Grant: Team Gr.: Embracing Diversity to Achieve Precision & Health Equity-General Omics

The Social BEACON initiative will shed light on the complex interplay between social disparities, biological factors, and healthy aging by bringing together an interdisciplinary team of researchers and older adults with lived experience. This project will leverage existing data from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA), a longitudinal study of adults aged 45 to 85 years at baseline from diverse genders, race/ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds, including those who have experienced inequitable health outcomes. The Social BEACON initiative will use existing social, physical, cognitive, and mental health data collected for all participants as well as genetic (n=27,000), metabolomic (n=10,000), epigenetic (n=1,500), and microbiome (n=6,000) data collected in a subset of participants. Social BEACON will enhance the CLSA data platform by conducting proteomic (n=5,000) and epigenetic (n=3,500) analyses on additional participants. Through a multi-omics approach, which integrates various biological data like genomics, epigenomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and the gut microbiome, the initiative aims to uncover the underlying mechanisms linking social disadvantage to inflammation and age-related diseases. By understanding the molecular drivers of disease and the pathways through which social disparities impact health, the project will generate evidence that will inform the development of focused interventions and improve the health outcomes of all individuals in Canada. The Social BEACON initiative focuses on training and mentoring the next generation of researchers, while also prioritizing engagement and knowledge mobilization to ensure that research findings lead to real, impactful benefits for Canadians. Activities such as data sharing, public outreach, and collaboration with government and community organizations will facilitate the development of targeted interventions and policies aimed at reducing health inequities and promoting healthy aging.