Professor Andrew Wister, Director of SFU’s Gerontology Research Centre, is SFU’s principal investigator for the multi-university Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Wister leads one of 25 research teams benefiting from a share of $1.7 million in CLSA catalyst grants, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), announced May 30, 2017.

The CLSA is a national long-term study that follows approximately 50,000 adults for at least 20 years. The study collects information on the changing biological, medical, psychological, social, lifestyle and economic aspects of people’s lives in order to understand how, individually and in combination, these factors have an impact in both maintaining health and in the development of disease and disability as people age.

Wister, along with his research team, investigates why some older Canadians maintain their resiliency despite living with multiple health conditions. He says a better understanding of how people cope with illness later in life and adapt to these health circumstances will lead to improved solutions for independent living.

Wister is immediate past chair of the National Seniors Council of Canada, and is recognized internationally as an expert on aging research.

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