TILDA Celebrates WHO Collaborating Centre Designation with In-House Kick-Off Event
Posted on 15 October 2024
On 25th September, the team gathered at TILDA in Trinity Central for an in-person event to celebrate our recent designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) for Longitudinal Studies on Ageing and the Life Course. The occasion marked an exciting new chapter for our research group as it joins global efforts in advancing research on healthy ageing.
The event, held in the open-plan space at Trinity Central, began with a lunch, offering TILDA team members a chance to connect and reflect on this new venture. Following lunch, Dr Cathal McCrory provided team updates, summarising recent progress and future goals for TILDA’s research. Next, Professor Rose Anne Kenny delivered a thrilling presentation on the autonimic nervous system and Dr Ann Hever, concluded the session with an overview of the WHOCC work plan, focusing on key goals and collaborative efforts with the World Health Organization.
Dr Ann Hever, TILDA R & D Manager, speaking at the event, TILDA, Trinity Central.
The WHO Collaborating Centre designation recognises TILDA's expertise in the field of life course and ageing research. TILDA’s longitudinal dataset, built over more than a decade, provides invaluable insights into physical, cognitive, psychological, and social aspects of ageing. By partnering with the WHO, we aim to address critical needs in healthy ageing research, including the development of robust population survey and clinical measurement practices, which will be integrated into the WHO World Health Survey Plus (WHS+).
Key Initiatives of the WHOCC for Longitudinal Studies on Ageing and the Life Course:
Under the WHO’s leadership, we will spearhead a number of initiatives to support the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, including:
- to provide technical support for WHO to strengthen data measurement, monitoring, and research on healthy ageing.
- to support countries in conducting national surveys of ageing that are comparable to established studies.
- tosupport knowledge exchange, translation and dissemination between WHO, UN and other international organisations with international longitudinal studies of ageing within the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) network and other population ageing cohorts.
- Developing an ageing survey module for the WHO World Health Survey Plus (WHS+) in collaboration with the Technical Advisory Group (TAG).
- Producing training materials based on TILDA’s in-house expertise, including clinical health assessment videos and survey methodology resources.
- Ensuring that these training materials will be accessible through the WHO Academy platform.
Fields of Expertise and Future Collaborations
As a WHOCC, TILDA will work at the forefront of healthy ageing research to strengthen global data on ageing. The expertise of the TILDA team, especially in modelling ageing trajectories and biomarker analysis, will be crucial in identifying opportunities for preventative interventions and supporting vulnerable populations. TILDA’s designation as a WHO Collaborating Centre represents a commitment to furthering WHO’s mission to promote healthy ageing on a global scale.