The Aging Symposium (Alberta)

Alberta's first aging symposium was sponsored by the Canadian Association of Gerontology held in conjunction with the introduction of the University of Alberta's Centre for Gerontology, which was eventually renamed the Alberta Centre on Aging. In 1982, the University of Alberta introduced the Centre for Gerontology, which was sponsored by both the Faculty of Arts and the Faculty of Medicine; the centre was created "to enhance the understanding of the aged individual and of the aging process by mean of the support, encouragement, and facilitation of research in gerontology."[7] The 1982 symposium was held May 31-June 3. The 1982 symposium took place at the Hotel Macdonald. The 1982 symposium was organized by Dr. Hayden Roberts.

Ten years after the first symposium, a second conference was held October 22-25, 1992. Similar to the first conference, the second aging symposium was co-sponsored by the Canadian Association of Gerontology and the University of Alberta's Centre for Gerontology.[8]

In October 2002, a third Alberta aging symposium was sponsored by the Alberta Council on Aging and held in Calgary.[9] This symposium was funded by several different groups including the University of Calgary and Athabasca University, as well as the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta and the Canadian Institute on Health and Aging.[9]

By 2007 the University of Alberta's Centre for Gerontology had formally changed its name to the Alberta Centre on Aging and was the one of the sponsors for the Edmonton Aging Symposium.[10] The Edmonton Aging Symposium was the entirely inspired, organized, and funded through the efforts of Dr. Kevin Perrott and held March 30-31, 2007.[11][12][13] The 2007 symposium was inspired by Kevin Perrott's work with the Methuselah Foundation and the science of developing interventions in aging process as a means to prevent chronic degenerative disease. The Symposium featured future forward speakers such as Aubrey de Grey, Gregory Stock, Ronald Bailey, Daniel Callahan, Luiji Fontana, Judith Campisi, William J. Evans, Ellen Heber-Katz, and Amit Patel, amongst others.[14][15] The 2007 symposium took place at Bernard Snell Hall at the University of Alberta. The 2007 symposium was a standalone and entirely novel gathering of government, academic, industry, and the general public to discuss the necessity and impact of the development of interventions in aging. Dr. Kevin Perrott has gone on to create multiple organizations focused on this goal.[16]

Similar to the symposium presented five years prior in 2007, Alberta's fifth aging symposium was held on campus at the University of Alberta. Instead of being presented by the Alberta Centre on Aging, however, the fifth symposium was sponsored by the university's Special Interest Group on Aging in the Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine. The fifth aging symposium was held in June 2012.[17]

From September 11-13, 2017 a sixth aging symposium was held in Hinton, Alberta and sponsored by Grey Matters Alberta.[18]