The Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) is unfolding at 11 major universities and in communities across the country. An official launch of the CLSA at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus will take place October 4, 2012. 

A 1,000 sq. ft. data collection site in SFU Surrey’s Podium 2 will be showcased during event, to be attended by government officials as well as staff and researchers from neighbouring Fraser Health and SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre.  A ribbon cutting and tours will follow.

Dr. Andrew Wister

The official opening will provide an opportunity to learn more about the CLSA and see the state-of-the-art equipment used for a variety of testing, including heart, lung and vascular functions, bone density and body composition, vision and hearing, strength, mobility and balance, and cognitive function.

The data collected as part of the CLSA will form a national research database that will help scientists to answer key questions about health and aging, and lead to new insights and better understanding of what it means to age well.

The Surrey data collection site is one of 11 across Canada that will ultimately track 50,000 Canadians between the ages of 45-85 at the start of the study, including approximately 8,500 men and women in B.C.

Over the next year, the Surrey site will recruit 1,500 randomly chosen participants living within a 25-kilometre radius of the campus. Study participants will return for further testing and interviews every three years for a total of 20 years.

The CLSA has recruited more than 11,000 participants thus far, with recruitment of 50,000 to be completed by 2015.

The Surrey unit is managed by Heather Stewart and employs eight interviewers, technicians and research assistants. The team spent six months setting up shop and refining their methods in preparation for the start of data collection, which officially began in June 2012.

Andrew Wister, chair of SFU’s Gerontology Department and CLSA lead investigator at SFU Surrey, says the data will generate new knowledge on “the many complex and interrelated biological, clinical, psycho-social and societal factors” that affect aging. It will also facilitate a wide range of interdisciplinary research to help researchers better address the growing issues related to healthy aging, he adds.

The CFI and Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) are funding the study, with additional support from provincial governments and affiliated universities and research institutions.