Insights from McMaster’s leadership

Message from President David Farrar

Dr. David Farrar — President and Vice-Chancellor

Impact, Ambition and Transformation through Excellence, Inclusion and Community: Advancing Human and Societal Health and Wellbeing. That is McMaster’s vision, and aging across the lifespan, one of the university’s key research priorities, is a critical part of making that ambitious vision come to life.

McMaster is ranked among the top 85 universities in the world and is one of the most research-intensive universities in Canada. As an Age-Friendly University, our world-class researchers are focused on advances that meaningfully improve the lives of older adults and their caregivers by connecting ideas across disciplines.

This report outlines many of the research, training and community engagement successes led and supported by MIRA in 2022. These accomplishments were made possible by the vision and generosity of Suzanne Labarge, McMaster’s former chancellor, and by the collaborative, interdisciplinary spirit MIRA and McMaster embody — connecting researchers, trainees and staff across all six McMaster Faculties, and centering the voices of community members.

Every day, MIRA members are finding medical, technological, cultural, economic, scientific, and societal solutions to the complex problems related to aging. Through this work, our members are making an impact and transforming the experience of aging in our community, our country and the world.

Message from Susan Denburg

Dr. Susan Denburg — Executive Vice-Dean and Associate Vice-President, Academic Faculty of Health Sciences University Lead, Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging, MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre and McMaster Institute for Research on Aging

Through the hard work of MIRA’s members, trainees and staff, McMaster continued to grow in 2022 as a leader in aging research that is ambitious, responds to the needs of aging populations, solves real problems and matters provincially, nationally and internationally. And, MIRA’s community partners continued to provide the depth of vision and purpose that allows our research impact to resonate far and wide.

I am proud to be one of the many people championing aging research at McMaster. We have seen how, through the Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging and more recently, the MIRA | Dixon Hall Centre, our researchers are building on the resilience and strength of older adults to improve lives and support people as they age. These successes are enabled by the generous investments made by Suzanne Labarge — a tireless advocate for excellence in aging research and ally to our researchers.

I hope you enjoy reading this report and seeing the many ways MIRA and its research centres continued to ambitiously push forward our understanding of aging and mobility in 2022.