E-newsletter – August 2012

In this issue:

Message from the Scientific Director

This year the Institute of Aging (IA) began a multi-stage strategic planning process that will enable us to define our priorities for the next five years (2013–18). As a part of this process, the IA initiated a series of consultations and exchanges with researchers, health professionals, policy makers and senior’s association representatives from across Canada and abroad. The results of these consultations and exchanges were discussed by IA’s Advisory Board (IAB) in a full day working meeting in April in Saskatoon and were further refined in a follow up meeting in June.

Since then, the IA has been working diligently with its IAB Strategic Planning Working Group to synthesis the information collected in order to begin the development of a “preliminary version the new Strategic Plan”.

The next stage in the process consists of engaging in a dialogue with stakeholders interested in research on aging. This dialogue will take place through a number of town hall meetings across Canada where I will share the highlights of the preliminary version of the 2013–18 Strategic Plan and will encourage participants to share their comments. We have branded this series of meetings the “Speaking of Aging Tour”.

The IA will set out on this cross-Canadian Tour beginning in early September and will conclude the tour in early October 2012. We will be visiting the following 14 cities as part of the “Speaking of Aging Tour”: St. John’s, Halifax, Moncton, Sherbrooke, Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto, Hamilton, London, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Edmonton, and Vancouver.

These meetings are being organised in collaboration with the local universities and we are inviting a diverse array of participants, not only individuals who are already involved in research on aging, but also anyone whose focus of study or area of interest touches on aging, be it on a professional or a personal basis. As such, we invite you to please circulate this information to anyone that you think might be interested in participating in one of these meetings.

The venues for the meetings are currently being finalized. Registration for the meetings are web-based and you can sign up for any meeting that is convenient for you. The web link to access the registration can be found in the next section of the newsletter under IA news

On a related point, I wish to share with you this video link to a World Health Organisation video from April 2012 from World Health Day – this year dedicated to Healthy Aging.

As an introduction, the video states: “For the first time in human history, the world will soon have more older people than children. The human race is ageing and we are unprepared. Unless we change the way we think and act about ageing, we will miss the opportunity to age in good health and to build a society where older people are respected and valued members of society.”

This is certainly an important message and is one that resonates strongly with the upcoming planned messages of our next Strategic Plan.

Speaking of aging… Your point of view is essential for the society of tomorrow! We hope that you will join us in large numbers to discuss the next research plan for aging in Canada.

I look forward to the opportunity to discuss this with you.

Yves Joanette

IA News

Between April and August 2012, the IA has been involved in an abundance of exciting activities. On April 19th, the IA participated in a national round table meeting “Quality and Safety for Older People in Canadian Hospitals held in Quebec City. On April 18th through the 20th, the IA actively participated in the Annual Scientific Meeting of the Canadian Geriatrics Society that also took place in Quebec City.

A new IA alliance that has garnered much interest is IA’s partnership with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). The Life Sciences and Space Medicine Directorate of the Space Exploration Branch of the CSA, in partnership with the IA co-hosted a National Workshop on the “Parallels Between Aging and Changes in Space” in June in Ottawa. Astronauts, CSA researchers and space partners engaged in strategic conversations with approximately 50 senior stakeholders from both the space and aging research communities.

The goals of this workshop were:

  1. To develop a collective understanding of the health-related problems/challenges common to long duration space travel and aging and;
  2. To foster user engagement and productivity in integrated, solution-driven partnerships between academia, industry and clinicians and make use of the very unique International Space Station as a research platform.

A second meeting involving numerous International Space Agencies is currently being planned for June 2013.

The IA annual Summer Program in Aging (SPA) is designed to offer students and post-doctoral fellows involved in aging research an advanced research training program that crosses disciplines, sectors, institutions and geography. Participants have the opportunity to:

  • Gain an understanding of processes critical to academic success, through plenary and practical sessions.
  • Examine multidisciplinary collaboration, grant preparation, peer review, communication, knowledge transfer, professionalism and ethics in the context of research on aging.
  • Network with other emerging researchers in aging and with academic mentors from across the country

This year, the SPA was hosted by The Gerontology Research Centre of Simon Fraser University in British Columbia. This year’s program was a real success; with over 90 applications received and 42 outstanding students and post-doctoral fellows having had the opportunity to take part in this unique four-day training opportunity. SPA 2012 was held at the Tigh-Na-Mara Seaside Spa Resort and Conference Centre and was on the topic of “Technology and Aging”. For the first time, this year’s SPA welcomed five international participants from Ireland and the Netherlands. Two mentors were from Ireland and one from the United States. We wish to take this opportunity to thank our SPA 2012 mentors: Dr. Gerard Boyle, Dr. Fabio Feldman, Dr. Gloria Gutman, Dr. Yves Joanette, Dr. Jeffrey Jutai, Dr William Kearns, Dr. Alex Mihailidis, Dr. Ben Mortenson, Dr. Roger O’Sullivan, Dr. Stephen Robinovitch, Dr. Jennifer D. Ryan and Dr. Andrew Sixsmith, without who, the program would not be the same. Next year’s SPA (2013) will be hosted by Rotman Research Institute - Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto.

In May links for Health Research Cooperation between Canada and Brazil were reinforced at the "Comité Latino americano e Caribe de Geriatría y Gerontología” – COMLAT conference where Dr. Joanette was invited as keynote speaker in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Of course, Strategic Planning has also been an important activity for the Institute of Aging over these last few months. After consultations with the stakeholders and our Advisory Board, the IA is now ready to begin dissemination of a preliminary version of the Institute’s Strategic Plan for 2013-2018. In order to meet and exchange with stakeholders, the IA team will be embarking on a cross Canada townhall roadshow entitled “Speaking of Aging”.

The dates and locations of these meetings as well on-line registration is available at: Speaking of Aging.

We hope to see many of you at these town hall meetings!

International Collaborative Research Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease News

At the twelfth Management Board meeting of the European Union Joint Programme – Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND), on May 4th, Canada via CIHR became the first “Third Country” to ascend to full membership in the JPND.

IA participated at the Alzheimer's disease imaging workshop: "Translational Imaging in Alzheimer's disease (TRIAD)", in Montreal on May 17th and 18th. The objective of this meeting was to bring together international leaders from academia and industry for a true scientific meeting focusing on cutting-edge MRI and PET techniques in pre-clinical and clinical AD studies.

Canada, though the International Collaborative Research Strategy participated in the “Alzheimer’s Disease Research Summit 2012: Path to Treatment and Prevention” on May 14th and 15th at the National Institutes of Health, in Bethesda, Maryland. At this important meeting, US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius released the ambitious US national plan to fight Alzheimer’s disease. The plan was called for in the National Alzheimer’s Project Act (NAPA), which President Obama signed into law in January 2011. Dr.Yves Joanette presented the Canadian Strategy and participated in the Executive Committee of the National Institute of Aging from the US Department of Health and Human Services.

The IA hosted the annual Cognitive Impairment in Aging Partnership meeting on June 1st 2012 at the Institut universitaire de gériatrie de Montréal. A large number of partners participated in a dynamic day-long exchange with many topics of interest including the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging. In addition, Dr Jean Rouleau, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Circulatory & Respiratory Health (ICRH) presented on Imaging, MITNEC and longitudinal studies and discussed opportunities for future collaborations.

The Alzheimer Association International Conference was held in Vancouver, British Columbia in July. This is the largest international meeting of the Alzheimer research community in the world and because this meeting was being held in Canada, CIHR, through the co-Leads of the Strategy (IA and the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addition) ensured thethe Canadian research community was highlighted. Alzheimer’s disease was the focus of CIHR’s website beginning in the first week of July and numerous events were organised at the conference. A Virtual Media Roundtable on Alzheimer's disease took place on July 9th to prepare Canadian reporters for the Conference. CIHR had a booth at the conference and participated in the International Alzheimer's Funders’ Roundtable on July 15th and co-sponsored with the Alzheimer Society of Canada, the Alzheimer Association and the National Institute on Aging, a reception for New Investigators that took place on July 18th. A Café Scientifique entitled “Alzheimer’s: Does it have to be part of aging?”, moderated by Dr. Yves Joanette took place on July 17th at the Vancouver Public Library and attracted over 100 participants. Drs Max Cynader, Howard Feldman and Gloria Gutman wowed the participants.

In addition to all these events, two ancillary meetings were organised, the first was a Meeting of the International Research Teams of the CIHR International Collaborative Research Strategy for Alzhiemer’s Disease which took place on July 14th. This meeting brought together all 20 research groups funded through the Strategy for the first time to network and exchange upon the opportunities and challenges associated with international collaborations. Participants were also updated on the research programs and initiatives of all funded groups. This meeting also contributed to fostering collaboration between researchers for future funding opportunities.

Another first that took place as this meeting was the First Public Presentation of the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging–The Canadian Component of the International Collaborative Research Strategy for Alzheimer’s Disease. This meeting was co-sponsored by CIHR and the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Meeting participants were updated on the Strategy’s successes to date and received new information concerning the Canadian Consortium and the upcoming Request for Applications that will be launched in the fall of 2012. In order to assure that the whole of our research community were informed of all these developments at the same time, a video of Dr. Joanette’s presentation was prepared and was disseminated to the community the same day as the live presentation in Vancouver.

CLSA News

IA has been actively active in the CLSA + Google. The first wave of data collection is now fully underway for both cohorts of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). This spring, the CLSA launched several data collection sites at universities and research institutes across Canada. These sites, which will be visited by 30,000 participants in the Comprehensive cohort, conduct physical and cognitive assessments as well as collect biological samples. Comprehensive participants also take part in at-home interviews.

The other group of 20,000, part of the CLSA Tracking cohort, take part in 60-minute telephone interviews. To date, the CLSA has conducted more than 6,000 baseline telephone interviews with Tracking participants.

Other highlights:

  • Data Collection Sites (DCS) are now operational at McMaster University, Université de Sherbrooke, McGill University, Simon Fraser University, Bruyère Continuing Care and Dalhousie University. DCS visits at the University of Calgary, Memorial University, University of Victoria and University of Manitoba will begin this summer.
  • The Biorepository and Bioanalysis Centre (BBC) is now operational at the McMaster Innovation Park in Hamilton under the leadership of Cynthia Balion, BBC director. The BBC is the central location for the storage and analysis of the biological samples collected as part of the CLSA.
  • Development and implementation of the Statistical Analysis Centre (SAC) is proceeding under the leadership of Christina Wolfson, CLSA co-principal investigator and SAC Director. The SAC, housed at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, will provide secure data storage, data management and will collaborate with CLSA researchers and other users of the CLSA research platform.
  • This spring, the CLSA made headlines in local and national media. In April, Susan Kirkland, co-principal investigator, had an op-ed commentary published in The Chronicle Herald. Later that month, the Toronto Star ran a feature story on the CLSA featuring Parminder Raina, lead principal investigator, and Vanessa Taler, co-lead investigator for the Ottawa site. Successful media launches have also been held at the Université de Sherbrooke and the University of Manitoba.
  • Recruitment is continuing for both the CLSA Tracking and Comprehensive cohorts using provincial health registries and random digit dialing. As of this summer, the CLSA is recruiting in Newfoundland, PEI, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

For the latest CLSA news, visit CLSA. You can also find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.

Knowledge Translation

As a researcher, your findings may be highly relevant to a broad range of knowledge users including clinicians, caregivers, seniors and policy makers. How you reach and communicate with these knowledge users will likely require innovative, targeted strategies that differ from the way you currently share new evidence with fellow researchers.

Raising knowledge user’s awareness of research findings and facilitating the use of those findings is the purpose of knowledge translation (KT). As Canada’s principal health research funding agency, CIHR plays a fundamental role in bridging the ‘know-do’ gap and ensuring that research findings get into the hands of those who can use them by funding KT research projects and developing resources to assist researchers to share their findings broadly.

While KT is still an emerging field, there exists a need to build capacity not only in developing research proposals that incorporate KT, but also in assessing those proposals for scientific merit and potential impact. CIHR has written the Guide to Knowledge Translation Planning at CIHR: Integrated and End-of-Grant Approaches as one resource to help fill this gap. Both approaches (integrated and end-of-grant) are described in detail including case studies from successful CIHR grants that bring the concepts to life and worksheets that will help guide your thinking and planning.

Rising Stars

CIHR-IA Age+ Prize

The CIHR Institute of Aging Age+ Prize recognizes excellence in research in aging carried out in Canada by graduate and postdoctoral students and clinical residents from all disciplines, working in the field of aging. It is awarded to the author of a published, scientific article on aging.

The Institute of Aging is pleased to announce the latest winners:

  • Ruben Martins, Université de Montréal
    R. Martins, F. Simard, J.-S. Provost and O. Monchi. Changes in Regional and Temporal Patterns of Activity Associated with Aging during the Performance of a Lexical Set-Shifting Task. Cerebral Cortex 2011 Aug 24. [Epub ahead of print]  doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr222
  • Véronique Provencher, Université de Montréal
    V. Provencher, L. Demers , L. Gagnon, I. Gélinas. Impact of familiar and unfamiliar settings on cooking task assessments in frail older adults with poor and preserved executive functions. International Psychogeriatrics 2011 Dec 12:1-9. [Epub head of print]

For information and how to apply for the Age+ Prize, visit the IA website.

CIHR-IA Recognition Prize in Research on Aging

Awardees are identified by CIHR as the highest ranking candidate in the field of aging in each of the CIHR New Investigator, Fellowship and Doctoral Research Awards. The prize consists of a supplement to the research allowance component of $10,000 for the New Investigator Award, $5,000 for the Fellowship Award, and $2,500 for the Doctoral Research Award.

We congratulate our 2012 winners:

  • Dr. Xianping Dong, Dalhousie University
    New Investigator Award
    For the project:TRPML1 in intracellular Fe2+ and Ca2+ homeostasis/signaling
  • Dr. Tara L. Stewart, Yale University (Connecticut)
    Fellowship Award
    For the project: Attribution of Illness to 'Old Age': Addressing an Age-Related Stereotype with Attributional Retraining
  • Dr. Angela South, University of Western Ontario
    Fellowship Award
    For the project: Non-motor Communication Impairments in Parkinson Disease and the Impact on HRQoL for Individuals with Parkinson disease and Family Care Partners
  • Ting-Lin B Yang, University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia)
    Doctoral Research Award
    For the project: The role of Wnt pathway activation in the maintenance of telomere integrity in intestinal crypt cells of telomerase-deficient mice.

*Research project titles are listed in the language in which they were provided.

CIHR IA Réjean Hébert Prize in Geriatric Research

At the Canadian Geriatric Society Meeting in Quebec City, the Institute of Aging acknowledged the Réjean Hébert prize winner for 2012. This prize in Geriatric Research is selected in partnership with the Canadian Geriatrics Society (CGS). The prize was presented by IAB member Gary Naglie to Dr. Raza Naqvi, resident in internal medecine from the University of Toronto. The prize of a $1,000 is awarded for the best scientific presentation by a Medical Resident in a core (or primary) residency training program (not Geriatrics) at the CGS Annual Scientific Meeting.

Recent Funding Highlights

CIHR-IA Betty Havens Award for Knowledge Translation

IA congratulates Neena Chappell, who is the recipient of the 2012 CIHR-IA Betty Havens Award for Knowledge Translation in Aging. This $50,000 award honours the distinguished life and career of the late Betty Havens, a pioneer in gerontology who made significant contributions to health services research and its translation, towards improving the quality of life of older Canadians. The award recognizes outstanding achievements and excellence in knowledge translation in aging at a local or regional level, and provides financial support to further foster excellence and innovation in knowledge translation activities.

IA’s Upcoming Events

Canadian Association on Gerontology
Aging in a Changing World
The Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) will hold its 41st Annual Scientific and Educational Meeting from October 18–20, 2012 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver, Canada. Registration now open!

Gerontological Society of America
Gerontological Society of America’s Annual Scientific Meeting brings together more than 4,000 of the brightest minds in the field of aging. This meeting is the premier gathering of gerontologists from both the United States and around the world. They participate in over 400 scientific sessions including symposia, paper, and poster presentations.
Save the date for San Diego, California’s second largest city!

Did You Know?

By the start of the next decade, people old enough to leave the labour market will outnumber those old enough to join it1.

  1. Statistics Canada "Some facts about the demographic and ethnocultural composition of the population", January 5, 2008.

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