Speakers:

Heather Keller, RD, PhD, FDC, FCAHS - University of Waterloo

Christine Mills, RD, MPH - Queen’s University

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing this session, you will be able to:

Heather Keller RD PhD FDC FCAHS is the Schlegel Research Chair in Nutrition & Aging at the University of Waterloo. She is an internationally recognized expert in geriatric nutrition, assessment, and treatment.  Research areas focus on nutrition risk and malnutrition identification and treatment across care sectors; improving nutrition care processes and implementing screening and other best practices; supporting food intake of diverse groups living in the community, including those living with dementia; and improving hospital and residential food and promoting food intake and the mealtime experience in these settings. Professor Keller has led several national research and knowledge translation projects, including the landmark Nutrition Care in Canadian Hospitals, More-2-Eat and Making the Most of Mealtimes in Long Term Care studies. Professor Keller has published more than 240 peer-reviewed articles and translates much of this evidence into practice with tools and resources.  As a founding member and past chair/co-chair (2009-2018) of the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force, she is involved in translating research into practice and advocating for improvements in nutrition care. She is currently the co-chair of the primary care and long-term care working groups for CMTF and involved in several national and international expert groups advancing the prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition.

Christine (Chris) Mills, RD, MPH is a PhD candidate in Aging and Health at Queen’s University. As a dietitian, Chris worked in primary care, mostly in community health centres. She also has work experience in public health. Her dissertation research focuses on nutrition risk in community-dwelling older adults in Canada and in residents of naturally occurring retirement communities in Ontario. Her other research interests include aging-in-place, interprofessional primary care, food insecurity, and unpaid caregiving. Chris participated in the CIHR Summer Program in Aging in 2021, where the focus was on longitudinal studies in aging.