A leading specialist in geriatric medicine has been appointed to a new research chair at the University of Waterloo in Ontario with the aim of applying a multi-disciplinary approach to health care for seniors.

Dr. George Heckman, specialist in aging and cardiovascular disease, was appointed as the Schlegel Research Chair in Geriatric Medicine by the university and three funding partners. The university is working with philanthropist Ronald Schlegel, the Waterloo Wellington Local Heath Integration Network and the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.

Heckman, an assistant professor of medicine at McMaster University, specializes in chronic disease management in community, residential and longterm care settings. He joins Waterloo as an associate professor in the department of health studies and gerontology, where he will collaborate with established experts in aging, health, and wellbeing.

He also plans to maintain ties with researchers from McMaster, with opportunities to strengthen links between McMaster's expertise in chronic disease management and Waterloo's initiatives in illness prevention and health promotion for older adults.

The new chair is one of five Schlegel Research Chairs in Aging, first announced in May 2008. Major funding for the chairs comes from a $4million donation by Schlegel, president of Winston Park and Oakwood Retirement Communities. The money is on top of his initial $2million donation to help found the Schlegel University
of Waterloo Research Institute for Aging.

"I am pleased to provide funding to promote research in geriatric medicine that will improve the quality of life and quality of care for our seniors," said Schlegel, a former professor at Waterloo. "We need to stop treating chronic disease and conditions as if they occur in isolation and instead take a more comprehensive treatment approach to medical care in later life."