Centre on Aging
Student Awards
The Centre on Aging annually adjudicates scholarships available to students pursuing studies in
aging at the University of Manitoba. In addition, the Centre also adjudicates the Alzheimer Society
of Manitoba Graduate Fellowships.
2009-2010 Awards and Recipients
In 2005 the Centre on Aging Graduate Fellowship was renamed the Centre on Aging Betty
Havens Memorial Graduate Fellowship. Betty Havens was a leader in social gerontology and in
health services research on aging and elderly persons. She was one of the founders of the Centre in
1982 and maintained close ties with the Centre throughout her life.
2009-2010 Recipient: Kristin Reynolds, Master of Arts student, Department of Psychology
Focus: To determine the mental health information needs and preferences and help-seeking for
psychological problems and to make a comparison of younger and older adults. Information from this
study will be used to develop aids to improve patient knowledge, satisfaction and participation in
decision-making. (Advisor: Corey Mackenzie)
The Jack MacDonell Scholarship for Research in Aging was established to encourage and
stimulate graduate student research in aging, in recognition of the contributions and achievements to
teaching, research, and service in gerontology by Dr. Jack A. MacDonell. It is awarded to a student
pursuing full-time graduate studies with a focus on aging at the University of Manitoba.
2009-2010 Recipient: Pavithra Rajan, Master of Science student, Kinesiology
Focus: To examine the effect of elastic resistance training on ankle dorsiflexor strength and power
in mobility-impaired older women. Muscle strength is an important predictor of independence in older
adults; reduction is associated with gait abnormalities, imbalance and fall risk. The use of elastic
resistance bands are low cost, portable, versatile and are appropriate for home programs, especially for
older adults as they are a safe mode to increase strength and have shown to have a higher rate of
compliance. (Advisor: Michelle Porter)
The Esther and Samuel Milmot Scholarship was established in 1987 through a bequest in
honour of Esther and Samuel Milmot. It is awarded to a full-time student, undergraduate or graduate,
pursuing a program which bears on gerontology, in the Faculty of Arts or in the Faculty of Graduate
Studies with the field of study in a department in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Manitoba.
2009-2010 Recipient: Kim Nozick, Master of Arts student, Department of Psychology
Focus: To investigate the benefits of positive psychology into research on healthy aging. While
both self-compassion and self-forgiveness benefit physical and mental health in younger adults, it is not
known if the results generalize to older adults nor have they been examined together in a single study.
(Advisor: Corey Mackenzie)
Alzheimer Society of Manitoba Graduate Student Fellowship Awards:
The Alzheimer Society of Manitoba offers two awards to graduate students. The purpose of these
awards is to enhance knowledge into the cause, treatment, cure and effects of Alzheimer Disease and
Related Disorders; to encourage graduate student interest in Alzheimer Disease and Related
Disorders; and, to stimulate graduate research activity in Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders.
2009-2010 Recipients:
Eli Akude, PhD student, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
Focus: The process of aging involves changes in the peripheral nervous system including loss
of myelinated and unmyelinated nerve fibres and abnormalities such as demyelination and distrophic
axonal swellings. These normal age-related changes in the nerves are accelerated in disease
conditions such as diabetic neuropathy. The aims of this study are to examine the direct impact of 4HNE on axonal plasticity and regeneration of cultured adult rat sensory neurons , and to determine if
the alterations in mitochondrial activity are associated with changes in axonal plasticity. (Advisor: Paul
Fernyhough)
Avid Khamenehfar, PhD student, Department of Chemistry
Focus: Examination of Creatine Deposits and Environs in TgCRND8 Mouse Brain by Raman and
sFTIR Microscopy. Both Fourier Transform Infrared and Raman microspectroscopies will be used to
identify plaques and the surrounding elevated lipids in snap-frozen tissue samples. Acquired results will
be compared and discussed in conjunction with standard histological tests for relevant targets. (Advisor:
Kathleen Gough)
Research Fellowships:
Each year, the Centre offers the Centre on Aging Research Fellowship to a faculty member at
the University of Manitoba. This year two awards were presented. The intent of these fellowships is to
encourage research in aging by either providing release from some teaching responsibilities in order for
faculty to increase their research activities in aging for a one-year period, or to provide funding to
support their research.
2009-2010 Recipients:
Benedict Albensi, PhD, Pharmacology and Therapeutics/Neurodegenerative Disorders
Focus: Understanding how normal memory works and what happens when it is impaired.
From a neurochemical and neuropharmalogical perspective, he is working to identify molecular
signaling pathways and pharmacological mechanisms that could be targeted with promising
therapeutics. Researchers in his laboratory are examining biological processes involving calcium
regulation and neuronal excitability as these thresholds play a large role in not only normal memory
processing but also in the processes of brain injury and disease. According to Dr. Albensi, this
research is important because: It it provides a valuable platform for scientists to understand how
neurons change at the molecular level during the formation of memory; finding a gene or genes that are
activated in both the transgenic mouse and human strongly suggests the gene is involved in memory;
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain can reveal loss of gray matter and other important
changes years before symptoms of dementia; and, it could ultimately lead to the development of drugs
to treat memory disorders and other brain diseases of neurodegenerative conditions.
Christina Lengyel, PhD, Human Nutritional Sciences
Focus: Nutrition and health-related issues of older adults.
Currently she is investigating the associations between nutritional risk, successful aging, and self-rated
health of community-dwelling older men using data from the Manitoba Follow-up Study (MFUS). The
MFUS, a long-term prospective study involving a cohort of 3,983 initially healthy young men is in its
60th year and continues to gather data from its 900 surviving members (mean age: 87 years). Previous
research with the MFUS demonstrated that the daily consumption of vegetables/fruit and grain products
are associated with healthier self-rated diets compared to men consuming these food groups most
days. In addition, frequent consumption of fruits and vegetables contributed to the perception of better
health and greater life satisfaction of the men in the MFUS. Drawing on data collected in December
2007 and December 2008 and to be collected in December 2009, Dr. Lengyel is measuring the
associations between nutritional risk, successful aging and self-directed diet/nutrition. She is also
assessing predictability of nutritional risk of those who have aged successfully, as determined by the
annual Successful Aging Questionnaires administered in May 2008 and May 2009 on a sub-group of
self-reported successful individuals identified in the 2007 and 2008 Nutrition Surveys. Dr. Lengyel plans
to use the findings to develop effective nutrition education and intervention programs targeting
individuals aged 85 years and older, the fastest growing segment of the Canadian population (Statistics
Canada 2007a).