The creation of fracture risk assessment tools and how recent enhancements to them can be applied in clinical practice will be the focus of the next CLSA webinar on November 16.

Dr. William Leslie, a professor of Medicine and Radiology at the University of Manitoba, and president of the International Society for Clinical Densitometry, will discuss factors that enable quantitative assessment of fracture risk. The webinar will be held from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. (EST). To receive the link to the online broadcast, click here.

Dr. Leslie will explain how tools such as the World Health Organization Fracture Risk Assessment algorithm for Canada estimates fracture probability over a 10-year period, and is calibrated to the Canadian population. A simplified version of this tool developed by the Canadian Association of Radiologists and Osteoporosis Canada is also widely used in Canada.

Dr. Leslie will review how these tools were created, and discuss the potential for the CLSA to contribute new information that can lead to further advances in fracture risk assessment.

Dr. Leslie’s research interests are in fracture risk assessment, osteoporosis testing and other nuclear diagnostic techniques. He is past chair of the Osteoporosis Canada Scientific Advisory Council, and co-led the development of the 2010 Clinical Practice Guidelines in Osteoporosis. He is also director of the Manitoba Bone Density Program, co-director of the Winnipeg PET Imaging Centre, and has authored more than 300 peer-reviewed publications.

The CLSA webinar series features regular, online lectures from new, mid-career, and established health researchers who are interested in aging. The webinars provide a forum to discuss the latest health and aging research in Canada. The webinars run for one hour, with an opportunity for audience questions at the end of the talk.