Tim defended his M.Sc. thesis

Tim defended his MSc thesis titled, “A Model of Health: Using Business Analytics to Identify Older Adults with Heart Disease.”

Tim’s research was inspired by an overarching goal to assist healthcare decision makers to optimize the delivery of chronic disease prevention interventions. He used neural networks to develop statistical models to predict heart disease using demographic, lifestyle, and health information from >15,000 older adults enrolled in the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.

Thank you to committee members Drs. David Whitehurst (SFU Health Sciences) and Guy Faulkner (UBC Kinesiology) for important contributions to Tim’s research, and to examiner Dr. Andrew Wister (SFU Gerontology) for thoughtful feedback on his thesis. Great work Tim!

Congratulations Stephanie!

Stephanie successfully defended her MSc thesis titled, “Activity monitor reliability and validity in community-dwelling older adults.” Keep an eye out for the publication of her research in the months to come!

Thank you to committee members Drs. Dave Clarke (BPK) and Scott Lear (Health Sciences, BPK) for substantial contributions to Stephanie’s research, and to examiner Dr. Maureen Ashe (UBC) for thoughtful comments on her thesis.

Well done Stephanie!

Way to go Nicole!

Proud of undergraduate student Nicole who presented her first poster at the SFU Science Undergraduate Research Journal (SURJ) Poster Competition. Nicole’s poster described initial results from a systematic review of randomized controlled trials that evaluated financial incentive strategies to promote physical activity in older adults. Nicole, and fellow undergraduate Emaan, completed the research during USRA semesters.

Thanks for visiting Sarah!

It was great to host SFU BPK alumna Dr. Sarah Manske for a Departmental Seminar in September. Dr. Manske is now an Assistant Professor at the University of Calgary where she leads a research group focused on high-resolution musculoskeletal imaging to better understand osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Tim Attends VanHEM Conference

Branching out, MSc student Tim Ainge attended the Vancouver Health Economics Methodology Meeting on May 11, 2018. Tim's draft paper about predicting the effects of hypothetical changes in physical activity on the treatment costs of coronary heart disease among older Canadian adults was featured in a discussion session where he gained insightful feedback on his research from an audience primarily of health economists. 

Congratulations Ashley!

Congratulations to MSc student Ashley Kwon on successfully completing her thesis proposal in April 2018. Ashley's research is examining the feasibility and efficacy of group-based pre-dialytic exercise classes delivered in community dialysis units in the Fraser Health Authority.