Speaker Series

The Centre on Aging hosts a Speaker Series, which regularly is held from October to March during the academic year.

Join us as the Centre's on Aging's Speaker Series presents various aging related presentation online.

As part of the Centre on Aging's outreach to the community, the Centre hosts a Speaker Series, which gives our Research Affiliates an opportunity to share insights into their academic research in aging related fields and discuss current issues.

A goal of this series is to strengthen interdisciplinary research in health and aging.
The Speaker Series is free to attend and all are welcome.

Future presentations

Thank you to all of this year's presenters. Join us again in Fall 2024 for future presentations.

Past Speaker Series presentations

Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Intersectional approaches to understanding heterogeneity of cognition aging: A data-driven exploration
Dr. Sunmee Kim
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Arts, Psychology 

Friday, March 1, 2024
Reinforcing the Rainbow: Enhancing Inclusivity for LGBTQ2S+ Seniors 
Dr. Robert Mizzi
Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor; Educational Administration, Foundations & Psychology

Monday, February 12, 2024 
Casting light on the genetics of age-related hearing loss: Insights from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
Dr. Britt Drögemöller
Canada Research Chair in Pharmacogenomics and Precision Medicine; Assistant professor, Max Rady College of Medicine, Biochemistry and Medical Genetics

Thursday, January 18, 2024
Tech-enabled homes: Aging in place and space
Dr. Jacquie Ripat
Associate dean (research); Associate professor, College of Rehabilitation Sciences, Department of Occupational Therapy

Wednesday, November 29, 2023 
Timing perceptual decision making in a mouse model of aging: Computational approaches to linking cognitive function to its neurobiological correlates
Dr. Fuat Balci, PhD
Associate Professor, Faculty of Science, Biological Sciences 

Research in Aging Workshop Series

The workshops are open to students, post-docs, research staff, and faculty interested in aging research. 

The workshops are open to students, post-docs, research staff, and faculty interested in aging research. Workshops will take place virtually and are one hour. The sessions are free to attend, but registration will be required.

Online presentations

Meetings will be hosted via Zoom and registration is required to participate. Registration details will be made available closer to presentation dates.

For members of the Students Targeting Aging Research (STAR) group, the workshops can be counted towards your co-curricular record.

Upcoming presentation

Tuesday, April 9, 2024

The A-B-C’s of presenting and designing research posters
Nicole Dunn, MA
Associate Director, Centre on Aging
Rachel Ines, BA, Dipl.(Hons.) 
Administration and Communications Coordinator, Centre on Aging
Aneet Saran,
PhD student, Faculty of Arts, Psychology
11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. | via Zoom
Download poster (PDF)

Register for April 9

Join us for the Centre on Aging’s Research in Aging Workshop Series, The A-B-C’s of presenting and designing research posters. If you’re new to creating poster presentations, this is the session for you. The workshop will cover what goes in a research poster, how to design one, and how to handle the oral presentation component. This is a helpful session if you plan to have a poster in the Centre on Aging’s Annual Spring Research Symposium and other upcoming conferences. Centre on Aging staff, Nicole Dunn (Associate Director) and Rachel Ines (Administration and Communications Coordinator) will walk you through everything you need to know to prepare for a research poster presentation. Aneet Saran will provide the student perspective by sharing her experience of presenting a poster at a conference.

Future presentations

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

Leveraging media relations for knowledge translation
Eleanor Coopsammy, Director, Media Relations and Issues Management
Fiona Odlum, Media Relations officer
1–2 p.m. | via Zoom

If you're a student, post-doc, researcher or faculty member working in aging research, the media wants to speak with you. Find out how the UM Media Relations team can help you connect with local, national and international media outlets to share your knowledge and pique the interest of the public and potential collaborators in your research or expertise in this area. 

Past workshop presentations | 2023–2024

Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Introduction to conducting research with older adults
Nicole Dunn, MA, Associate Director, Centre on Aging

Monday, October 30, 2023 
Making and tracing the real you in digital scholarship 
Andrea Szwajcer, Research Services Librarian, University of Manitoba

Monday, December 4, 2023
Communication is key—Part 2: How to communicate with older people
Christina Lengyel, PhD, RD, Professor, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, Food and Human Nutritional Sciences

Thursday, January 25, 2024
Conducting research in aging and technology
Zahra Moussavi, Ph.D., P.Eng., Canada Research Chair Tier I in Biomedical Engineering; Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Friday, February 2, 2024
Involving family in research on aging
Heather Campbell-Enns, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology, Canadian Mennonite University

Thursday, March 28, 2024
Ethical considerations in aging research
Kerstin Roger, PhD
Professor, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Community Health Sciences

Centre on Aging 40 years

July 1, 2022 marked the Centre on Aging's 40th year at the University of Manitoba. Established by founding Director, Dr. Neena Chappell, the Centre on Aging continued to thrive under directors Drs. Laurel Strain, Verena Menec, and current Director, Dr. Michelle Porter.

Highlighted are the Centre's accomplishments over the last 40 years (PDF).

New Horizons funding announcement: Decreasing internalized ageism

On May 16, 2022 the Centre on Aging hosted the Honourable Kamal Khera, Minister of Seniors, Government of Canada, at the University of Manitoba where she announced that the Centre on Aging was one of the recipients that was awarded funding from the New Horizons for Seniors Program. The New Horizons program included $61 million in funding for more than 3000 community-based projects across Canada. 

Prior to the announcement, members of the Manitoba Seniors Coalition met briefly with Minister Khera and to take some photos. Addressing the audience, were Centre Director, Dr. Michelle Porter; Dr. Annemike Farenhorst (Associate Vice-President Research, University of Manitoba); and Minister Khera, who highlighted the important research conducted at the Centre on Aging and the need to combat ageism. 

Partnering with community organizations, the Centre will be using this funding to develop an intervention aimed at decreasing internalized ageism and its potentially detrimental effects among older adult community members. 

We are sincerely thankful to the Honourable Kamal Khera and the Government of Canada for making this project possible. The archived announcement, can be viewed on the Seniors in Canada Facebook page.

—Dallas Murphy, Student Research Assistant, Centre on Aging

  • Drs. Farenhorst and Porter stand beside Minister Khera in front of two banners at the New Horizons funding announcement on May 16.
  • Seven University of Manitoba and senior organization community members stand between two banners and a podium at the New Horizons funding announcement.

Community workshops

To see reports associated with past events of the Centre on Aging visit our Publications page.

Check back for future events.

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