Facilities at the Centre for Aging SMART

MOBILITY INNOVATION CORE

State-of-the-art facilities, equipment and cutting-edge technologies at the Centre for Aging SMART (Solutions for Mobility, Activity, Rehabilitation and Technology) at Vancouver Coastal Health foster a research environment with a focus on innovation. The Mobility Innovation Core (MIC) is critical for advancing clinical research in mobility by addressing key challenges and barriers faced by Canadian researchers. The MIC increases research efficiency and capacity by providing state-of-art research infrastructure, expertise, and services to a broad community of researchers. Located at the Vancouver General Hospital, the MIC enables healthcare professionals to engage in and lead research. The MIC spans mechanistic research (e.g., how does muscle quality change as a function of age, disease, lifestyle), patient-oriented research (e.g., clinical trials), and population-based research (e.g., longitudinal cohort studies), with the objective of improving mobility and health outcomes

The Mobility Innovation Core's vision is to drive innovative solutions that empower Canadians to be functionally independent and to add life to years. The goal is to enable transformative, innovative, and globally competitive clinical research in mobility across aging, injuries, and diseases by increasing research efficiency, rigour, diversity, and impact.

View our approved fee structure document

See a Full List of our Equipment or

Discover our MIC Research Suites & More

The Mobility Innovation Core has 3 research suites and 1 registry:

Clinical Assessment Suite

Equipment in this suite has the capacity to measure multisystem physiological and physical functions, as well as clinical and biomechanical measures of mobility. Various state-of-art wearables are available to assess physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep continuously over days.

Full list of equipment:

GAITRite Platinum 20' Portable Walkway System
COSMED K4b2 portable metabolic analyzer
Vmax Metabolic cart
VO2 Master Analyzer
Biodex Multi-joint System Pro Dynamometer
Stress Testing system
Novotec Medical, Leonardo Force Platform
PPA kits
JAMAR PLUS + Dynamometer
BpTRU and OMRON Blood pressure monitors
ActiGraph wGT3X-BT and wGT3X+ accelerometers
QSTAR Travel Recorder XT
Polar Heart Rate Monitors
Seca Stadiometer
Tanita Scale
Movella XSENS DOT

Medical Imaging Suite

Active Health Suite

In this suite, there is a fully-equipped research-dedicated gym that enables researchers to deliver various types of exercise training, including progressive resistance training, aerobic training, high-intensity interval training, balance training, agility training, yoga, and Pilates. The gym has compliant flooring that reduces the risk of injury during exercise and it is also equipped with advanced audiovisual systems. There is also a flexible space equipped with advanced audiovisual systems that enables researchers to deliver interventions, such as exercise, virtually.

Falls Prevention Clinic Registry

The Falls Prevention Clinic is a referral-based and research-driven clinic that specializes in preventing falls and fractures among adults aged 65 years and older. All patients who are seen at the Falls Prevention Clinic are approached to enrol in the Clinic’s Registry. This Registry has been instrumental recruiting older adults into trials related to the prevention of falls, frailty, and mobility disability. With appropriate ethics approval, researchers can access data from the Registry to address research questions related to frailty and falls.

For registry requests, contact fallsclinic.admin@ubc.ca

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is it possible to use Centre labs, equipment and staff time for my research?

Yes. Staff are happy to address any question you may have, discuss potential applications for our labs and equipment, and work with you to coordinate your project. Contact us to see how we can collaborate.

Who can use our equipment and access Aging SMART’s personnel, expertise, and time?

We welcome local, national, or international researchers from:

Academic institutions
Industry
Government

The primary use of labs, equipment, and HQP is for health research, however researchers in other fields are welcome to submit a project proposal. Please contact us for more information.

Who is your building named after?

The seven-storey, 69,350 square foot facility on the Vancouver General Hospital campus is named after a major donor, Robert H.N. Ho who spent his business career in journalism and has carried on a family legacy in philanthropic activities. Learn more

Can I book a specialist appointment at the Centre?

No. Please note that we are a research centre, not a medical clinic. If you have questions or concerns about a medical condition, please consult with your physician.