University of Manitoba Research affiliates

The following is a list of the current research affiliates of the Centre on Aging, based at our Fort Garry and Bannatyne Campuses. A number of our research affiliates are also based at Manitoba universities.

UM research affiliates represent 11 faculties across the Fort Garry and Bannatyne campuses.

External Research affiliates

The Centre has researchers affiliated from an additional three post-secondary institutions from across Manitoba. Research information is organized by the name of the institution:

  • Brandon University
  • Canadian Mennonite University
  • University of Winnipeg

UM research affiliates Architecture

City Planning

Richard Milgrom, PhD

Associate Professor

410 Architecture 2 Building | Fort Garry campus
204-474-6868
richard.milgrom@umanitoba.ca

Research Interests

  • Social impacts of sprawl in a slow growth city
  • Planning and design for age-friendly communities
  • Planning and design with urban aboriginal communities
  • Sustainability and urban design
  • Participatory planning and design processes

More about Richard Milgrom

Interior Design

Shauna Mallory-Hill, PhD

Associate Professor

206 Architecture 2 Building | Fort Garry campus
204-474-7442
s_mallory-hill@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • researching building systems
  • universal and sustainable design
  • building performance evaluation
  • how sustainably designed environments impact human health and productivity

More about Shauna Mallory-Hill

UM research affiliates Agricultural and Food Sciences

Food and Human Nutritional Sciences

Christina Lengyel, PhD

Professor

405 Human Ecology Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9554
christina.lengyel@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Nutrition and health-related issues of older adults residing in personal care homes assisted living facilities, and in community residences, in both rural and urban areas, to improve their nutritional well-being, longevity and quality of life.

More about Christina Lengyel

Miyoung Suh, PhD

Professor
Principle Investigator, Division of Neurodegenerative Disorders (DND)
Principle Investigator, Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM)

St. Boniface Hospital Research Centre
R4052-351 Tache Avenue, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6
204-235-3106
miyoung.suh@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Nutrition and visual function
  • Effects of dietary lipids in retinal diseases (diabetic retinopathy, retinitis pigmentosa, and macular degeneration)
  • Nutrition, alcohol and reproductive function
  • Effects of lipids/functional foods/alcohol in sperm and testosterone production in chronic disease states

More about Miyoung Suh

UM research affiliates Arts

English, Theatre, Film and Media

Brenda Austin-Smith, PhD

Professor

449 University College | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9121
brenda.austin-smith@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Intergenerational responses to film; seniors and popular culture; particular interest in film melodrama.
  • Specialization in: Film and emotion; gender and media; audience studies; cinema history and cultural memory; narrative rhetoric in fiction and film; melodrama; Henry James; adaptation.

More about Brenda Austin-Smith

French, Spanish, and Italian

Enrique Fernandez, PhD

Professor

412 Fletcher Argue Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7244
enrique.fernandez@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Early Modern Spanish Literature;
  • Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century Spanish Literature
  • Death and Gender

More about Enrique Fernandez

History

Roisin Cossar, PhD

Acting Department Head, Professor

454 Fletcher Argue Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8885
roisin.cossar@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Religion and society
  • Late medieval Italy
  • Urban history
  • Gender

More about Roisin Cossar

Psychology

Daniel Bailis, PhD

Professor

P407 Duff Roblin Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9360
dan.bailis@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Social psychology and health, especially:
  • relationships between adaptive traits and defensive cognitions,
  • psychosocial factors in healthy aging (i.e., perceived control and social comparison), and
  • integration of health status and health-related behaviours in the self-concept.
  • More about Daniel Bailis

Judith Chipperfield, PhD

Professor Emerita

P435G Duff Roblin Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6790
judith.chipperfield@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Conducts research in the Laboratory for Aging and Health Research (LAHR) to examine psychological aspects of health and illness in later life
  • In the Emotion, Motivation, and Control Research (EMCOR) Group, she is studying emotions, motivation, and perceived control among younger and older populations

More about Judith Chipperfield

Steven Greening

Associate Professor
P511 Duff Roblin | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8259
Steven.Greening@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • The neurocognitive mechanisms involved in adapting to and controlling the influence of emotional events across the lifespan
  • How to promote mental wellbeing in both healthy individuals and those with mental illness
  • Emotion regulation
  • Cognitive and emotional aging
  • Exercise and emotion

More about Steven Greening

Debbie Kelly, PhD

Professor

P438 Duff Roblin | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9489
debbie.kelly@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Spatial cognition
  • Understanding how spatial abilities change across the lifespan of humans and animals
  • How spatial cue use changes with age in healthy older adults

More about Debbie Kelly

Sunmee Kim, PhD

Assistant Professor

P501 Duff Roblin
204-474-8268
Sunmee.Kim@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Big data analytics in Psychology and related areas
  • Predictive analytics for longitudinal data
  • Data-driven approaches for risk factors of cognition aging and late-life depression

More about Sunmee Kim

Richard Kruk, PhD

Professor and Associate Department Head (graduate)

P507 Duff Roblin | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7349
richard.kruk@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Sensory and cognitive development related to reading and language skills

More about Richard Kruk

Jonathan Marotta, PhD

Professor

P310 Duff Roblin Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7057
jonathan.marotta@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • visual perception
  • visual control of action
  • aging
  • stroke
  • neurological disorders
  • agnosia & prosopagnosia

More about Jonathan Marotta

Corey Mackenzie, PhD

Professor, Director of Clinical Training

P401 Duff Roblin Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8260
corey.mackenzie@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • older adults' mental health
  • caregiver stress
  • geriatric psychiatric epidemiology
  • anxiety disorders
  • mental health service utilization

More about Corey Mackenzie

Kristin Reynolds, PhD

Associate Professor and Director, Clinical Training

P313 Duff Roblin Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9528
kristin.reynolds@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Knowledge translation
  • Access to health information and health services
  • Mental health service use
  • Community mental health
  • Geriatric psychology
  • Health psychology

More about Kristin Reynolds

Sociology and Criminology

Christopher J. Fries, PhD

Associate Professor

317 Isbister Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7871
christopher.fries@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Health lifestyles and behaviour
  • Critical public health
  • Social determinants of health
  • Complementary/alternative medicine (CAM)

More about Christopher J. Fries

Laura Funk, PhD

Professor

307 Isbister Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6678
laura.funk@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Responsibility, health and care/support across the life course
  • Aspects of the sociology of health, aging, and family as well as the social determinants of health, including social support and care work
  • Current focus: family care provided to older, chronically and terminally ill individuals, understood within broader social, cultural and structural contexts
  • Family caregiver experiences and interactions with home care system; personal care homes

More about Laura Funk

Alexander Segall, PhD

Professor Emeritus, Senior Scholar

alexander.segall@umanitoba.ca

Research Interests

  • Social determinants of health
  • Population health assessment
  • Self-health management
  • Healthy aging

UM research affiliates Education

Educational Administration, Foundations and Psychology

Robert Mizzi, PhD

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Queer, Community and Diversity Education

239 Education Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9042
robert.mizzi@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Adult education
  • Social justice and equity studies across the lifespan
  • Gender and sexual diversity

More about Robert Mizzi

UM RESEARCH AFFILIATES Extended Education

Extended Education

Diedre Desmarais, PhD

Assistant Professor, Area Director, Access and Aboriginal Focus Programs

232 Migizii Agamik | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8099
diedre.desmarais@umanitoba.ca

More about Diedre Desmarais

UM research affiliates Price Faculty of Engineering

Biomedical Engineering, Electrical & Computer Engineering

Zahra Moussavi, PhD

Professor and Canada Research Chair

E3-513 Engineering Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7023
zahra_moussavi@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s
  • Neuro-cognitive enrichment for aging population
  • Neurological disorder diagnosis and medical technology instrumentations for sleep apnea detection using respiratory sounds

More about Zahra Moussavi

UM research affiliates Rady Faculty of Health Sciences

Max Rady College of Medicine

Biochemistry and Medical Genetics

Britt Drögemöller, PhD 

Assistant Professor
Canada Research Chair in Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine

Room 309C – Basic Medical Sciences Building, 745 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
Britt.Drogemoller@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Genomics
  • Bioinformatics
  • Pharmacogenomics
  • Precision Medicine
  • Age-related hearing loss

More about Britt Drögemöller

Meaghan Jones, PhD

Assistant Professor

Room 309 – Basic Medical Sciences Building, 745 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
meaghan.jones@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Epigenetics
  • DNA methylation changes during development and aging
  • effects of prenatal environmental exposures on long term health
  • epigenetic age

More about Meaghan Jones

Clinical Health Psychology

Nicole Haverstock, PhD, CPsych

Assistant Professor
Clinical Psychologist, Centre for Geriatric Psychiatry
Brandon Regional Health Centre
A4 Assiniboine Centre, 150 McTavish Ave E, Brandon, MB  R7A 2B3
204-578-4576
NHaverstock@pmh-mb.ca

Research interests

  • Psychosocial factors related to healthy aging
  • Psychological well-being among caregivers
  • Older adult mental health
  • Geropsychology

Lesley P. Koven, PhD, CPsych

Assistant Professor
Clinical Psychologist, Clinical Health Psychology Programme, WRHA
St. Boniface General Hospital
M4-409 Tache, Winnipeg MB  R2H 2A6
204-235-3001
LKOVEN@sbgh.mb.ca

Research interests

  • Caregiving stress
  • older adult mental health,
  • mild cognitive impairment, 
  • mental health service utilization
  • geropsychology and health psychology

More about Lesley Koven

Colleen Millikin, PhD, CPsych

Assistant Professor, Clinical Health Psychology
St. Boniface General Hospital
M4 – 409 Tache, Winnipeg, MB R2H 2A6
cmillikin@sbgh.mb.ca

Research interests

  • Mild cognitive impairment;
  • differential diagnosis of dementia;
  • delusions in dementia;
  • neuropsychological and behavioural interventions

Lesley Ritchie, PhD, CPsych, ABPP-CN

Assistant Professor, Clinical Health Psychology
PZ350-771 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-787-3876
lritchie3@exchange.hsc.mb.ca

Research interests

  • Aging and neuropsychology
  • Mild Cognitive Impairment: diagnostic criteria and progression to dementia
  • Stroke and cognitive rehabilitation
  • Concussion

More about Lesley Ritchie

Community Health Sciences

Malcolm Doupe, PhD

Associate Professor
Senior Research Scientist, Manitoba Centre for Health Policy
Director, Western Regional Training Centre, University of Manitoba

442 Brodie Centre | Bannatyne Campus
204-975-7759
malcolm_doupe@cpe.umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Utilization of health care services by older adults
  • Alternative care strategies for this population

More about Malcolm Doupe

Christine Kelly, PhD

Associate Professor

S108E-750 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-975-7737
christine.kelly@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Self-managed/directly-funded home care in Canada
  • Continuing care, personal care homes
  • Intersectionality and feminist theory
  • Health equity
  • Qualitative methods

More about Christine Kelly

Kathryn Sibley, PhD

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Integrated Knowledge Translation in Rehabilitation Science
Director, Knowledge Translation Platform | Centre for Healthcare Innovation

379-753 McDermot Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-594-5354
kathryn.sibley@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Fall prevention
  • Balance control
  • Exercise
  • Rehabilitation
  • Knowledge translation and implementation science

More about Kathryn Sibley

Kerstin Roger, PhD

Professor

220 Human Ecology Bldg | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6354
kerstin.roger@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Family and care provision
  • Aging, dementia, end-of-life
  • Health care and applied ethics
  • Qualitative research

More about Kerstin Roger

Shahin Shooshtari, PhD

Professor

219 Human Ecology Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8052
shahin.shooshtari@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Aging with disability
  • Dementia epidemiology
  • Health and aging
  • Mental health
  • Health services research
  • Aging and immigration

More about Shahin Shooshtari

Robert Tate, PhD

Senior Scholar, Director, Manitoba Follow-Up Study

robert.tate@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Understanding successful aging
  • Long-term cohort studies
  • Biostatistics and epidemiology

More about Robert Tate

Human Anatomy and Cell Science

Jason Peeler, PhD

Associate Professor
Musculoskeletal Medicine Course Director for Undergraduate Medical Education

102–745 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-272-3146 (office) | 204-272-3147 (lab)
jason.peeler@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Clinical orthopaedics with an emphasis on validity and reliability testing of clinical orthopaedic assessment rehabilitation techniques designed to enhance patient care and musculoskeletal function

More about Jason Peeler

Family Medicine

Gayle Halas, PhD

Assistant Professor
Rady Chair in Interprofessional Collaborative Practice, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences
Associate Director, Dept of Family Medicine Research, Max Rady College of Medicine
co-Research Lead, Manitoba Primary and Integrated Health care Innovation Network (MPN)

P219-770 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-977-5666
gayle.halas@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • interprofessional collaboration
  • team-based primary health care
  • care continuum and transitions
  • patient/caregiver experiences of multi-provider care
  • complex needs: multi-morbidity, addiction, chronic illness

More about Gayle Halas

Internal Medicine, Section of Geriatric Medicine

Samuel Quan, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Deer Lodge Centre, 2109 Portage Ave, Winnipeg, MB  R3J 0L3
samuel.quan@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Dementia
  • Health service utilization 
  • Population health and epidemiology

Philip St. John, MD, MPH, FRCPC, CCFP

Room 133 - 800 Sherbrook Street | Bannatyne Campus
204-787-3365
pstjohn@hsc.mb.ca

Research interests

  • Rural health
  • Epidemiology of cognitive impairment and depression

More about Philip St. John

Pharmacology and Therapeutics

Daniel Sitar, PhD

Professor Emeritus

753 McDermot Avenue, Chown Building A205 | Bannatyne Campus
204-789-3532
daniel.sitar@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Clinical and renal pharmacology

More about Daniel Sitar

Physiology and Pathophysiology

Eftekhar Eftekharpour, PhD

Associate professor 
Room 631 – Basic Medical Sciences Building, 745 Bannatyne Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-789-3214
eftekhar.eftekharpour@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Role of oxidative stress in pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease
  • Neuroprotection strategies for treatment of spinal cord injury
  • Examination of nuclear events in neurodegenerative diseases
  • Role of thioredoxin system in health and disease
  • Aging and neurodegeneration
  • Neural stem cells biology and their application for human diseases

More about Eftekhar Eftekharpour

Surgery

Frederick Zeiler, MD, PhD, CIP, FRCSC

Rudy Falk Clinician-Scientist Professor, Director of Research - Neurosurgery
Associate Professor, Section of Neurosurgery, Dept of Surgery
Associate Professor, Dept of Human Anatomy and Cell Science
Core Member, Biomedical Engineering, Price Faculty of Engineering

GF231 Health Sciences Center | Bannatyne Campus
204-787-2960
frederick.zeiler@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Functional Outcome After Brain Injury
  • Biomedical Engineering/Signal Processing
  • Time-Series Statistical Methodologies
  • Big Data and Impact of Age/Sex
  • Multi-Modal Cerebral Physiologic Monitoring
  • Cerebrovascular Consequences of Injury

More about Frederick Zeiler

College of Nursing

All College of Nursing affiliates

Lorna Guse, PhD

Adjunct
Lorna.Guse@umanitoba.ca

Research Interests

  • Quality of life
  • Older adults in long-term care settings

Michelle Lobchuk, RN, PhD

Senior Scholar
Michelle.Lobchuk@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • family caregiver wellness
  • empathic communication
  • perceptual understanding
  • symptom assessment
  • video-feedback intervention

Genevieve Thompson, RN, PhD

Professor, UM research chair in person-directed living
Helen Glass Centre for Nursing, Room 491 - 89 Curry Place | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8818
Genevieve.Thompson@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Palliative care
  • Family caregivers
  • Quality of care
  • Delivery of end-of-life care in long-term care

More about Genevieve Thompson

 

College of Pharmacy

All College of Pharmacy affiliates

Jamie Falk, BSc (Pharm), PharmD

Associate professor

204-318-5280
Jamison.Falk@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Drug utilization and practice patterns
  • Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Shared decision making
  • Burden of care in later stages of life

More about Jamie Falk

Christine Leong, BSc, BSc (Pharm), PharmD

Assistant Professor

Apotex Centre, 750 McDermot Ave. | Bannatyne Campus
204-318-5276
Christine.Leong@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Pharmacoepidemiology
  • Medication use
  • Optimization of drug therapy
  • Primary care
  • Pharmacy practice

More about Christine Leong

Jillian Stobart, BSc, PhD

Assistant professor

Contact
Apotex Centre, 750 McDermot Ave. | Bannatyne Campus
204-272-3180
Jillian.Stobart@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Cerebrovascular health in aging, dementia, and Alzheimer’s Disease

More about Jillian Stobart

 

College of Rehabilitation Sciences

Occupational Therapy

Cara Brown, PhD, MSc, BMR (OT)

Assistant professor

Room R125- 771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-480-1337
cara.brown@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Care transitions from hospital to home
  • Supporting people with chronic disease to live in the community
  • Occupational therapy
  • Rehabilitation in primary health care

More about Cara Brown

Amine Choukou, PhD

Associate Professor

Room 111 - 771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-789-3412
amine.choukou@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Smart technology, independence, and quality of life
  • Development of immersive simulators for visuomotor skills training
  • Development and use of activity monitoring systems (wearables and non-wearables)
  • Assistive technology and social participation
  • Innovation and technology implementation

More about Amine Choukou

Ed Giesbrecht, PhD, MSc Rehab, BMR (OT), BSW

Associate professor

Room R214 - 771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-977-5630
Ed.Giesbrecht@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Use of assisted technologies and participation
  • Wheeled mobility and participation
  • Effectiveness of wheelchair skills training with older adults

More about Ed Giesbrecht

Jacquie Ripat, PhD, MSc, BMR (OT), OT Reg (MB)

Associate Dean (Research), Associate professor

Room 215 - 771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-789-3303
Jacquie.Ripat@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Participation amongst assistive technology users across the lifespan
  • Development of client-centred practice in entry-level occupational therapy students
  • Development, and use of, universally designed and/or accessible public environments
  • Wheeled mobility in winter environments

More about Jacquie Ripat

Physical Therapy

Ruth Barclay, PhD, MHSc, BMR (PT)

Professor, Research Chair in Telerehabilitation

Room 106-771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-787-2756
Ruth.Barclay@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Health related quality of life post stroke
  • Response shift in health related quality of life
  • Outcome measurement
  • Participation post stroke
  • Community ambulation
  • Meta-analysis
  • Structural equation modelling

More about Ruth Barclay

Mirella Veras, PT, PhD, MSc

Assistant professor
R115 - 771 McDermot Avenue | Bannatyne Campus
204-789-3417
mirella.veras@umanitoba.ca

Research interests 

  • Digital Health Equity: Investigating the equitable integration of digital health solutions, such as AI and other technologies, to enhance healthcare access and outcomes for diverse populations, including older adults.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Clinical Practice: Studying the use of AI for predictive analytics, decision support, and personalized care across various healthcare settings.
  • Aging, Empowerment, and Functional Independence: Focusing on interventions to enhance physical function, autonomy, and quality of life in middle-aged and older adults, with an emphasis on empowering individuals through innovative technologies and strategies.

More about Mirella Veras 

Sandra Webber, PhD, MSc, BMR (PT)

Professor/Associate dean, academic

Room RR311 - 771 McDermot Ave | Bannatyne Campus
204-787-1099
Sandra.Webber@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Mobility in older adults and people with chronic disease
  • Objective measurement of physical activity and sedentary behaviour
  • Factors that influence community ambulation and social participation in older adults
  • Evaluating capacity and performance related to mobility

More about Sandra Webber

UM research affiliates Asper School of Business

Marketing

Malcolm Smith, PhD

Senior Scholar

malcolm.smith@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Marketing to older adults
  • Age-related differences in memory for advertising

More about Malcolm Smith

UM research affiliates Kinesiology and Recreation Management

All Kinesiology and Recreation affiliates

Stephanie Chesser, PhD

Assistant Professor

stephanie.chesser@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Aging issues across the life course
  • Inclusive communities
  • Leisure
  • Health and well-being
  • Gender
  • Citizen science
  • Qualitative research
  • Feminist research

More about Stephanie Chesser

Stephen Cornish, PhD

Associate Professor

117 Frank Kennedy Centre | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9981
stephen.cornish@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Exercise Immunology
  • Nutritional Immunology
  • Exercise and Aging
  • Exercise and Health
  • Oxidative Stress
  • Overtraining/Over-reaching

More about Stephen Cornish

Todd Duhamel, PhD

Associate Dean (Health Sciences), Faculty of Graduate Studies,
Professor

208 Active Living Centre | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8922
todd.duhamel@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Physical activity and health research. Research program focuses on two major research themes:
    • Basic exercise physiology
    • Clinical exercise physiology

More about Todd Duhamel

Michelle Porter, PhD

Professor

338 Isbister Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8795
michelle.porter@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Age-friendly environments (universities and neighbourhoods)
  • Citizen science
  • Physical activity and aging
  • Ageism
  • Long-term care
  • Driving and aging
  • Mobility and aging

More about Michelle Porter

Elizabeth Ready, PhD

Professor Emerita

225 Active Living Centre | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8641
elizabeth.ready@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Physical health and functional benefits of physical activity in older adults
  • Impact of age friendly neighbourhoods on physical activity and health
  • Benefits of interprofessional collaboration in primary health care

More about Elizabeth Ready

Ayesha Saleem, PhD

Associate Professor

120 Frank Kennedy Centre | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7617
ayesha.saleem@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Decipher the extracellular signalling as mediated through extracellular vesicles that regulates the interplay between host tissue and imposed challenges. These challenges can be
    • physiological (exercise, age),
    • metabolic (cancer, obesity),
    • environmental (smoke, pollutants) or
    • developmental (prenatal).

More about Ayesha Saleem

Veronica Silva, PhD

Assistant Professor

179D Extended Education | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8719
veronica.silva@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Falls prevention
  • Balance, locomotion, and mobility
  • Visual control of balance and locomotion

More about Veronica Silva

Jonathan Singer, PhD

Associate Professor

179 Extended Education | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8469
jonathan.singer@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Biomechanics/neuromechanics
  • Control of static and dynamic stability
  • Gait/locomotor mechanics
  • Falls prevention
  • Development of new measures/techniques to assess balance control

More about Jonathan Singer

Rodrigo Villar, PhD

Assistant Professor

227 Active Living Centre | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8590
rodrigo.villar@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Sex differences and exercise
  • Aging, health and exercise
  • Chronic diseases and exercise
  • Cardiovascular and respiratory adaptations to exercise

More about Rodrigo Villar

UM research affiliates Law

All Law affiliates

Mary Shariff, PhD

Professor, Director, Master of Human Rights Program
224 Dysart Road | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6135
Mary.Shariff@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Bioethics, biotechnology, genetics and the law
  • Life extension, anti-aging and mortality and the law
  • Legal strategies
  • Natural resources, the environment and the law
  • Legal pedagogy

More about Mary Shariff

UM research affiliates Science

Biological Sciences

Fuat Balci, PhD

Associate Professor 
222 Biological Sciences Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6379
fuat.balci@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Cognitive health and training
  • Age dependent alterations of time perception and decision-making
  • Computational models of cognition

More about Fuat Balci

Computer Science

Rasit Eskicioglu, PhD

Associate Professor

E2-574 EITC | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8835
rasit@cs.umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Wireless sensor networks and their real-world applications, including indoor localization, object tracking, and monitoring
  • Tracking and monitoring older population with decreased cognitive skills (e.g., Alzheimer’s, Dementia)

More about Rasit Eskicioglu

Celine Latulipe, PhD

Professor

E2-481 EITC | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-7339
celine.latulipe@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Technology for aging in place
  • Technology for older adults and caregiving
  • Patient portal use by older adults
  • Older adult and caregiver use of eGovernment, eBanking, eHealth, and eShopping

More about Celine Latulipe

James Young, PhD

Professor

E2-582 EITC | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-6791
young@cs.umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Robotic assistants, companions, and aides
  • Technology supporting people to continue to live in their homes for longer
  • Human-robot interaction, involving all people affected in technology design

More about James Young

UM research affiliates Social Work

All Social Work affiliates

Peter Donahue, PhD

Dean and Associate Professor

522 Tier Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-9869
peter.donahue@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • health and well-being of older adults, including work and retirement
  • caregiving
  • 2SLGBTQIA+ aging
  • knowledge transfer
  • issues relating to homelessness and those at risk

More about Peter Donahue

Hai Luo, PhD

Associate Professor

212 Tier Building | Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8543
hai.luo@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Cross-cultural aging
  • Gerontological social work
  • Active aging
  • Gambling among older adults
  • Healthcare access for older immigrants
  • Global Indigenous aging

More about Hai Luo

Blessing Ojembe, PhD

Assistant Professor

Room 500C Tier Building |Fort Garry Campus
204-474-8717
blessing.ojembe@umanitoba.ca
 

Research interests

  • gerontology social work
  • loneliness and social exclusion
  • social participation
  • racialized and Black older adults
  • qualitative research method, social justice and empowerment
  • older immigrants
  • gerotechnology
  • Black health and well-being, mobility, and transnational aging

More about Blessing Ojembe

Michael Yellow Bird, PhD

Professor

173 Dafoe Rd | Fort Garry Campus
michael.yellowbird@umanitoba.ca

Research interests

  • Healthy Indigenous aging
  • Mindfulness and contemplative practices
  • Effects of colonization and methods of decolonization  
  • Ancestral health
  • Cultural significance of Rez dogs

More about Michael Yellow Bird

External research affiliates

The Centre on Aging attracts researchers interested in aging from across the province. In addition to the UM, researchers are affiliated from three additional Manitoba post-secondary institutions.

Brandon University

Scott Forbes

Assistant Professor | Department of Physical Education, Faculty of Education

204-727-9637
forbess@brandonu.ca

Research interests

  • Exercise and Aging
  • Exercise and Health
  • Nutrition
  • Muscle Health
  • Brain Health

More about Scott Forbes

Rachel Herron

Associate Professor, Canada Research Chair in Rural and Remote Mental Health | Faculty of Science, Department of Geography

204-727-9771
HerronR@brandonu.ca

Research interests

  • Rural ageing
  • Support for people living with dementia
  • Informal care and caregiving
  • The role of the voluntary sector in service provision
  • Ethics in research with vulnerable populations
  • Gendered dimensions of care and caregiving

More about Rachel Herron

Nancy Newall

Associate Professor | Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology

204-571-8507
newalln@brandonu.ca

Research interests

  • Loneliness and social isolation
  • Age-friendly communities

More about Nancy Newall

Canadian Mennonite University

Heather Campbell-Enns, PhD

Associate Professor | Psychology; Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Families and Aging

204-487-3300 (x360)
hcampbell-enns@cmu.ca

Research interests

  • Aging and eldercare
  • Family-centred care and caregiving
  • Psychosocial health and wellbeing
  • Social determinants of health

More about Heather Campbell-Enns

University of Winnipeg

Yannick Molgat-Seon, PhD

Professor | Department of Kinesiology & Applied Health

204-988-7640
y.molgat-seon@uwinnipeg.ca

Research interests

  • Respiratory Mechanics
  • Pulmonary Function
  • Respiratory Muscles
  • Exercise Physiology
  • Kinesiology

More about Yannick Molgat-Seon

Natalie Richer, PhD

Assistant Professor | Department of Kinesiology and Applied Health

204-998-7637
n.richer@uwinnipeg.ca

Research interests

  • Aging
  • Kinesiology
  • Sports/Exercise

More about Natalie Richer

Kathleen Venema, PhD

Associate Professor | English Department
k.venema@uwinnipeg.ca

Research interests

  • auto/biography and life writing
  • narratives of aging, illness, disability, and care
  • graphic narratives of aging, illness, disability, and care

More about Kathleen Venema

Contact us

Centre on Aging
338 Isbister Building
183 Dafoe Rd
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada

204-474-8754
Monday to Friday, 8 am to 4 pm