Susan Kirkland

CLSA Principal Investigator

Site Principal Investigator, Halifax

Dr. Susan Kirkland is a Professor in the Departments of Community Health Epidemiology and Medicine, Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia. She is the Associate Director (Population Studies) of the Geriatric Medicine Research Unit at Dalhousie, Affiliate Scientist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre, and the Director of the Atlantic Interdisciplinary Research Network. She is trained as an epidemiologist, with expertise in aging, chronic disease epidemiology, health services utilization, and women’s health. Her research relates to the epidemiological examination of health outcomes that are prevalent in older populations, including cardiovasular disease (CVD) and osteoporosis, hepatitis C and cognitive impairment, and the exploration of underlying determinants of health, particularly the interplay between gender and the genetic, social, cultural and economic determinants of health. She is an investigator on numerous population-based epidemiologic studies including the Canadian Multicentre Osteoporosis Study (CaMos), and the Nova Scotia Health Survey Follow Up Studies, and has been a member of the Canadian Health Measures Survey Expert Advisory Committee since its inception. She is currently leading studies in the areas of healthy aging, HIV and aging, frailty, physical activity and obesity, and technologies to support aging in place. She is also a member of the board of the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and the Northwood Group of Companies, a non-profit continuing care organization serving residents of Nova Scotia. Dr. Kirkland has been involved in the CLSA since its inception, and has co-led with Drs. Raina and Wolfson the development of the study design, content, measures, governance structure, and implementations plans. She brings to the team a wealth of knowledge not only in epidemiologic methods relevant to longitudinal studies, but substantive expertise in chronic disease epidemiology, especially as it relates to osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and obesity in vulnerable populations. Dr. Kirkland leads the Halifax DCS and is the director of the CLSA CATI network. She is the CLSA ex-officio representative on the CIHR Ethical Legal and Social Issues Committee that is advisory to the CLSA. She is responsible for the annual REB ethics submissions and the development of protocols that address ethical, legal and social issues. Dr. Kirkland also co-chairs the Training and Research Capacity Committee of the CLSA.