About this Institute

The CIHR Institute of Aging will support research to promote healthy aging and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions associated with aging.

Research areas include but are not limited to:

• long-term health promotion policies and strategies (individual, community, and population levels)

• health determinants - to elucidate the multi-dimensional factors that affect the health of aging populations and lead to a differential prevalence of health concerns

• identification of health advantage and health risk factors related to the interaction of environments over a life-time (cultural, social, psychological, behavioural, physical, genetic)

• application of knowledge regarding health advantage and health risk factor to prevent or postpone functional disability

• disease, injury, and disability prevention (or postponement) strategies at the individual and population levels

• demography and epidemiology: identification of determinants of health status of a population later in life and potential impacts on health servicess for forward planning

• factors which enable the elderly to remain independent: e.g. community characteristics, housing, transportation, volunteers

• geriatrics research: best practice research on care of the elderly (e.g. service delivery, co-morbidity, medication use and mis-use, iatrogenic problems, rehabilitation, palliation)

• aging related disorders and disability (e.g. neurodegenerative disorders, cognitive decline, reduced mobility)

• development and implementation of health technologies and tools (e.g. biomaterials, drug delivery systems, mobility aides, communications devices)

• mechanisms of aging: molecular, genetic, cellular, tissue, organ, systems, and whole organism approaches

• ethics issues related to research, care strategies, and access to care (e.g. access to technologies, life extension, client decision-making, informed consent)