Building on a common commitment to interdisciplinary aging research, Trent University and York University will form a collaborative research and education partnership on aging research and innovation.

A memorandum of understand (MOU) has been signed to affirm this joint effort to create pathways of learning for undergraduate and graduate students at both universities, which have recently developed new research centres in this area of study.

The Trent Centre for Aging and Society was launched in 2013 and is rooted in the social sciences and humanities. York University’s Centre for Aging Research and Education (YU-CARE), launched in 2014, is rooted in health studies and sciences. The new partnership will bring together both perspectives for a more holistic understanding of aging, and its impact in Canada and internationally.

With its vibrant downtown, lively entertainment scene and exceptional natural surroundings, Peterborough is known as a popular retirement destination and a place where Canadians choose to age creatively and actively. Toronto is Canada’s largest and most culturally diverse metropolis. This will benefit the scope of the research.

"We are very excited to make official our innovative and already productive collaboration with York University's Faculty of Health. The partnership between Trent Centre for Aging & Society and YU-CARE is founded on a shared passion for bringing critical perspectives to the study of aging and older age - one that is rooted in a commitment to building healthier communities in our respective Ontario regions,” said Dr. Mark Skinner, geography professor and the founding director of the centre at Trent. “The partnership allows us to further these aims in exciting ways that link and benefit students and faculty at both universities working together on new research questions, with new approaches that draw together Trent’s interdisciplinary strengths with York's leadership in health studies."

This unique partnership draws on the strengths of both university models: Trent, a research-intensive small university focused on undergraduate teaching and York, a large research institution with a Faculty of Health and multiple graduate programs.

“As researchers and educators, we are all very comfortable working in interdisciplinary environments, and this is critical to the study of aging. At the end of the day, this is about developing better understandings of how to help all of us age more healthy, and new understanding of how to develop increasingly effective care models related to older people,” said Dr. William Gage, founding director of YU-CARE.

Dr. Gage, a professor in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science at York, notes that the added advantage is, “that Trent is located rurally, while York is situated in an urban environment, which creates incredible opportunities for us to explore models of aging that are relevant across our province and Canada on the whole. This is very exciting for all of us.”

The exciting partnership is more than academic in nature. Founding director of the Trent Centre for Aging and Society, Professor Skinner is happy to be partnering with York’s Faculty of Health, where his father Professor Harvey Skinner is the founding dean. Both Skinners were signatories at the ceremonial MOU signing on Friday, June 5, 2015 at Trent University.

Posted on Monday, June 8, 2015.