AGE-WELL Honorary Fellows

The AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award recognizes members who have made long-term and substantial contributions to research and innovation in the AgeTech sector, as well as a significant contribution to AGE-WELL.

Our sincere gratitude to the recipients:

Mimi Lowi-Young
2025 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Mimi Lowi-Young is an inspiring leader who served as Chair of the AGE-WELL Board of Directors from 2018 to 2025 and is now Immediate Past Chair. She has over 40 years of experience in health care leadership in acute care, continuing care, community care, and health charities. Ms. Lowi-Young was CEO of the Alzheimer Society of Canada and the inaugural CEO of the Central West Local Health Integration Network. Currently, she is a Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, School of Public Health, at the University of Toronto.

Andrew Sixsmith
2025 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Andrew Sixsmith is a founding and former Co-Scientific Director of AGE-WELL. He played a pivotal role in building AGE-WELL as Canada’s national network for technology and aging, fostering partnerships across academia, industry and government. Dr. Sixsmith is a Professor of Gerontology at Simon Fraser University and Director of the STAR (Science and Technology for Aging Research) Institute. An internationally recognized leader, he continues to guide AGE-WELL as lead of the Healthy Lifestyles & Wellness Challenge Area and as a member of our Research Management Committee.

Michael Tamblyn
2025 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Michael Tamblyn is the President and CEO of Rakuten Kobo and the inaugural Chief Entrepreneur of AGE-WELL. In that volunteer AGE-WELL role, he has demonstrated a deep commitment to fostering innovation and entrepreneurship within the network and the AgeTech sector. Mr. Tamblyn has generously shared his knowledge and experience with AGE-WELL, supporting innovators through mentorship and guidance. A pioneer in digital reading, he has led Kobo’s global growth and oversees Rakuten’s eReading businesses. Previously, he was the founding CEO of BookNet Canada and co-founded Canada’s first online bookstore, Bookshelf.ca.

Sherry Baker
2024 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Sherry Baker’s passion is to build safe and healthy communities from the ground up. For the past six years, she has been an integral member of AGE-WELL’s Older Adult and Caregiver Advisory Committee (OACAC) and currently serves as its co-chair. Her leadership in this role and contributions as an observer on the envisAGE Project Selection Committee have been instrumental in shaping AGE-WELL’s stakeholder-led initiatives. From 2010 to 2024, Ms. Baker led the development of the BC Association of Community Response Networks. She has served on numerous boards and committees, consistently demonstrating her dedication to advancing the well-being of older adults and vulnerable populations.

Dr. Susan Jaglal
2024 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Susan Jaglal is a professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointments to the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute and Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. She is a senior scientist at the KITE Research Institute at University Health Network. As academic lead for education and training for AGE-WELL, Dr. Jaglal was instrumental in the development and launch of AGE-WELL’s EPIC training program. She supports our spin-off training platform EPIC-AT, and served on AGE-WELL’s Research Management Committee for seven years. Her work with AGE-WELL has left an indelible mark on our innovators of today and tomorrow.

Dr. Rafik Goubran
2023 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Rafik Goubran is vice-president (research and international) and Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University. An AGE-WELL researcher from the very start, he is a founding member of Sensors and Analytics for Monitoring Mobility and Memory (SAM3), an AGE-WELL national innovation hub, and also leads our Challenge Area focused on Supportive Homes & Communities. Dr. Goubran is a widely-recognized expert in sensors and analytics. He co-leads several multi-disciplinary research programs on the design of smart environments for the independent living of seniors, and on vital sign monitoring. Read more.

Jim Mann
2023 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

A dedicated advocate for people living with Alzheimer’s, Jim Mann serves on multiple advisory councils and boards, including the CIHR Institute of Aging Advisory Board. He has been a member of AGE-WELL’s Research Management Committee for eight years, and has spoken at many AGE-WELL events, including the first Annual Conference in 2015 and AGE-WELL’s Day on the Hill in 2018. He is an inspiration to network members. His wisdom and lived experience are invaluable to do the work we do. Read more.

Dr. Lili Liu
2023 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Lili Liu is a professor in the School of Public Health Sciences, and dean of the Faculty of Health, at the University of Waterloo. She is a renowned researcher whose work examines how technologies can help older adults and family caregivers. Dr. Liu has also been an AGE-WELL researcher from the beginning, and leads our Challenge Area for Autonomy & Independence. She also mentors trainees, leads multiple projects, contributes to our publications initiatives, and does media interviews on behalf of the network. Read more.

Roger Marple
2022 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Roger Marple was a powerful advocate for people living with dementia. He served on AGE-WELL’s Older Adult and Caregiver Advisory Committee as member-at-large, Alberta, collaborated on AGE-WELL research projects and supported future leaders in AgeTech. Since his diagnosis with dementia in 2015, he made it his mission to dispel myths about the disease and the stigma associated with it. Marple was on the board of directors of the Alzheimer Society of Alberta and Northwest Territories, and also served on an Alzheimer Society of Canada advisory group. We were deeply saddened by his death in October 2022. Read more.

Dr. Sandra McKay
2021 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Sandra McKay is Vice President of Research & Innovation at VHA Home HealthCare, and an assistant professor at the Institute of Health Policy Management & Evaluation at the University of Toronto. Dr. McKay has been a steadfast supporter of AGE-WELL and its mandate for many years. She has contributed to AGE-WELL in countless ways, serving on the Research Management Committee and the Industry Advisory Group. Her dedication to and efforts within the AGE-WELL network have been of great benefit to researchers, startups, trainees and AGE-WELL itself. Read more.

Dr. Susan Kirkland
2020 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Dr. Susan Kirkland, a professor at Dalhousie University, is a member of AGE-WELL’s Board of Directors, where she brings critical insight as a researcher. Her commitment to meaningful inclusion and engagement of older adults in research has helped shape the approach to “co-creation” for which AGE-WELL is revered.

She has been instrumental in the development of game-changing studies around older adults and technology in her role as project lead with OA-INVOLVE and as one of three principal investigators since the inception of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA). Read more.

Ron Beleno
2020 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

Ron Beleno is a dedicated advocate in the caregiving space. He helped lead the formation of the AGE-WELL Older Adult and Caregiver Advisory Committee (OACAC), and serves as committee co-chair. Beleno looked after his father, who had Alzheimer’s disease, for the last 10 years of his life. He brings his wisdom and lived experience as a caregiver to many AGE-WELL research projects. His selection as a recipient of the 2020 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award recognizes his passion for technology and his tireless efforts as a dementia and caregiving advocate. Read more.

Dr. Alan Mackworth
2019 AGE-WELL Honorary Fellow Award

A Professor Emeritus of Computer Science at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Dr. Mackworth is the former chair of AGE-WELL’s International Scientific Advisory Committee and was a member of AGE-WELL’s Board of Directors from 2015 to 2018. He is widely known for his accomplishments in the field of artificial intelligence. As the founding director of the Laboratory for Computational Intelligence at UBC, Dr. Mackworth has played a leading role in establishing one of Canada’s and, indeed, the world’s leading AI groups. Read more.