SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre welcomes two new postdoctoral fellows, Dr. Theodore D. Cosco and Dr. Sue Peters as the latest additions to the centre's research team.

What makes us live healthier, happier and longer? This is the big question that drives Cosco's research, which is aimed at "identifying modifiable aspects of lifestyle or behaviour that foster more positive biopsychosocial trajectories of aging.”

A duel citizen of Canada and Britain, Cosco comes to SFU with training both from Canada and abroad, including a BA in Psychology form University of Alberta, an MSc in Applied Social Research from Trinity College Dublin, and a PhD in Public Health and Primary Care from University of Cambridge. Cosco has interests in longitudinal modeling techniques, psychometric analyses, and the development of technology-driven data collection mechanisms.

Peters says she is most interested in "improving rehabilitation outcomes for people with mobility limitations." To tackle this goal, Peters involves her research in three streams: "1) learn how movement goals in the brain and muscles come together to generate actions like walking and standing balance, 2) how physical resilience can be measured clinically, 3) clinical research in health care and academic settings."

Peters comes to SFU with a BA in Kinesiology and MA in Physical Therapy from University of Western Ontario and a PhD in Rehabilitation Science from University of British Columbia with a focus on neurophysiology.

Peters' clinical experience as a physiotherapist led to pursue doctoral work focused on using neuroimaging to link cognitive function to movement difficulties such as balance and walking after a stroke. Currently, she is expanding on this knowledge to understand how sociological factors may impact health related behaviours. More specifically, examining how individuals with multiple chronic medical conditions cope in the context of physical rehabilitation.  

Read more about Dr. Theodore D. Cosco and Dr. Sue Peters and activities of the Gerontology Research Centre.