Mission

To catalyze interdisciplinary collaboration to advance research on sensory health in aging populations, accelerating discovery and translation to improve health, function, independence, and quality of life for older adults worldwide.

Core Values

Collaboration over silos
We actively connect people, ideas, and disciplines to spark new partnerships and breakthroughs.

Inclusivity of perspectives
We value contributions across disciplines, career stages, lived experiences, and populations whose experiences are often underrepresented in research, recognizing that broader perspectives lead to stronger science and more meaningful outcomes.

Translation to impact
We emphasize work that bridges theory, data, policy, and practice to enable knowledge translation and mobilization that to support healthy aging, independence, and quality of life.

Shared ownership
Mi-SHARC is grounded in collaborative leadership, with members contributing to the initiative’s priorities, activities, and growth.

Strategic Aims (2–3 year horizon)

Build a new, connected research community
Create a new community of sensory health and aging researchers across disciplines. Establish regular opportunities for engagement, idea exchange, and collaboration, positioning Mi-SHARC as a hub for interdisciplinary innovation and leadership in this emerging field.

Identify research gaps and accelerate translation to policy and practice
Systematically identify critical gaps in sensory health and aging research and align collaborative efforts to address them. Support pathways to translate findings into policy impact, clinical practice, and community implementation to ensure research leads to meaningful improvements in aging outcomes.

Spark and support new collaborations
Actively facilitate interdisciplinary partnerships that lead to pilot projects, grant submissions, and novel lines of inquiry.

Lower barriers to research development
Provide infrastructure, tools, and guidance that lower the barrier for researchers, especially early-career investigators, to initiate and advance projects.

Elevate sensory health in aging research
Position sensory health as a critical and integrated component of broader global aging research agendas.

Translate ideas into action

Move beyond conversation by supporting tangible outputs, pilot data, funded projects, publications, and scalable initiatives.