KINGSTON – Geoff Fernie, a professor at the University of Toronto and vice president of research at the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, will speak at the University of Rhode Island on April 30 about the latest research and technological developments that could help elders and the disabled in the future.
The Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center and the URI Program in Gerontology will host the lecture, titled “Environment, Aging and Disability.” The event is free and open to the public and will be held at 4 p.m. in the Independence Hall Auditorium, 60 Upper College Road, on the Kingston campus.
Fernie – who is also a mechanical engineer – has focused his research on the physical and cognitive disabilities that are frequently encountered by people as they age, and on developing technologies that help prevent, treat or manage these limitations. He is expected to speak about applied interdisciplinary research that bridges engineering and clinical professions in geriatrics and rehabilitation.
The event will be the third annual Malford Thewlis Lecture, named after former Wakefield resident who was one of the founders of the American Geriatrics Society in 1942 and the author of a pioneering textbook in 1919.
The Rhode Island Geriatric Education Center is a consortium of the URI Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy and Human Sciences and Services; Rhode Island College; the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University / Rhode Island Area Health Education Center; and Roger Williams Medical Center. The center aims to enhance the quality of life for older adults in the state by improving knowledge and skills in geriatrics and gerontology among health care and human service professionals, educators, students, older adults and family caregivers.
For more information, go to www.uri.edu/outreach/rigec or call 874-5311.
