What social factors explain why some older Canadians lose mobility sooner than others? 91亚色 researcher Ogochukwu Kelechi Onyeso is using machine learning to find answers and has earned national recognition for his work.
What social factors explain why some older Canadians lose mobility sooner than others? 91亚色 researcher Ogochukwu Kelechi Onyeso is using machine learning to find answers and has earned national recognition for his work.
, a postdoctoral fellow at 91亚色鈥檚 School of Kinesiology and Health Science, has received a from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Institute of Aging (CIHR-IA).
Conducted in 91亚色鈥檚 M4 and Aging Lab under the supervision of Assistant Professor Michael Kalu, his study examines how the intersection of age, gender and race influences mobility trajectories to identify factors that could support healthier aging.
Each year, CIHR-IA awards the prize to the highest-ranked postdoctoral applicants in the field of aging through its open national fellowship competition. Onyeso was recognized for his project titled 鈥淎 Machine Learning Analysis of Mobility Trajectories Among Canadian Older Adults: Disaggregated Insights by Age, Gender, and Race.鈥
His work combines community-based co-creation research with machine learning and explainable AI. Using methods such as SHAP, which helps explain how machine learning arrives at a prediction, and SMOTER, which addresses imbalances in datasets, Onyeso aims to identify the factors driving predictions while accounting for the under-representation of smaller groups, including racialized older adults.
鈥淧opulation data often tells us how older adults are doing on average, but averages can mask the people who are being left behind,鈥 says Onyeso. 鈥淏y looking separately at age, gender and race, we can see where mobility declines earlier or faster, and more importantly, which factors we can actually change.鈥
Onyeso鈥檚 long-term goal is to develop an equity-, disability- and climate-informed online dashboard where users can enter a minimal amount of information, receive a prediction of their mobility trajectory and see which modifiable factors could help them stay mobile longer. The dashboard would also account for environmental factors such as extreme heat and poor air quality, linking Onyeso鈥檚 findings with the health and functional challenges associated with a changing climate.
Onyeso says the recognition reflects a collective effort, and credits Kalu, his mentors and colleagues for their role in his work. 鈥淭his achievement belongs to more than just me,鈥 he says. He also acknowledges older adults as the inspiration behind the work, noting 鈥渓ived experiences, resilience and voices drive this work.鈥
Onyeso holds a PhD in population studies in health from the University of Lethbridge, where he received the Governor General鈥檚 Academic Gold Medal. He is a clinician-scientist with a background in physiotherapy and musculoskeletal epidemiology and an alumnus of the Consortium on Analytics for Data-Driven Decision-Making (CAnD3).