Manuel Montero-Odasso

      Dr. Manuel Montero-Odasso is Professor at the University of Western Ontario, Canada (Departments of Medicine, and Epidemiology and Biostatistics) and Director of the “Gait & Brain Lab” at Parkwood Institute (London, Ontario). He is a geriatrician and clinician-scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and serves as team leader at the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging (CCNA) and the Ontario Neurodegenerative Research Initiative (ONDRI).

      He leads the Gait and Brain Health Program with the goal of understanding mechanisms and treatments of mobility and cognitive decline in aging by focusing in the interaction between gait performance and cognition. He has established the use of “motor biomarkers” like slowing gait speed and dual-task gait to predict frailty, falls, and dementia. Currently, he leads clinical trials testing the effect of personalized medicine and lifestyle intervention to prevent dementia and falls.

      Dr. Montero-Odasso has created a successful research program while remaining an active clinician. His research has received more than $8 million of peer-reviewed funding, he has published over 200 scientific articles, given over 150 international presentations, and he has received several accolades including the Top 10 Hispanic Canadian for his contribution in Medicine and Science. He currently serves as executive member and Vice-President of the Canadian Geriatrics Society (CGS). He is chairing the World Falls Guidelines initiative along with Professor Tahir Masud (UK) and Professor Nathalie Van derVelde (Netherlands)