CIHR Institute of Aging Summer Program in Aging (SPA)

The Summer Program in Aging (SPA) is held every year by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Aging (IA). SPA is the IA’s flagship training program. It aims to provide graduate students and postdoctoral fellows involved in aging research with advanced training in methodologies, knowledge translation, grant writing and research communication. It also provides trainees with the opportunity to further develop their networks.

In partnership with the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), MIRA was named as the host for SPA 2020. While planning initially began for an in-person event in May 2020, the event was first postponed and later moved to a virtual setting, to be hosted in May 2021. MIRA staff, supported by CLSA staff, a planning committee and a curriculum development committee, hosted 56 trainees for a unique and innovative eight-day online learning experience that allowed them to interact with each other and 29 guest speakers to build their skills in using longitudinal study data to answer aging research questions. Trainees were supported by 13 McMaster, national and international experts in longitudinal studies on aging, with varied specializations. Trainees worked in teams with their mentors to shape a CLSA Catalyst Grant application and present their ideas to all attendees.

While offering learning and networking opportunities online is new territory, MIRA’s SPA offering was well-received by all participants, speakers and mentors. Online programming offered improved accessibility and flexibility for trainees and speakers, which attracted trainees who may otherwise not have been able to join in-person programming and allowed MIRA to offer high-quality programming with international experts who may otherwise have been unable to participate in a full week of programming. MIRA staff supplemented structured talks with networking opportunities, community engagement sessions and social programming to trainees. A Discord server ensured conversation could keep flowing outside of program sessions. MIRA mailed backpacks to participants which brought the SPA experience home and generated excitement for the virtual program. CLSA Data Access fee waivers were offered to the four teams that received top marks from judges of the presentation sessions. All four teams have continued their research by submitting applications for data access. This uptake demonstrates that the virtual SPA was especially successful, since research projects developed at SPA are rarely continued after the program.