OUR TEAM

Led by Principal Scientists, Professor Heather McKay, PhD, FCAHS, and Associate Professor Joanie Sims-Gould, PhD, the Active Aging Research Team is a multi-disciplinary collaboration of researchers, knowledge translation specialists, and staff. The Active Aging Research Team is based at the University of British Columbia's Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, within the Faculty of Medicine.

OUR LEADERSHIP

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Heather McKay

Principal Scientist; Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

Heather McKay, PhD, FCAHS

Professor McKay’s research program investigates health promotion and chronic disease prevention strategies to enhance health at key time points: childhood, adolescence and later life.

Her research evaluates the positive role of physical activity, other lifestyle factors and the built environment on children’s health and older adult physical health, mobility and social connectedness. Through an implementation science lens, she also evaluates scale-up of effective interventions as a means to improve health on a population level. Her work has directly influenced government policy.

Professor McKay is well known for building interdisciplinary teams and connecting with community partners to move research findings into action (knowledge mobilization). She has been in receipt of grants to support these teams, valued at more than $70M. She led the team that was awarded $40M from Canada Foundation for Innovations, donors and government to build the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility (inaugural Director; 2006-16). Professor McKay was recently inducted as a Fellow into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Her ability to meaningfully engage stakeholders, including government, to take upstream action to improve health was acknowledged through a Knowledge Translation Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and a BC Woman of Distinction Award for Health & Active Living.

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Joanie Sims-Gould

Principal Scientist; Associate Professor, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia

Joanie Sims-Gould, RSW, PhD

Dr. Sims-Gould is an Associate Professor in the Department of Family Practice at the University of British Columbia. She is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar.

Dr. Sims-Gould is a dedicated sex and gender health researcher who applies novel methodological and engagement approaches to understanding broad public health concerns, particularly those related to older adults and “adding life to years”. She works with diverse stakeholders to ensure that her research is inclusive and reflects real needs (and questions). With her strong commitment to knowledge mobilization, Dr. Sims-Gould ensures that her research findings are ‘brought back’ to stakeholders in the public sphere using dynamic and engaging knowledge translation tools, such as film.

Dr. Sims-Gould is directly involved and currently leads several research projects focused on the intersection between older adult health, socio-economic status, culture, mobility and gender.

At present, she is a Co-PI on a CIHR-funded team grant entitled “Shape the Path: Targeting the Health and Mobility Needs of Older Men through Key Community Partnerships” and Principal Investigator on a CIHR Project Grant entitled: “Choose to Move: Impact and Implementation Evaluation of a Program to Enhance Older Adult Physical Activity, Mobility and Health”. She is Co-PI on a MSFHR implementation science team entitled “Scaling out: implementation of a health promotion model for older adults in small urban, rural and remote regions of BC”. She is a Principal Scientist for the Active Aging Research Team and Project co-Lead for Active Aging British Columbia.

Dr. Sims-Gould holds degrees in Biology (BSc), Gerontology (BA), and Social Work (BSW & MSW) and an interdisciplinary PhD. Dr. Sims-Gould also received post-doctoral training and work experience in two distinct settings – UBC’s Department of Sociology and the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility (CHHM) at Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute with Dr. Karim Khan (Scientific Director of IMHA, CIHR). Dr. Sims-Gould was recognized for her scholarship with a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator award and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar award. This diversity of experience across disciplines and professions and in collaboration with many community stakeholders has uniquely positioned her to address multi-faceted issues in aging and health with a focus on sex and gender.

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RESEARCH STAFF

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Rebecca Collett

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER

Rebecca Collett

Rebecca is a values-driven health and social development communications practitioner. She has almost a decade of experience working to improve the health and well-being of both Canadians and people around the world through strategic communications and fundraising.

Rebecca is motivated by the truth that all people are universally entitled to health, justice, and dignity. Rebecca enjoys finding ways to dynamically share stories about the work of the Active Aging Research Team with the public and key stakeholders. In addition to her role with the Active Aging Research Team, Rebecca is the Director of Communications and Digital Engagement for Save the Mothers, an international NGO that equips professionals (from a wide array of disciplines) in developing countries to improve the health of mothers and babies.

Rebecca moonlights as an opera singer. She has performed with the Vancouver Opera, the Canadian Opera Company, and other opera companies, choirs, and orchestras across the country. In addition to her degree in Corporate Communications Management, Rebecca has achieved her Master’s in Music from the University of Toronto. She made her professional debut at age 6 on Sesame Street Canada.

In her spare time, Rebecca keeps active and socially connected by running on the sea wall, playing soccer, and taking her beloved pups Boy George and Matzie to the local dog park.

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Thea Franke

Thea Franke

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Thea Franke

Thea Franke, PhD, is a research associate within the Active Aging Research Team. Thea’s research investigates the everyday processes and practices of health and mobility in later life. Thea explores how mobility is experienced and the role lifestyle and contextual factors such as physical activity, and the built and social environment, play in influencing mobility. Her research is underpinned by a commitment to the use and development of qualitative methods to place the voices and perspectives of older adults at the centre.

Thea’s work crosses disciplines such as sociology, gerontology, transportation, and public health. Thea completed her Masters in Gerontology, in which she developed a tool that assessed built-environment features that facilitate mobility and independence in community day programs for persons with dementia.  This tool, along with her data, is now used by the Government of Nova Scotia.

Thea has worked with both the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health Authorities to implement programs of inquiry ranging from hip fracture recovery, and falls prevention, to the evaluation of home care worker’s uptake of a mobility program. Thea has also worked with the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research on a systematic review of skills required for effective Knowledge Translation.

Thea is the recipient of several scholarships and grants, including the prestigious Canadian Institute of Health Research Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Doctoral Scholarship, and a UBC Four-Year Fellowship.

Thea’s role has been to manage the Re-Imagine Aging Network at UBC. This is a Vice President Research and Innovation (VPRI) funded initiative to bring together the UBC community to create a virtual, supportive, interdisciplinary environment that elevates aging research beyond what is possible within a sole discipline. Thea seeks to continue her work with multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral teams of researchers, and key industry leaders, in order to translate research knowledge for effective and sustainable change.

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  Christa Hoy 

PROGRAM & EVALUATION MANAGER

Christa Hoy

Christa is the Program and Evaluation Manager with the Active Aging Research Team based at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, a UBC-affiliated research centre. Her background is in human kinetics – born of a firm belief in health promotion through physical activity. She is driven by a desire to understand how evidence-based health promotion programs work in the real world. She is currently leading the evaluation of the scale up of Choose to Move, a choice-based physical activity program for sedentary older adults across BC.

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Tina Ko

Tina Ko

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Tina Ko

Tina is a Research Assistant for Choose to Move program within the Active Aging Research Team. She is a student leader that is passionate about promoting health and fitness, striving to help individuals achieve better overall quality of life. She is actively engaged in community involvement work with people of all ages. Prior to joining AART, she worked as a Rehabilitation Assistant at the West End Adult Day Care Society. Currently, she is also working as a behaviour interventionist for children on the Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as a lifeguard and swim instructor for the City of Burnaby. Tina is a third-year student at the University of British Columbia, pursuing a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology and aspires to be a physiotherapist. In her pastime, she enjoys trading stocks, playing guitar, and baking with her family.

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Sarah Lusina-Furst

Sarah Lusina-Furst

DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS

Sarah Lusina-Furst

Sarah is the Director of Strategic Partnerships for AART, initiating and maintaining collaborations and ventures for the Choose to Move Program. Embracing an asset-based community development approach, Sarah is passionate about bringing together a community’s strengths with adaptable, outcomes-driven solutions.

Sarah brings 15+ years at the intersection of health research, innovation, community development, and knowledge translation. She is a strategic thinker and a collaborative ‘doer’ with a drive to enable systems change for the benefit of all. Committed to listening more and speaking less, Sarah creates space for others and elevates idea and people.

Sarah holds an MSc in Experimental Medicine and a Certificate in Dialogue & Civic Engagement. She is the proud descendant of hard-working and resilient Irish and Hungarian immigrants. She appreciates the privilege to live, work, play, and on unceded Coast Salish territory. Year ‘round Sarah can be found zipping across town on her bike, touring local parks and trails with her kids, and rolling up her sleeves on community boards.

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Heather Macdonald

Heather Macdonald

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE

Heather Macdonald

Heather Macdonald, PhD, is a Research Associate with the Active Aging Research Team where she supports projects such as Choose to Move through evaluation planning, grant writing, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. Throughout her career, Heather’s research has focused on promotion of physical activity through effective interventions – first with children and adolescents in the Action Schools! BC study during her PhD, through to older adults in the provincial scale-up of Choose to Move.

Heather also continues to support the legacy of the UBC Healthy Bones Study and ongoing management of the UBC Physical Activity and Bone Health Database, which includes a wealth of data from one of the longest and largest studies of children’s bone health in the world. She applies her expertise in assessment of bone health using advanced three-dimensional imaging tools to describe detailed aspects of bone structure and strength in the growing skeleton and examine how bone adapts to physical activity during adolescence. 

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Lindsay Nettlefold

Lindsay Nettlefold

SENIOR SCIENTIST

Lindsay Nettlefold

Lindsay Nettlefold is a Senior Researcher with the Active Aging Research Team (AART) at the University of British Columbia. With a background in exercise physiology, Lindsay aims to support individuals of all ages to improve and maintain their physical, social, and mental health through physical activity. Specifically, her research focuses on applying and evaluating principles of implementation and scale up science to health-promoting interventions across settings (e.g., schools, communities).

Lindsay is currently working to evaluate Choose to Move, a choice-based physical activity program for sedentary older adults across British Columbia, Canada, with a particular interest in intervention fidelity, adaptation and sustainability during scale-up. Lindsay has a PhD from the Experimental Medicine Program at UBC where she evaluated the scale-up of Action Schools! BC across the province with a focus on physical activity and cardiovascular health in school-aged children. She also completed a Professional Specialization Certificate in Population Health Data Analysis from the University of Victoria.

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Theresa Ng

COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT

Theresa Ng

Theresa is a highly motivated student in Communication major and Interactive Arts and Technology (IAT) minor at Simon Fraser University (SFU). She is passionate about pursuing a career in communications and working with the community, where she can apply my knowledge and skills in community engagement, social media management, marketing, and more for continuous improvement.

As an enthusiast for community engagement, she dedicated to supporting fellow schoolmates from a student perspective by volunteering as a Workshop Coordinator in SFU TD Community Centre, Student Ambassador, and Welcome Leader. Theresa currently serves as a Digital Communications Assistant at UBC Active Aging Research Team and Creative Coordinator at SFU Communication Student Union (CMNSU). 

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Douglas Race

Douglas Race

SENIOR RESEARCH COORDINATOR

Douglas Race

Douglas is currently a Senior Research Coordinator for the Active Aging Research Team. His early passion for health and fitness lead him to purse a Master’s Degree in Physical Education from the University of Victoria. Douglas’s research is driven by a desire to engage people of all ages in lifelong health-promoting behaviours to improve health and mobility across the lifespan. Over the past 11 years he has coordinated the evaluation of multiple studies at the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, which have investigated the health and wellness of children and older adults living in the Lower Mainland. The topics of the most recent studies include, juvenile idiopathic arthritis and physical activity participation and bone development, children’s views towards Vancouver’s Arbutus Greenway and increasing physical activity and social connectedness among older adults through the Choose to Move program. When out of the office, you can find Douglas trail running on the North Shore in preparation for his next ultra-marathon or camping with his wife and dog.

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Sara Sitarski

Sara Sitarski

RESEARCH COORDINATOR

Sara Sitarski

Sara is currently a research coordinator with the Active Aging Research Team at the University of British Columbia. A graduate of Queen’s University’s Health Studies program, Sara is interested in understanding the complex factors that influence health and well-being. She is driven by a desire to generate positive changes in health outcomes through physical activity promotion for people of all ages and abilities. Outside of work, Sara enjoys being active outdoors, travelling around the world and spending time with family and friends. She is an enthusiast of yoga, coffee and podcasts.

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Katie Weatherson

ON LEAVE

Jessica Wu

Jessica Wu

RESEARCH ASSISTANT

Jessica Wu

Jessica is currently involved in the evaluation process of the Choose to Move program within the Active Aging Research Team. Prior to joining AART, Jessica worked as a Project Assistant at Fraser Health with the older adult population, and a Research Assistant at University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health, where her team’s paper on mental health recovery was presented at Canadian Public Health Association’s annual conference in 2019. Recently, she assisted in the successful completion of a physician-lead project at Royal Columbian Hospital to improve care services for newborns at risk of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip. Jessica is currently finishing her bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and hopes to continue her academic journey through graduate-level programs in the health-related field.

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TRAINEES

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Samantha Gray

PhD CANDIDATE

Samantha Gray

Samantha Gray is a PhD Candidate in the University of British Columbia’s Experimental Medicine Program and a member of the Active Aging Research Team, working under the supervision of Dr. Heather McKay. Within the many contexts of the human experience, Samantha is most passionate about the aging process. Her research is driven by an enduring respect for older adults and a commitment to improve their health. Thus, her doctoral studies focus on the implementation and adaptation of a physical activity initiative (Choose to Move) for older adults at scale across diverse communities in British Columbia. Samantha’s current doctoral training is supported by her background in psychology of behaviour change (MSc in Kinesiology, University of Victoria) and experience in mixed methods research and knowledge translation.

Office number: (604) 875-4111 ext. 21718

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Callista Ottoni

Callista Ottoni

PhD STUDENT, MANAGER, QUALITATIVE RESEARCH AND KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION AND EXCHANGE

Callista Ottoni

Callista is Manager, Qualitative Research and Knowledge Translation and Exchange for the Active Aging Research Team. She brings 8 + years’ experience in the process, science and products (video, community engagement, web-based strategy etc.) of knowledge translation. Her favourite part of research is interviewing older adults—she loves to learn from and share their experiences of challenge, humor and, resilience. Callista is currently a PhD student in Interdisciplinary Studies at UBC. Her thesis uses arts-based visual methods to explore the social and physical impacts of COVID-19 on the lives of older adults.

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Venessa Wong

Venessa Wong

MASTER'S STUDENT

Venessa Wong

Venessa is a Master’s of Science trainee in Experimental Medicine at UBC and a Graduate Research Assistant with the Active Aging Research Team. Venessa’s research focuses on adaptations to evidence-based interventions. She works closely with the Choose to Move Scale Out team to engage partner organizations on program delivery, coordinate data collection and analyze qualitative data. She is keen to work on public health initiatives to improve health and wellbeing at a population level and bridge the know-do gap. In her spare time, she enjoys testing new recipes in the kitchen and gardening.

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COLLABORATORS