WHO WE ARE

Our Team

Jeremy Staples

Research Specialist

Jeremy has worked in Ontario post-secondary education for over 30 years and is currently a Research Specialist in the Research and Innovation at Humber Institute. He is focused on creating learning experiences that challenge learners to embrace discomfort as a means to develop their critical, creative and reflective thinking capacity so that they are prepared for the ambiguity and uncertainty of the 21st Century workplace.

Barath Michel Roy

Emerging Researcher

Michel, equipped with over ten years of professional expertise, boasts a Master's degree in Social Work and Human Resources. His diverse background encompasses Project Management, Human Resources, Data Analytics, and Consulting. Currently working as a Senior Project Manager at Humber Institute, he oversees Applied Research Projects and stands out as a driven Emerging Researcher. Michel's passions lie in uncovering insights from data and spearheading initiatives for upskilling.

Muge Abac

Emerging Researcher

With over a decade of professional experience, Muge holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Management along with a Master's degree in Global Marketing and Brand Management. Integrating insights from both industry and academia, she specializes in strategy development, innovation management, entrepreneurship, and project management. Currently, she applies her expertise at Humber Institute, bridging academia and industry and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration through innovative research initiatives.

Fatima Momin

Research Specialist (ACER Lead)

Fatima Momin is the Lead of the Aging in Community Education and Research (ACER) Hub at Humber Polytechnic and a research professional with over 10 years of diverse experience, including applied research, project management, and knowledge mobilization. She holds a Master of Laws, a Bachelor of Commerce, a graduate certificate in Research Analytics, and two SEDA-accredited applied research certificates.

Fatima is currently leading multiple applied research projects focused on workplace innovation, accessibility, and intergenerational connections. She has contributed to research projects with a combined portfolio value of more than $5 million, collaborating with interdisciplinary teams, students, and community partners to translate research into meaningful community impact. Her expertise includes qualitative research, project management, and student training and development.

What We Do

Humber’s Aging in Community Education and Research hub (ACER) is an initiative of the Research and Innovation.

Research and Innovation actively engages in applied research and innovation services, collaborating with partner organizations, faculty and student research teams to address real-world challenges. These collaborations not only benefit partners but they provide students with valuable hands-on experience, ORI plays a pivotal role in fostering Humber’s research culture by encouraging a focus on discovery, collaboration and meaningful impact within the institution.

ACER’s mission is to ‘conduct innovative research that creates, implements and evaluates solutions that strengthen community-based supports to empower older adults to remain engaged in and connected to their communities’.

ACER has six foundational research themes; Potential research topics have been identified for each one of them. While these topics guide both ACER research and educational initiatives, the ACER team is always open to exploring opportunities as they present themselves.The results of ACER research and educational activities will enrich Humber’s academic programs, create new and strengthen existing business and industry partnerships.

ACER Themes

The following areas represent ACER’s six founding themes. It is important to note that these six themes do not exist in isolation. Rather, there are synergies and many points of intersection between them upon which research projects will be built.

Community Connections

Despite many efforts over the last decade to reduce social isolation and loneliness among older adults, they continue to be complex and persistent societal problems. ACER researchers will investigate ways to enable older adults to remain connected to and engaged in their communities. In doing so, we will evaluate technology tools that may support connections.

Workplace Innovation (WIN)

Older workers have an important role to play in Canada’s economy. Examples of research focal points include recruiting, training and retaining older workers; creating age-inclusive work places, both in design and organizational culture; supporting older entrepreneurs; seeking solutions to labour force participation and managing 5 generation workforces.

Health and Wellness

The overarching goal of this theme is to explore ways to extend one’s health span, which is different from life span. Drawing on the World Health Organization’s social determinants of health, researchers will focus on ways to support older adults in all aspects of health and wellbeing. This could include improving access to health and community supports and creating innovative health promotion strategies.

Enabling Technologies

The potential for technology to facilitate aging in community has enormous potential. Research associated with this theme may include, but is not limited to, automating ways for people to remain and be cared for in their own homes, technologies that support social inclusion and community connections, wearables for fitness and to monitor health and to detect falls.

Communications & Marketing

While older consumers represent a powerful marketing opportunity, many companies continue to dedicate their marketing efforts towards a younger demographic. How to shift that dynamic and increase awareness about marketing to and communicating with mature consumers will be investigated.

The Built Environment

Our interest in the built environment includes all aspects of what it means to age well in community. This includes not only the development of a range of housing options but the design and use of public spaces, both buildings (e.g. banks, restaurants, medical clinics, grocery stores) as well as outdoor spaces (e.g. parks, hiking trails).