Well it is the beginning of 2012. Lots of new beginnings… I have started a new position at the University of Waterloo as the Schlegel Research Chair in Nutrition and Aging. I am very excited about this opportunity as it will afford me the time to focus on conducting applied nutrition research for older adults. I am working with a great team within the UW-Schlegel Research Institute of Aging and it is an exciting time to see things that have been percolating move forward. Specifically, the Canadian Malnutrition Task Force (CMTF) of the Canadian Nutrition Society will be launching its webpage and Partners Against Malnutrition initiative this week! Check out the website at www.nutritioncareincanada.ca. As co-chair of CMTF it has been a busy time the past few months and phase 3 of our study Nutrition Care In Canadian Hospitals will round out our data collection this year. We are also adding a pediatric arm to the study this year. We are planning a variety of stakeholder engagement activities to develop the Partners Against Malnutrition coalition that will help us to address the pressing issue of malnutrition in Canadian hospitals.

My work in the area of nutrition and longterm care will also take some new paths this year. Using the Life Nourishment Theory as a basis I hope to work with various stakeholders to further understand the importance of the dining experience in retirement homes and long term care and develop interventions that will improve mealtime satisfaction, social interaction at meals and quality of life. The next few months will be a planning phase to develop some of these new initiatives.