Contact:
Andrew Wister, 778,782.5044, 604.671.7651; wister@sfu.ca
Heather Stewart, 778.782.9466, 778.834.3150; hgstewart@sfu.ca
Marianne Meadahl, 604.209.5770; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca
 
Photos: http://at.sfu.ca/fDVPlr
 
NOTE TO EDITORS: Members of the media are welcome to tour the CLSA data collection site at the SFU Surrey Campus on Oct. 4. Tours and demos begin at approximately 1:15 p.m., with photo opportunities in the various exam rooms.
 
An official launch of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) at Simon Fraser University’s Surrey campus on Thursday, Oct. 4 at 12:45 p.m. will provide officials, visitors and the media with a chance to see firsthand how 1,500 residents in the Surrey and surrounding areas over the next year will participate. The data collected from tests carried out over the next 20 years will shed new light on aging in Canada.
 
The official opening of the Surrey data collection site will provide good visuals – and 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, which will draw subjects from a 25-km radius around Surrey, from North Vancouver to the Fraser Valley, is one of 11 across Canada that will ultimately track 50,000 Canadians between the ages of 45-85 at enrollment, including approximately 8,500 men and women in B.C.
 
Andrew Wister, chair of SFU’s Gerontology Department and the CLSA lead investigator at SFU Surrey, will be on hand to answer questions. Surrey unit manager Heather Stewart will also attend, along with members of her staff, including medical lab technician Anil Jaswal and clinical research evaluator Biljana Maric, who will help set up demos.
 
For more details: http://at.sfu.ca/CAhnsA
 
Simon Fraser University is Canada's top-ranked comprehensive university and one of the top 50 universities in the world under 50 years old. With campuses in Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey, B.C., SFU engages actively with the community in its research and teaching, delivers almost 150 programs to more than 30,000 students, and has more than 120,000 alumni in 130 countries.
 
-30-
 
Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities.