lives based on their biological makeup.

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Andrea Gonzalez

Faculty of Health Sciences
Kathryn Grandfield is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering and School of Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University. She leads the Grandfield Research Group, is Vice-President of the Microscopical Society of Canada and is the 2017 recipient of Petro Canada’s McMaster University Young Innovator Award, among other accolades. Her age-related research focuses on improving bone implants, such as dental implants and hip replacements, in older adults with bone disease.  View Bio

Kathryn Grandfield

Faculty of Engineering

Amanda Grenier is the Director of the Gilbrea Centre for the Study of Aging where she explores the social constructs and challenges of an aging population. Amanda is using subjective interpretations of aging to examine and improve public policies and organizational practices. She has studied older adults’ lived-experiences and narratives with regards to late life transitions, impairment, and frailty in order to explore how these narratives can inform contemporary planning efforts. She is focused on how we frame and address aging in Western societies, and how these interpretations are subject to time, place, and contexts of aging and late life. Amanda is currently working on several research projects and developments, such as exploring the intersections of aging and homelessness in Montreal, and bridging the gaps between concepts, research, and practice in social gerontology.

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Amanda Grenier

Faculty of Social Sciences
Meridith Griffin’s research uses interviews, observations, and ethnography to understand the barriers and facilitators that older adults experience when they participate in new physical activities. Meredith believes that, although the physical and social benefits of fitness and exercise are generally well-known, research has yet to unravel why many people spend their lives aware of how to stay healthy and exercise, but not taking the appropriate action to do so. As an Assistant Professor and Undergraduate Chair of the Department of Health, Aging and Society, Meridith is doing innovative work to destabilize long-held self-perceptions to help increase physical participation in older populations. Meredith’s research explores qualitative methods and social aspects of taking up physical activities in later life, and the intersections of disability and physical activities such as sports participation. View Bio

Meridith Griffin

Faculty of Social Sciences

Lauren Griffith is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McMaster. She holds a PhD in epidemiology from the University of Toronto and a master’s degree in biostatistics from the University of Michigan. Her research interests include physical functioning, injury and aging as well as the harmonization of longitudinal data. Since joining the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) in November 2007, Dr. Griffith has worked on the analysis and reporting of several feasibility studies and the development of the CLSA protocol. In 2011, she served as interim national manager of the CLSA, and is currently the lead of the Hamilton Data Collection Site.

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Lauren Griffith

Faculty of Health Sciences
Michel Grignon is a Health Economist and Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Aging and Society. He looks to assess and improve Canada’s healthcare system with regard to Canada’s aging population, which increasingly relies on public services. Michel’s work intends to bridge the divide between efficiency and equity by allocating health resources more effectively. He has found that Canada’s healthcare is constructed to serve acute conditions. Older people, though, are more likely to have permanent chronic conditions. He believes that a healthcare system looks very different when a large percentage of the population it serves will never return to full health. Michel also serves as a public commentator on issues of aging and health equity, and is helping Canadian policymakers improve how they serve our aging population. View Bio

Michel Grignon

Faculty of Social Sciences
Bhagwati Gupta started his research laboratory at McMaster University in 2004. He is currently a Professor in Biology and Associate Dean in the Faculty of Science at McMaster. His research aims to understand the mechanisms of processes and diseases tied to gene networks, such as cancer and neuronal degeneration. He focuses on understanding cell signalling, cell proliferation and cell differentiation and is currently studying microscopic worm model organisms to understand how lipid production and balanced fat can affect overall health and aging in humans. Bhagwati’s lab takes a multidisciplinary approach by collaborating with various other faculties and laboratories. View Bio

Bhagwati Gupta

Faculty of Science
Khaled Hassanein is a Professor of Information Systems, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research, and Director of the McMaster Digital Transformation Research Centre at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University. He began working at McMaster in 2000 and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals and conference proceedings. Khaled’s research interests include digital transformation, e-health; data analytics; human computer interaction; decision support systems and neuro-information systems. He is currently researching the design of decision support tools to optimize the online shopping experience for older adults, a project funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC). In addition, Khaled serves as the SSHRC leader at McMaster and supervises students and post-doctoral fellows in the DeGroote School of Business. View Bio

Khaled Hassanein

Faculty of Business
Milena Head is a professor of information systems at the DeGroote School of Business, the academic director of the EMBA program at McMaster, and the Wayne C. Fox Chair in Business Innovation. Milena’s research focuses on electronic business (eBusiness) and Human Computer Interaction (HCI). Her research interests include online trust, adoption of electronic commerce and new technologies; interface design; cross-cultural, gender and age issues related to technology use; and, the potential negative impacts of technology, including identity theft, techno-stress, and cyber-bullying. She seeks to understand how age, gender and culture impact our use and misuse of technology. Milena’s research provides practical guidelines that developers can utilize to design interfaces that better allow older adults to leverage the benefits of technology while mitigating their potential negative impacts. View Bio

Milena Head

Faculty of Business
Jennifer Heisz is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology. Her research examines the interplay between brain and body fitness in the promotion of health. Jennifer leads the MacSeniors program through McMaster's Physical Activity Centre of Excellence (PACE), which studies the long-term effects of regular physical exercise on cognitive health. This research will help to determine the optimal dose and type of exercise that mitigates cognitive decline in healthy older adults and individuals with mild cognitive impairment. The ultimate goal of her research program is to understand how lifestyle choices such as exercise can be used for disease prevention. Jennifer’s research interests include health psychology and neuroscience. View Bio

Jennifer Heisz

Faculty of Science
Jeremy Hirota is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Respirology and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Respiratory Mucosal Immunology at McMaster University. His research focuses on respiratory mucosal immunology in airway diseases. His extensive research and understanding of in vivo and in vitro models guide the research strategy of the Hirota Lab, where he is developing an internationally recognized research program in respiratory mucosal immunology focused on lung health and disease. Jeremy is interested in studying chronic respiratory diseases and the impact of exterior factors, such as cigarette smoke. He recently received infrastructure funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) to advance his work on The Tissue Engineering for Advanced Medicine (TEAM) Lab: a Platform for Precision, Prevention, Diagnosis, and Medicine.  View Bio

Jeremy Hirota

Faculty of Health Sciences
Todd Hoare is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Engineered Smart Materials. Todd’s interdisciplinary work in chemistry and engineering allows him to be innovative in the development of smart materials. His work with hydrogel nanofibers can be used to grow on-demand tissue patches, and has helped to improve plant immunity to diseases, which will ultimately be used to help people living with chronic conditions, specifically older adults whose immune systems have deteriorated due to comorbidities. Todd’s collaborative research efforts have also delivered innovations in a range of drugs including injectables that target cancers. View Bio

Todd Hoare

Faculty of Engineering
Benson Honig is a Professor in the Department of Human Resources and Management, and the Teresa Cascioli Chair in Entrepreneurial Leadership for the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. His research focuses on business planning, nascent entrepreneurship, transnational entrepreneurship, ethics in scholarship, immigration and social entrepreneurship, social capital, and entrepreneurship in transition environments. Benson is highly knowledgeable ​in the area of entrepreneurship and his research has been published in various academic journals. His most recent work aims to ease the lifestyle transition for both refugees and communities. View Bio

Benson Honig

Faculty of Business
George Ioannidis is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine. His clinical research area of focus is to improve the quality of life for older adults with chronic diseases. George is a biostatistician and methodologist who aims to improve methods for disease diagnosis and identifying risk factors that are predictive of disease progression. He has examined risk factors for fracture and has developed a fracture prediction tool in long-term care that can be used both nationally and internationally. He is committed to building innovative research through collaborative initiatives, and to educating and empowering older adults to regain and retain their independence. View Bio

George Ioannidis

Faculty of Health Sciences
Anju Joshi has over 30 years of experience working in the field of gerontology, and teaches courses such as Continuum of Care, Death and Dying in Later Life and Perspectives on Disabilities, Chronic Illness and Aging. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health, Aging and Society, and focuses on experiential learning, where she aims to get students out of the classroom and into real-world world situations. A founding board member of the Hamilton Council on Aging, she has also served on the board of the Hamilton Community Care Access Centre, the former Visiting Homemakers’ Association, and the National Case Management Network. Currently, she is Chair of the Improving Access to Ethno-Cultural Seniors project and a board member of the Hamilton Community Foundation.  View Bio

Anju Joshi

Faculty of Social Sciences
Sharon Kaasalainen began working at McMaster University in 2002, when she joined the School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor. She is currently an Associate member of Family Medicine at McMaster and Honorary Professor at Queens University, Belfast. Dr. Kaasalainen’s research primarily focuses on improving pain management, palliative care, end-of-life communication, and quality of life for people living in long term care homes. Her current aging research involves improving the quality of end-of-life care and focuses on the role of registered nurses and nurse practitioners in caring for older adults.
 
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Sharon Kaasalainen

Faculty of Health Sciences
Peter Keir is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. Peter teaches undergraduate courses in Ergonomics, Clinical Biomechanics, and graduate studies in Advances in Biomechanics & Electromyography. His extensive research examines human movement and mobility issues leading to work-related disorders. Peter’s Biomechanics Laboratory in Kinesiology is able to fully assess human movement using motion, force, and muscle activity. He aims to determine the mechanisms of work-related musculoskeletal disorders of the upper body. View Bio

Peter Keir

Faculty of Science
Courtney Kennedy is an Assistant Professor at McMaster University and the Associate Scientific Director for the GERAS Centre at Hamilton Health Sciences. As the Research Director for the Geriatric Medicine Residency program, Dr. Kennedy is largely involved in trainee development at McMaster with undergraduate and graduate students. Her extensive research in gerontology is focused on mobility in aging, falls and frailty prevention and treatment models, mind-body interventions for improving cognitive function, and strategies for applying research into practice. Her current research program, DANcing for Cognition and Exercise (DANCE), received funding from the CABHI Researcher-Clinician Partnership Program (RCP2). The GERAS DANCE program aims to research and develop dance training materials, programs, and services to improve the social, cognitive, and physical function of older adults.
 
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Courtney Kennedy

Faculty of Health Sciences

Michelle Kho is an Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science. Her research focuses on effective and creative methods of physiotherapy such as in-bed cycling, to help patients stay as strong as possible while they are in the intensive care unit (ICU). She is also a clinician-scientist who cares for patients at St. Joseph’s Healthcare ICU. Michelle holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Critical Care Rehabilitation and Knowledge Translation. As our population ages and the demand for critical care increases, Michelle’s rehabilitation research may help improve function and quality of life in ICU survivors.

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Michelle Kho

Faculty of Health Sciences
Dylan Kobsar is a newly appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University. His research focuses on osteoarthritis, rehabilitation, and gait biomechanics. His work with biomechanics and human movement analyses is centred around the use of wearable inertial sensors to help track and treat musculoskeletal disorders or injuries. Dylan combines these devices with innovative analyses techniques to uncover patterns in human movement that can ​allow us to better understand the progression and treatment of individuals with knee osteoarthritis and running injuries. 
 
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Dylan Kobsar

Faculty of Science

Victor Kuperman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Languages and the Director of the Reading Lab at McMaster University. His research focuses on psycholinguistics and quantitative linguistics, eye-movement behaviour in reading, individual differences in word and sentence processing, and statistical and experimental methods in language research. Victor’s recent work on reading and acquiring second languages focuses on the difficulties faced by older adult learners of English. His research lab studies eye-tracking, behavioural studies, large-scale norming studies and quantitative analyses of writing and speech.

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Victor Kuperman

Faculty of Humanities
Ayse Kuspinar is an Assistant Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science in the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University. She is a registered physical therapist with several years of clinical experience in health conditions including orthopedics, geriatrics and neurology. Ayse worked with the GHS Research Group on a project funded by the Canadian Network of Excellence, AGE-WELL (Aging Gracefully across Environments using Technology to Support Wellness, Engagement and Long Life), where she examined Canadian policy and regulatory issues in enabling technological innovation. Ayse studies the longitudinal changes in function and quality of life in neuro-rehabilitative conditions in older adults. She has training in both clinical epidemiology and rehabilitation science.  View Bio

Ayse Kuspinar

Faculty of Health Sciences
Tara La Rose is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at McMaster University. Her research focuses on the use of digital media in social work, emphasizing professional critique, critical reflexivity and knowledge sharing. Her aging research includes working on the Rediscovering Social Work Leaders project, which aims to preserve the experiences of retired social workers by digitizing and establishing an online archive of video-based oral histories created in 1983/84. Tara has also published in the ‘geriatric psychiatry’ section of the Queer, Queering and Questioning project in partnership with Dr. Albina Veltman. Her work engages multi-modal analysis, narrative analysis and discourse analysis within critical perspectives such as post-structuralism, post-colonialism, feminist and queer theories. View Bio

Tara La Rose

Faculty of Social Sciences
Lori Letts is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science and the Assistant Dean of the Occupational Therapy Program. Lori's current research focuses on older adults with chronic illnesses and finding ways to help them to live with and manage their conditions while being active community-dwellers. Lori’s research has her involved in work in primary care and other community settings. She is also involved in research to identify and intervene in preventative ways so that people’s engagement occupation and health are optimized. Lori is also currently a member of the MAC H2OPE clinic Executive Council. View Bio

Lori Letts

Faculty of Health Sciences
Vladimir Ljubicic is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Neuromuscular Plasticity in Health and Disease. He is a Lab Lead at the Exercise Metabolism Research group and part of the McMaster Physical Activity Centre of Excellence (PACE). Vladimir’s research focuses on neuromuscular alterations that make older adults age fast, which is prominent in Canada’s aging population. He studies how neuromuscular diseases drive age-related deterioration, and how this impacts the way that healthcare professionals create evidence-based therapeutic strategies that will improve the lives of older adults living with neuromuscular diseases. View Bio

Vladimir Ljubicic

Faculty of Science

Cynthia Lokker is an Assistant Professor and the Faculty of Health Sciences lead for McMaster University’s Master of Science in eHealth. Dr. Lokker teaches core health sciences courses such as Fundamentals of eHealth and the Canadian Health Care System, and Research Methods in eHealth. In addition, she is also an academic advisor for students completing their thesis in the eHealth program. Her research focuses on critically reviewing medical journals and improving the use of terminology in knowledge translation. Lokker is primarily interested in evaluating eHealth applications and knowledge translation.

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Cynthia Lokker

Faculty of Health Sciences
Jinhui Ma is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. She has an intensive academic background in biostatistics and health research methodology. Her research interests include machine learning, longitudinal data and survival analysis, population and public health, design and analysis of clinical trials and observational studies, and the development and application of statistical methods in health research on aging populations. 
 
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Jinhui Ma

Faculty of Health Sciences
Maureen MacDonald is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Dean of the Faculty of Science. Her research focuses on the role physical activity plays in altering arterial structure and function. Maureen is a lab lead at the Exercise Metabolism Research group and part of the McMaster Physical Activity Centre of Excellence (PACE). Maureen is currently undergoing research in the CHAMPS Study, which aims to gain a better understanding of factors that impact individual risk for future stroke. She is examining new non-intrusive tests to determine risk factors for strokes in older adults. Her research is widely published and often cited in journals such as Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise and Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism. View Bio

Maureen Macdonald

Faculty of Science
Luciana Macedo is a pysical therapist and an assistant professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. Her research focuses on the assessment and management of common spinal disorders. Her interest in back pain has led her to conduct studies on the impact exercise therapists have on improving back pain, how different treatment strategies work for different patient subgroups with back pain, and the underlying mechanisms of back pain and spinal disorders. Luciana joined McMaster as a faculty member in September 2016. She is currently leading an interdisciplinary team of researchers funded by the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA) and the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Pain Research and Care (IPRC) to develop a pre-surgery rehabilitation program for older adults with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS).  View Bio

Luciana Macedo

Faculty of Health Sciences
Derelie (Dee) Mangin is a Professor in the Department of Family Medicine, where she holds the distinguished David Braley Nancy Gordon Chair. She is interested in polypharmacy among older adults with an aim to promote methods for successful deprescription. She has wide clinical research experience in primary care, including observational and interventional quantitative research methods and community randomized control trials (RCTs) of innovative models of care. Dee has experience leading RCTs of clinical interventions in areas such as antidepressant use, community acquired pneumonia, antibiotics in urinary tract infections, and deprescription trials. Her current research interests include rational prescribing; innovative models of primary care delivery; effective incorporation of evidence into patient centred practice; and the influences of science, policy and commerce on the nature of care. View Bio

Dee Mangin

Faculty of Health Sciences
Maureen Markle-Reid is a Professor in the Department of Nursing and holds a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Person-Centred Interventions for Older Adults with Multimorbidity and their Caregivers at McMaster University. She is an internationally-recognized researcher in the area of health and economic evaluations of complex health and nursing interventions. Her program of research focuses on the promotion of optimal aging at home for older adults with multimorbidity and to support their family caregivers, as well as refining methods and measures for determining the effectiveness of interventions and translating effective interventions into clinical practice. Her most recently CIHR-funded trials focus on nurse-led interventions for community-living older adults with depression, diabetes, stroke and dementia. View Bio

Maureen Markle-Reid

Faculty of Health Sciences

Carrie McAiney is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behaviour Neurosciences. She serves as the head of research for the Seniors Mental Health Service at St. Joseph’s Healthcare. Carrie is involved in health services research and evaluation aimed at enhancing quality of care and quality of life for older adults, particularly individuals living with dementia. She is involved in health services research and evaluation aimed at enhancing quality of care and quality of life for older adults, particularly individuals living with dementia. Carrie believes in the importance of participatory research involving community organizations, individuals living with dementia, family members, providers and policy makers.

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Carrie McAiney

Faculty of Health Sciences
Paul McNicholas is a Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Director of the MacDATA Institute at McMaster University. He is the (Tier 1) Canada Research Chair in Computational Statistics and a member of The College of the Royal Society of Canada. Paul focuses on computational statistics, particularly mixture model-based clustering and classification. His current research interests include non-Gaussian mixtures, matrix variate distributions, and real problems in big data analytics. View Bio

Paul McNicholas

Faculty of Science
Ram Mishra is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University. His research interests include dopamine, neuropeptides, receptor function, schizophrenia and Parkinson’s Disease. Research in his lab focuses on genetic, biomechanical and molecular mechanisms. He is particularly interested in the role of dopamine receptors in neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s Disease, a complex neurodegenerative disease commonly found in older adults. He aims to use his research to improve drug developments and treatments. In addition, Ram is the Co-Director of the School of Biomedical Engineering, and supervises many graduate students. View Bio

Ram Mishra

Faculty of Health Sciences
Zahra Motamed is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her interdisciplinary research approaches have allowed her to form a strong collaborative network with clinical scientists, surgeons, cardiologists, engineers, and mathematicians. Zahra’s work is dedicated to the development of advanced numerical algorithms for simulation of cardiovascular mechanics and patient-specific modelling using medical imaging and clinical measurements. With eight years of industrial experience in the automotive R&D, she is currently using her vehicle design experience to develop new sensing and human health monitoring tools for future smart vehicles. Her group is working towards developing a variant of this technology for future smart houses as well.  View Bio

Zahra Motamed

Faculty of Engineering
Aimee Nelson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Sensorimotor Control. The purpose of Aimee's research is to develop a fundamental understanding of the cortical control of the human hand and upper limb. She leads the Neurophysiology and Imaging Lab under the Department of Kinesiology. Multiple cortical areas receive and process somatosensory input, yet little is known about the role of these areas in the control of human hand movement. Her research program is primarily focused on investigating the role of somatosensory loci in the control of hand movement in healthy and clinical populations, such as individuals with spinal cord injury.  View Bio

Aimee Nelson

Faculty of Science
Bruce Newbold is Director and Professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences (SGES) at McMaster University. Bruce has studied population issues and their relation to immigration, migration, health, and aging. Recent research has focused on the role of migration in the development and transfer of human capital and income across space, commuting and sustainability questions, the income benefits associated with migration, immigrant health, and immigrant settlement processes. View Bio

Bruce Newbold

Faculty of Science
Michael Noseworthy is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at McMaster University. He is also the Co-Director of the McMaster School of Biomedical Engineering and is special professional staff in Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at St. Joseph’s Healthcare. Michael’s research focuses on the assessment of tissue microstructure and metabolism using medical imaging technologies. His research involves MRI, in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and multimodal techniques combining MRI with other medical imaging technologies. In addition, he is a member of the Professional Engineers of Ontario (PEO), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM) and European Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Biology (ESMRMB). View Bio

Michael Noseworthy

Faculty of Engineering
Doug Oliver is an Associate Professor and Medical Director at the McMaster Family Practice. Doug is passionate about older adult health care and age-friendly home care services. He has developed several programs including a Long-Term Care clinical rotation for medical residents and a successful annual CME event entitled "Care of the Elderly: Perspectives for Primary Care". His clinical commitment to this patient population continues with weekly nursing home rounds and house-calls to older adults with frailty. Doug has developed and implemented an Advanced Access booking model for primary care patients. This model allows patients better access to their primary care team by having the majority of booking spots available for same day appointments. View Bio

Doug Oliver

Faculty of Health Sciences
John-Paul Oliveria is an adjunct professor at McMaster in the Department of Medicine, Division of Respirology. He is currently completing postdoctoral research at Stanford University in the School of Medicine's Department of Pathology. John-Paul’s research interests include immunobiology and pathophysiology of allergic diseases, the function of regulatory B cells in disease, and the role of immune cells in disease. His research focuses on the molecular and cellular pathogeneses of neurodegenerative diseases, specifically within the brains of older adults. Currently, John-Paul is using exclusive imaging technology at Stanford and studying the mechanisms of Alzheimer’s disease. He is also remotely supervising undergraduate students in the field of neuroimmunology and neurodegenerative diseases in the aging population. View Bio

John Paul Oliveria

Faculty of Health Sciences
Antonio Paez is a Professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences. His research and academic work focuses on transportation and mobility issues that affect older adults and the ways they navigate in their local communities. He has written several scholarly articles on accessibility, built and social environments, travel behaviour, and social networks and decision making. Antonio is interested in analyzing spatial economic planning and structuralized location analysis.   View Bio

Antonio Paez

Faculty of Science
Alexandra Papaioannou is a Professor in the Department of Medicine and the lead investigator for the Long-term Care Ontario Osteoporosis Strategy. Papaioannou is a leading researcher with expertise in clinical practices that involve osteoporosis and frailty in older adults, as well as long-term care and community dwellings. She is the Executive Director of the Geriatric Education and Research in Aging Sciences (GERAS) Centre and serves as the Co-Director of the Hamilton Canadian Multi-Centre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos) and the Fracture Think Osteoporosis project. Papaioannou has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles. Her expertise is in clinical practices involving osteoporosis and frailty in older adults. View Bio

Alexandra Papaioannou

Faculty of Health Sciences
Gianni Parise is Associate Dean of the Faculty of Science, Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and the Lab Lead at the Exercise Metabolism Research Group. A focus of Gianni's laboratory involves revealing the mechanism(s) underlying the progressive loss of muscle mass associated with aging. Gianni’s research shows that a loss of muscle mass with aging, and a blunted hypertrophic response to chronic exercise in older adults, is likely a result of age-related muscle stem cell dysfunction and/or age-related loss of muscle stem cell number. His research program aims to examine potential age-related impairment of muscle stem cells, as well as the molecular and cellular events that lead to dysregulation of muscle stem cells in advanced age. View Bio

Gianni Parise

Faculty of Science
Christopher Patterson is a Professor Emeritis in the Department of Medicine and a specialist in internal and geriatric medicine. He has served as chief examiner in Geriatric Medicine for the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and was a member of the steering committee of the third Canadian Consensus Conference on Diagnosis and Treatment of Dementia. From 2006 to 2011 Patterson held the role of Health Sciences Editor for the Canadian Journal on Aging. He has served on the Advisory Board of the Institute of Aging, one of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Currently, Christopher is a co-investigator with the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). View Bio

Christopher Patterson

Faculty of Health Sciences
Stuart Phillips is a Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Skeletal Muscle Health. He is Director of the Physical Activity Centre of Excellence (PACE) and the McMaster Centre for Nutrition, Exercise, and Health Research, and Lab Lead for the Exercise Metabolism Research Group. Stuart's research is focused on the impact of nutrition and exercise on human skeletal muscle protein turnover. He is keenly interested in diet- and exercise-induced changes in body composition. Stuart believes that a little bit of exercise is better than no exercise, and aims to encourage more physical activity in older adults. He has more than 24,000 career citations, and 220 original scientific research and review papers. View Bio

Stuart Phillips

Faculty of Science
Jenny Ploeg is a tenured Professor in the School of Nursing and Scientific Director of the Department of Health, Aging and Society (ACHRU). Her interdisciplinary research drives community initiatives in aging and intends that aim to develop community-based primary health care interventions. Jenny’s research focuses on the importance of at-home aging for older adults with multiple chronic conditions, and the ways in which family caregivers can and should be supported. Jenny is focused on changing the way health services are delivered and centralizing a community-based framework to maximize the healthcare of vulnerable populations. View Bio

Jenny Ploeg

Faculty of Health Sciences
Janet Pritchard is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology. Her research explores the interaction between type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis using MRI and microscopy. She is currently working in aging-related research and experiential learning opportunities focused on aging for students in the Faculty of Health Sciences. Her research focuses on bone health in adults with diabetes and protein intake in older adults. Janet has published several academic articles on osteoporosis and is a CIHR-funded scholar. She aims to pursue a research program that will allow for a widespread standardization of clinical decision support systems that reflect current guidelines for osteoporosis care and fracture prevention. View Bio

Janet Pritchard

Faculty of Science
Cheryl Quenneville is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Her work in injury biomechanics endeavours to quantify the effect of impact loading on the human body. Cheryl’s research goal is to define tolerance limits for bones, and to develop appropriate injury criteria. She is interested in characterizing the effect of factors such as strain rate, angle of load application, gender, age and protective wear on fracture tolerance. Cheryl aims to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence injury risk, for the purpose of improving current safety limits. View Bio

Cheryl Quenneville

Faculty of Engineering
Parminder Raina is a Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, Lead Principal Investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) and Scientific Director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA). In 2018, he was appointed to the National Seniors Council. As well, Parminder holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Geroscience and the Raymond and Margaret Labarge Chair in Research and Knowledge Application for Optimal Aging, and is one of the founding members of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal and the Ontario Research Coalition of Aging Institutes/Centres. Parminder specializes in the epidemiology of aging with emphasis on developing the interdisciplinary field of Geroscience to better understand aging from cell to society. He has expertise in epidemiologic modeling, systematic review methodology, injury, and knowledge transfer.  View Bio

Parminder Raina

Faculty of Health Sciences
Maikel Rheinstadter is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He has been working at McMaster University since 2009. Dr. Rheinstadter’s biophysics laboratory focuses on understanding how cell membranes work at the molecular level. His team has developed a tool that allows researchers to measure the rapid movements of proteins in a cell membrane. Dr. Rheinstadter hopes to use his research observations and techniques to develop better drugs. His research interests include Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, antibiotic resistance, and infectious diseases, focusing on improving quality of life for the aging population. His most recent work on infectious diseases identified a mechanism that makes bacteria resistant to antibiotics. View Bio

Maikel Rheinstadter

Faculty of Science
Julie Richardson is a Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science. She is interested in interventions to promote mobility and lower-extremity functioning in older adults as well as risk factor assessment for mobility decline and functioning with aging and the health transitions that older persons undergo in the process of disablement. Julie is focused on identifying persons at risk for functional decline and rehabilitation interventions to maintain their health for those with chronic illness. She works with family physicians around the assessment of preclinical disability to teach seniors how to avoid falls and maintain their mobility. Julie’s recent work has involved clinical trials examining complex rehabilitation interventions in primary care.   View Bio

Julie Richardson

Faculty of Health Sciences

Reza Samavi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computing and Software and the Graduate Program Coordinator for the eHealth MSc program at McMaster University. He is also a Faculty Affiliate with the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence. His research interests include information security and privacy, machine learning, semantic web, data science, ontology engineering, data science, and health data management. Dr. Samavi leads the Security, Privacy and AI (SPAI) Research Group at McMaster, where he works with research students to understand the security and privacy of data using machine learning. Additionally, he is interested in how computing and software can be used to improve issues in aging and healthcare. Dr. Samavi has received various academic awards including the SOSCIP accelerator grant for his research on AI related projects and the Privacy Technologies research Award for his work on information privacy related projects.

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Reza Samavi

Faculty of Engineering
Karen Saperson is a professor of psychiatry and Associate Chair, Education in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurosciences. She is the academic head of the division of geriatric psychiatry at McMaster University and the current chair elect of the Royal College Geriatric Psychiatry Specialty Committee. Her research focuses on medical education, particularly in the area of assessment and education policy development. Karen specializes in geriatric psychiatry, and her most recent publication ​highlights collaborative care for older adults with psychiatric disorders. Karen has held several medical education leadership positions and received various teaching awards for her contributions to medical education in Canada.
 
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Karen Saperson

Faculty of Health Sciences
Imran Satia is a post-doctoral clinical research fellow at McMaster University. His research involves a multi-disciplinary approach to investigate the effects of aging, risk factors, impact, and burden of disease at a population level with respiratory symptoms such as chronic cough. Imran’s main objectives are to understand the neuro-physiological and neuro-immune mechanisms of chronic cough and his long-term vision is to develop novel treatments for patients suffering with such respiratory symptoms to reduce their impact and burden of disease on patient lives. Imran is also a respiratory physician with expertise in the neurophysiology of airway nerves, clinical and experimental research and epidemiological observational cohort studies.
 
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Imran Satia

Faculty of Health Sciences
Henry Schwarcz is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Geography & Earth Sciences at McMaster University. He is interested in investigating various aspects of fundamental properties of bone. Using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of sections of bone prepared using ion beam milling, he has made many new discoveries about the ultrastructure of bone. His research has led to studies on the effects of osteoporosis on bone ultrastructure, where preliminary work has shown that significant changes in bone ultrastructure can be recognized in osteoporosis patients. View Bio

Henry Schwarcz

Faculty of Science
Allison Sekuler is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Behaviour. She was the first to be appointed Canada Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience at McMaster University. Allison’s research challenges traditional understandings of brain development. Allison and her colleagues have explored research that continues to demonstrate that the brain retains tremendous plasticity well into adulthood and explains how the human brain processes visual information, and how that processing changes with age. She has discovered that even very brief visual experiences can produce lasting physical changes in our brains.

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Allison Sekuler

Faculty of Science

Ravi Selvaganapathy is a Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at McMaster University. He is the Canada Research Chair in Biomicrofluidics. Ravi’s research focuses on developing microfluidic devices for application in drug discovery, drug delivery, diagnostics and artificial organs. He has more than 20 years of extensive experience in the micro/nano fabrication and microfluidics in the areas of medical and environmental diagnostics, drug delivery and drug discovery which has resulted in ~75 publications, in the top journals in the field. In addition, he has published more than 50 refereed conference papers and has presented 25 invited talks at conferences, universities and other forums.

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Ravi Selvaganapathy

Faculty of Engineering
Hsien Seow is the Canada Research Chair in Palliative Care, Cancer and Health System Innovation, an Associate Professor in the Department of Oncology and an Associate Member of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact (HEI) at McMaster University. Hsien is also the Director of the McMaster-ICES hub and an Escarpment Cancer Research Institute Scientist. His research expertise is in health services and policy research, quality measurement and improvement, population-based analytics, program evaluation and quality indicator development. Hsien’s research is focused on innovating the palliative care health system and improving quality of care, particularly in the home and community. He has worked with RAND Health Care, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Health Quality Ontario and health policy makers to improve palliative care. His research interests involve ways to improve the experience of family caregivers to those with life limiting illness and provide palliative care to all patients and families facing serious illness right from diagnosis.  View Bio

Hsien Seow

Faculty of Health Sciences
Judith Shedden is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology, Neuroscience, and Behaviour, an associate member in the department of Computing and Software, and the Principal Investigator of the Shedden Lab at McMaster University. With a group of cognitive science researchers, Shedden is using motion stimulators and scalp electrophysiology to explore various aspects of cognitive control, such as motion perception, multisensory integration, route navigation, and mindfulness meditation. Her most recent work involved studying cognitive associations with objects, as well as cognitive control as a function of mindfulness. In addition, Dr. Shedden is chair of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Canadian National Brain Bee Committee, a competition for the next generation of brain researchers to strengthen their interest in brain science and support innovations that improve Canadian health care.
 
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Judith M Shedden

Faculty of Science
Diana Sherifali is an Assistant Professor in the School of Nursing. Her research program aims to optimize the management of diabetes and quality of life for older adults and people with diabetes across their lifespan. Diana aims to identify patient, provider and health system factors that impede or facilitate patient self-care; testing novel approaches to optimize patients’ participation in their own diabetes care; and identifying and implementing innovative approaches to knowledge synthesis and knowledge dissemination related to self-care and other aspects of diabetes.
 
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Diana Sherifali

Faculty of Health Sciences

Gurmit Singh is a Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. His research through the Singh Laboratory focuses on experimental therapies for breast and prostate cancer, with a specific interest in bone mestasis. Singh’s most recent research has focused on Oncodynamics, a term used for understanding how cancer cells effect the body. Dr. Singh aims to understand cancer-induced pain and develop pain management treatments, which could greatly affect aging adults suffering from cancer. In addition, Singh is involved in a variety of national and international research foundations and associations. He served as chair of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (Ontario) and is currently a member of the National Board of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.

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Gurmit Singh

Faculty of Health Sciences
Deborah Sloboda is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences, an associate member of the Departments of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Pediatrics, and the Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in perinatal programming. Her research in the Sloboda Lab focuses on early life origins of health and disease, particularly understanding the impact of early life adversity on the mother and the developing fetus. She is interested in how fetal adaptations to adversity influence the risk of chronic disease in aging individuals. Deborah is a highly accomplished researcher ​with multiple awards, including the International Society of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Nick Hales Award and the Hamilton YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in Science Trade and Technology.
 
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Deborah Sloboda

Faculty of Health Sciences
Patty Solomon is the Associate Dean of Health Sciences and Director of the School of Rehabilitation Science. Patty is among the first rehabilitation scientists to develop a research program in the emerging area of HIV, aging and disability and the role of rehabilitation. She has received CIHR funding for her research related to disability experienced by women living with HIV and on the influence of aging on adults living with HIV. She has been on the board of directors of two AIDS service organizations and is currently working with a team to examine HIV and disability in older adults within a global context.
 
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Patty Solomon

Faculty of Health Sciences
Ranil Sonnadara is the Special Advisor to the Vice-President (Research), the Director of Education Science and an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University. In his role as Special Advisor to the Vice-President (Research), he provides guidance and leadership on strategic priorities and institutional policies related to research and advanced computing. His immense research interests include sound design, behavioural neuroscience, creating auditory and multisensory experiences for audiences, and improving training methods for health professionals, musicians and athletes. The Sonnadara Lab studies how we learn new skills and evaluate performance, with a specific interest in how experiences help shape our sensory and motor systems. Ranil’s interest in aging research focuses on age-related hearing decline, improving assistive devices for the hearing impaired, specifically in older adults, smart prosthetics for older adult amputees, age-related cortical plasticity, and language-based predictors of cognitive decline. View Bio

Ranil Sonnadara

Faculty of Health Sciences
Byron Spencer is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Economics. He is McMaster’s longest serving faculty member, beginning his career in the Economics Department 51 years ago. As one of Canada’s leading economic demographers, Spencer authored, or contributed to 48 books, well over 100 research articles and working papers, and has attracted millions of dollars of research funding to support innovative, interdisciplinary research. Byron currently works with and administers the Statistics Canada Research Data Centre (RDC) at McMaster University as a Professor Emeritus. The RDC has been working with the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) to host ​its data, and Byron hopes to develop collaborative policy research programs that allow for cross-disciplinary knowledge exchange.
 
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Byron Spencer

Faculty of Social Sciences
Gregory Steinberg is a Professor of Medicine and Canada Research Chair in Metabolism and Obesity.  His research aims to understand how obesity, nutrition and exercise influence health at the molecular level. Gregory’s expertise helps him to utilize genetically modified mice in metabolic studies under physiological stressors such as exercise and high calorie diets. His in vivo studies assess metabolism in genetically modified mice and are complemented with work utilizing advanced techniques in protein chemistry and molecular biology with an emphasis on mass spectrometry and gene expression analysis. Gregory’s work in child obesity and metabolism allows for a cross-disciplinary analysis of the ways that childhood health outcomes progress into later life – a trajectory often ignored in the study of aging. View Bio

Gregory Steinberg

Faculty of Health Sciences
Michael Surette is a professor of medicine and Canada Research Chair in interdisciplinary microbiome research. He leads the laboratory for microbiome and polymicrobial research at McMaster University. Michael’s research investigates the role of normal flora-pathogen interactions in health and disease in the area of respiratory infections with a focus in cystic fibrosis. A polymicrobial perspective on these infections has led to identification of overlooked pathogens in airway disease as well as synergistic interactions between avirulent organisms and pathogens. This is a fundamentally different view of airway infections and has led to direct benefits to patients through altered treatment strategies. Michael’s latest academic article focuses on age-related systemic inflammation and macrophage dysfunction. View Bio

Michael Surette

Faculty of Health Sciences
Richard Sztramko is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at McMaster University. He practices Geriatric Medicine and General Internal Medicine at St. Peter’s Hospital, Hamilton General Hospital, and Juravinski Hospital. ​Richard has developed training and professional experience in the field of aging through his work at the Memory and Aging Centre at the University of California, San Francisco, and as the Program Director in the Core Medicine training program at the University of British Columbia. Additionally, he founded Virtual Ward, a startup involving health care provider communication and handover within hospitals. Dr. Sztramko is currently completing a Masters of eHealth at McMaster University. His research focuses on clinician user interface design and analytics. View Bio

Richard Sztramko

Faculty of Health Sciences
Ada Tang is an Associate Professor in the School of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University. She is a licensed physical therapist with extensive experience in rehabilitation science and a focus on physical activity and cardiovascular health. Dr. Tang works with the MacStroke Canada research team to research the impact of inactivity and sedentary behaviours on mobility and health following stroke. Her research focuses primarily on stroke and aims to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease, particularly by understanding exercise and limited mobility within the aging population. Dr.Tang has received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Canadian Frailty Network. She currently teaches neurological physiotherapy, foundations for the physiotherapy practitioner, and aging and mobility across the adult life course in the Physiotherapy program at McMaster. View Bio

Ada Tang

Faculty of Health Sciences
Mark Tarnopolsky is a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and the Division Head of Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Disorders. He is a graduate of McMaster University and has been a faculty member since 1996. Dr. Tarnopolsky focuses his innovative research on mitochondrial diseases, muscle disorders, and other neurometabolic disorders. His goal is to discover and evaluate therapies and treatments for people with neuromuscular diseases, mitochondrial dysfunction, and other mitochondrial conditions such as aging, immobility, diabetes and obesity. In addition, Dr. Tarnopolsky holds a Chair in Neuromuscular Disorders from McMaster Children’s Hospital/Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation and is recognized as an international leader in researching neuromuscular and neurometabolic disorders. View Bio

Mark Tarnopolsky

Faculty of Health Sciences

Lehana Thabane is a Professor of Biostatistics and Interim Chair of the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact, an Associate Member of the School of Nursing and Rehabilitation Science, and Departments of Pediatrics and Anesthesia, as well as a Senior Scientist with the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) at McMaster University. As a research methodologist, Lehana’s research covers a wide spectrum of areas such as clinical trials, evidence-based medicine, research ethics, systematic reviews, and conjoint analysis of patient preferences for health services. Lehana provides statistical leadership in studies of aging population health research, clinical research, health services research and outcomes research. He is currently working on a number of investigations in long-term care evaluation, interventional pain management and transitional care, stroke, frailty, and multimorbidity. His commitment to educating and mentoring has granted him winner of the President’s Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision 2016 and the FHS Excellence in Graduate Supervision Award for 2012 at McMaster.

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Lehana Thabane

Faculty of Health Sciences
Laurel Trainor is a professor of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour. She is a cognitive psychologist whose work brings together both music and science in the study of perception, cognition and neuroscience of music. ​Laurel serves as the founding member and current director of the LIVE Lab at McMaster University. The LIVE Lab researches how performers and audiences interact, and how music can be used to promote health and well-being. She is a trained musician and is still active as principal flutist of Symphony Hamilton.
 
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Laurel Trainor

Faculty of Science
Ruta Valaitis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing at McMaster University. Her research interests are related to improving the delivery of health services and policies in primary health care. Her research and scholarship activities have been linked to the principles of primary health care and environments in which primary health care is delivered and or processed. Ruta also looks at the methodologies that can be applied to implement or investigate primary health care interventions. Ruta is the Dorothy C. Hall endowed Chair in Primary Health Care Nursing and is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing. She is also a Co-Scientific lead of the Aging, Community and Health Research Unit (ACHRU). View Bio

Ruta Valaitis

Faculty of Health Sciences
Michael Veall is a professor of ecomonics in the Faculty of Social Sciences. Michael is a co-investigator in the research program on the socioeconomic dimensions of an aging population. He is interested in researching computational methods and their application towards econometrics and microeconometrics as an analysis of saving for retirement. Michael’s research explores the ways in which older adults navigate life through their socioeconomic status and how this affects the ways they are aging. View Bio

Michael Veall

Faculty of Social Sciences
Chris Verschoor is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evidence, and Impact and a research associate in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Chris’ research asks questions to better understand immunosenescence and immune dysregulation over the trajectory of aging, and how these changes relate to compromised health and quality of life for older adults. His research interests include epidemilogy, immunology, genomics, and gene impressions.   View Bio

Chris Verschoor

Faculty of Health Sciences

Martin Von Mohrenschildt is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computing and Software. He teaches courses in Software Development, Mathematical Modeling of Signals, and Capstone Game Design at McMaster. His research aims to understand interactions between auditory, visual and motion information using a motion simulator laboratory. His research interests include model predictive control, hybrid systems and motion simulation. Martin is the engineer on an immersive motion simulator project using a custom built full motion simulator to understand the use of virtual environment training in areas such as flying and driving. He has extensive experience in research and has been involved in various multidisciplinary research projects.

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Martin Von Mohrenschildt

Faculty of Engineering
Brenda Vrkljan is an associate professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Science at McMaster University, and a trained occupational therapist. Brenda understands that there is a lack of research in the area of automobile technology and mobility in older adults, which often leads to ageist policies that are implemented to discourage older adults from driving. Brenda is the lead investigator of the McMaster-Candrive team, a Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)-funded initiative. She is passionate about promoting safe and functional mobility across the lifespan, which is evident in her research in the CanDrive initiative, a study that focuses on older adults and driving patterns. She is also involved in the development of an in-vehicle camera system for tracking the driving performance of older drivers.
 
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Brenda Vrkljan

Faculty of Health Sciences
Li Wang is an assistant professor in anesthesia within McMaster's Faculty of Health Sciences.  View Bio

Li Wang

Faculty of Health Sciences

Allison Williams is a tenured Professor in the School of Geography and Earth Sciences at McMaster University. She is a social geographer with research interests in caregiver-employees, quality of life, critical policy/program evaluation and therapeutic landscapes. Her research focuses on improving workplace practices for supporting employees with older adult care responsibilities. Allison has received various awards for her work and currently holds the CIHR Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health (2014-2019). She is an advocate for increasing knowledge of the Compassionate Care Benefit (CCB) and aims to improve and sustain health for caregiver-employees.

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Allison Williams

Faculty of Science
Janie Wilson is a professor in the Department of Surgery at McMaster University. She joined McMaster in 2018 after spending ten years as a faculty member in the School of Biomedial Engineering at Dalhousie University. Her extensive research interests include orthopaedic biomechanics, musculoskeletal biomechanics, gait analysis, osteoarthritis, orthopaedic surgery, implants and surgery outcomes. At McMaster, Janie will be continuing her work on orthopaedic surgical optimization as she develops her new research program. Additionally, she is interested in studying how musculoskeletal function is impacted by factors such as aging, sex, and body mass. View Bio

Janie Wilson

Faculty of Health Sciences
Matthew Woolhouse is an Associate Professor in the School of the Arts with a focus on music cognition. Matthew leads the Digital Music Lab, an interdisciplinary research project that promotes collaboration in the Hamilton City Ballet’s Dance for Parkinson’s Program to create technology-based dance systems for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Matthew’s research tells us that music and dance have been proven to show positive therapeutic effects for people with Parkinson’s. The use of music with a clear rhythm has been shown to improve gait and coordinated action. Matthew aims to further investigate the benefits of arts-based activities and digital technologies for aging or health-impaired populations. View Bio

Matthew Woolhouse

Faculty of Humanities
Chang-qing Xu is a Professor in Engineering Physics with an expertise in bacterial sensors and biomedical lasers for diagnosis and treatment. He is interested in assessing the risk for fracture among older adults, and uses applied physics to understand crash-tests and the development of osteoporosis and other bone studies that are prominent in the health of older adults. View Bio

Chang-qing Xu

Faculty of Engineering
Yufei Yuan is a professor of information systems at the DeGroote School of Business at Mcmaster University. Yufei’s expertise is ​in mobile commerce, information security and privacy, business analytics, online negotiation, human-computer interaction, and decision-making in health care. ​Yufei is currently collaborating on a study of social media use to address issues with loneliness among older populations. He is also investigating the application of online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) to deal with depression and anxiety among older adults. Yufei looks to explore how online CBT could be used as a mental therapy in conjunction with treatment of medical issues related to chronic illnesses. View Bio

Yufei Yuan

Faculty of Business
Manaf Zargoush is an assistant professor of Health Policy and Management at the Degroote School of Business. His main area of expertise is in using data science to analyze large electronic health records, and how this affects decision and policy making in our health care system. Manaf’s current project uses big data to look at disability amongh older adults and analyze chronic disease management. He is interested in statistics, knowledge representation and machine learning, optimization, health care administration, and age-related health care information data. View Bio

Manaf Zargoush

Faculty of Business
Rong Zheng is an associate professor in the Department of Computing and Software at McMaster University and was previously a visiting research scientist ​in the Microsoft Research, Sensing and Energy Research Group. She is currently working on an application that can provide its users with directions while ​in McMaster's campus. Her work promotes collaboration among institutions and researchers ​using different types of data. Rong’s work has the potential to produce tools with applications to mobility for older populations. View Bio

Rong Zheng

Faculty of Engineering
Rachel Zhou is a professor in the School of Social Work and a member of the Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition. Her research focuses on understanding how globalization processes have affected social inequalities in local and transnational settings. Research interests include globalization, immigration, transnationalism, HIV and AIDS, global health, aging and pensions, social/health policy, culture, gender, sexuality, and time. Rachel's most recent research publications focused on social differences in transnational grandparenting, aging and pensions, and transnationalism of Chinese immigrants. View Bio

Rachel Zhou

Faculty of Social Sciences
Xu-Dong Zhu is an associate professor in the Department of Biology at McMaster University. Her laboratory research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanism by which human cells maintain their telomere integrity. Knowledge gained from these studies is expected to aid in the design of anti-cancer therapeutics and treatment of cancer patients. View Bio

Xu-Dong Zhu

Faculty of Science
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