Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration and Aging

The Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) is a national initiative to foster broad collaboration and knowledge sharing among researchers who study neurodegenerative diseases that affect cognition in aging. Launched in September 2014, the CCNA is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and numerous partner organizations, as a key component of the Government of Canada’s Dementia Research Strategy. Currently in its second 5-year funding cycle (Phase II), the Consortium is led from Baycrest in Toronto by Dr. Howard Chertkow, Scientific Director. Dr. Kenneth Rockwood serves as Associate Director of the CCNA, is co-lead of the Quality of Life research theme and sits on the Research Executive Committee.

Dr. Melissa Andrew, Associate Professor of Medicine at Dalhousie University, leads a CCNA team investigating the ways in which health and social problems combine to increase the risk of late life cognitive impairment, and how this affects disease expression in dementia, mortality, disease management, therapy, and heath service use.

In Phase I (2015-2019), Dr. Kenneth Rockwood led the CCNA’s Knowledge Translation and Exchange (KTE) Program, implementing strategies to make evidence generated by CCNA researchers accessible to key stakeholders, including healthcare professionals, policy and decision-makers, persons with lived experience and the general public. The Halifax based KTE Program received additional, external support from the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation (a CCNA funding partner in Phase I) in the form of a Knowledge Catalyst Grant for “Dementia knowledge translation with a focus on public policy” (NSHRF PSO-KNO-2014-9925).