We are looking forward to welcoming all delegates from U21 HSG member institutions to the U21 Health Sciences Group 2025 Annual Meeting! You can register to attend via this link.

Population aging is one of the most significant global challenges of the 21st century. Understanding aging across the lifespan is a vital theme for healthcare professionals due to its multifaceted impact on individuals and societies.

Aging brings about a spectrum of potential health and social challenges, including chronic diseases, cognitive decline, mobility issues, loneliness and mental health disorders. Healthcare professionals must develop tailored approaches to manage these conditions and enhance the quality of life for older adults, and health professional learners need to be well prepared for supporting older populations throughout their careers.

How these populations are supported varies around the world: inequities across low to high-income countries can exacerbate the challenges faced by older adults. Barriers to accessing healthcare, including limited financial resources, in adequate infrastructure, and a lack of specialized geriatric care can lead to higher rates of untreated chronic conditions, lower life expectancies, and a diminished quality of life.

Exploring aging across the lifespan is vital for healthcare professionals and learners to meet the evolving needs of a growing older adult population, improve healthcare outcomes, and address the social, economic, and technological aspects associated with aging.

McMaster University has deep expertise and interest in the health and social aspects of aging, the epidemiology of aging, and supporting older adults and health professionals with access to high quality, evidence-based information about healthy aging across the lifespan. McMaster is home to the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging (MIRA), several large-scale research initiatives including Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), the McMaster Monitoring My Mobility study (MacM3), and other aging research platforms supporting community and stakeholder engagement (e.g PACE, McMaster Collaborative for Health and Aging, EMBOLDEN study), training and capacity building (MIRA Trainee Network, macPAGE) and knowledge translation (McMaster Optimal Aging Portal). We would welcome the U21 HSG to Hamilton to collaborate with our U21HSG colleagues to share insights on the challenges and opportunities for the future of aging and how these impact our academic priorities.