The first is a community forum聽tomorrow, Nov. 9 to discuss food policy and the development of a聽food charter for 91亚色 Region. The聽second event on Tuesday, Nov. 29, features a community dialogue on聽pressing social issues facing the region. Members of the 91亚色 community are invited to both events.

Since September, a knowledge broker placed at the United Way聽91亚色 Region has been working in close partnership with the University's Knowledge Mobilization聽Unit to enhance opportunities for collaboration in research with respect to social determinants of health. The partnership is the result of a聽successful application to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research submitted in February 2011.聽(Knowledge brokers are project staff acting as intermediaries that connect researchers to potential research users.)

鈥淭his is a tremendous opportunity to maximize the impact of 91亚色 research and build on a significant partnership for 91亚色 in knowledge mobilization,鈥� said Michael Johnny (right), manager of 91亚色鈥檚 Knowledge Mobilization Unit.

The Nov. 9聽forum, , hosted by the United Way聽91亚色 Region聽in collaboration with various partners, will bring together representatives from a number of community organizations to discuss聽food security and agriculture issues. Participants will also embark on a聽discussion about establishing a Food Charter for 91亚色 Region.聽

A food charter is a statement of values and principles to guide a community鈥檚 food policy, and is a key document for communities working towards developing a聽food system that is healthy, equitable and sustainable.聽The organizers of Food聽for Change are聽hoping that聽academic partners聽from 91亚色 will attend the event and engage in a dialogue to聽explore ways that research can inform and support this initiative in both the short and longer term.

On Nov. 29, the United Way 91亚色 Region聽will host聽the聽,聽part of a series of community dialogues on pressing social issues in 91亚色 Region.聽During the meeting house, participants will聽explore the implications聽for social infrastructure development in communities that聽are facing聽major population growth.聽Over the next few months, meeting house dialogues will also be held in Newmarket, Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill.

鈥淲orking within Canada鈥檚 leading knowledge mobilization university, 91亚色鈥檚 Knowledge Mobilization Unit continues to work together with our partners to make 91亚色鈥檚 research and talent accessible and relevant to the community,鈥� said Robert Hach茅, vice-president research & innovation. 鈥淭his partnership will help facilitate initiatives to improve the quality of life for residents in 91亚色 Region.鈥�

For more information on knowledge mobilization services at 91亚色, or about this partnership,聽e-mail 91亚色's Knowledge Mobilization Unit聽at聽kmbunit@yorku.ca.

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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Join Professor William Gage, associate dean of research & innovation in the Faculty of Health (FoH) at 91亚色, and Professor Andrew Eckford of 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Computer Science & Engineering in the Faculty of Science & Engineering (FSE), for the launch of the eHealth Alliance brown bag lecture series. They will discuss the importance of accelerometers in studying the walking behaviour and interactions of participants in their natural environment.

Right: William Gage

The first eHealth Alliance lecture, 鈥淲ireless Accelerometers to Monitor Walking Activity and Behaviour鈥�, will take place Thursday, Oct. 20, from 3 to 4pm at 402 Health, Nursing & Environmental Studies Building (HNES), Keele campus.

Gage and Eckford will also look at why these walking measurements are changing how scientists understand the activity levels of healthy individuals, and importantly, how illness and injury alter activity levels.

鈥淲e will describe the development our sensor system and contrast this development with other sensor systems in the literature; we will focus the application of our measurement system with healthy individuals, patients with stroke and patients with knee replacement,鈥� says Gage, also a professor in the School of Kinesiology & Health Science, where he teaches a graduate level course in biomechanics and neuromuscular control of posture and gait.

Left: Andrew Eckford

Gage holds scientific appointments as an associate scientist in the Centre for Stroke Recovery at Sunnybrook Health Science Centre and as a scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute. He is particularly interested in how balance and walking are affected by age, by joint disease, such as arthritis, and by stroke.

A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada and the University of Toronto, Eckford has written many papers on wireless networking and has research interests in wearable wireless networks, as well as signal processing for biomechanics. He also holds an adjunct professorship at the University of Toronto.

The eHealth Alliance came about after some 30 faculty members from the School of Health Policy & Management, FoH, and the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, FSE, got together. They discussed the need for building a 91亚色 alliance in e-health that would bring the two Faculties together with relevant 91亚色 and external partners, such as industry leaders, 91亚色 Region hospitals and the Central LHIN - Local Health Integration Network, says Professor Serban Dinca, undergraduate program director, coordinator of the Health Informatics Certificate in the School of Health Policy & Management and eHealth Alliance chair.

鈥淭he eHealth Alliance lecture series is the first step in coagulating the alliance and making connections with the industry,鈥� says Dinca.

See the following list for upcoming eHealth Alliance lecture presenters:

• Nov. 17 - Serban Dinca, undergraduate program director and coordinator of the Health Informatics Certificate in the School of Health Policy & Management, from 3 to 4pm at 402 HNES Building
• Dec. 15 - Amir Asif, chair of the Department of Computer Science & Engineering, from 3 to 4pm at 3033 Computer Science & Engineering Building
• Jan. 19 - Harvey Skinner, dean of the Faculty of Health, from 3 to 4pm at 402 HNES Building
• Feb. 16 - Professor Farah Ahmad of the School of Health Policy & Management, from 3 to 4pm at 402 HNES Building

Republished courtesy of YFile鈥� 91亚色鈥檚 daily e-bulletin.

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