Interested in Joining our Research Team?
Email us to hear about ongoing research projects and to inquire about joining our lab.
Follow Us:
@SamkatzCHARU on X
@samkatzcharu on Instagram
Sam Katz CHARU on LinkedIn
News and Events
2025
July: Newsletter Release & AAIC 2025 Announcement
-
Be EPIC-VR is transforming dementia care by enhancing emotion-based, person-centered communication skills among frontline staff—and we are proud to share our progress with you.
📢 We are excited to release our latest newsletter, featuring training outcomes from over 80 healthcare professionals, including insights from managers on the impact of Be EPIC-VR.
📍 We are also heading to AAIC 2025, from July 27 - 31 in Toronto! Visit us at our booth #522 and explore how Be EPIC-VR is shaping the future of dementia care.
👉Download the Newsletter
Spring/Summer Featured: The Caregiver's Journey
-
We are excited to share that The Caregiver's Journey is featured in Western Alumni Magazine's Spring/Summer 2025 issue 'The issue of aging'.
The article highlights research from our CARE Lab on supporting family caregivers of persons living with dementia. It follows the heartfelt journey of a family caregiver's experience and explores how innovative approaches - like the virutal reality training Be EPIC-VR and personalized in-home support through the McCormick Mobile project - are empowering caregivers through education and self-care.
Read the full story: The Caregiver's Journey.
April/May
-
Want to experience Be EPIC-VR in action?
Visit us at the AI Showcase during the AdvantAge Ontario – Advancing Senior Care Convention in Toronto!
📍 Sheraton Centre Toronto (123 Queen Street West, Toronto)
🗓️ April 30 | 5–7 PM
🗓️ May 1 | 10 AM–2 PMStop by our table 2 (VIDE Foyer) to explore how immersive VR can support dementia care training.
2024
November
- Our Director, Dr. Marie Savundranayagam and Dr. Anna Garnett (Nursing) are the research leads on the McCormick Mobile Study.
July: Newsletter 
March: Toronto Star Article
- Our Director, Dr. Marie Savundranayagam teaches health-care workers to look at the environment surrounding a person with dementia for clues about what they like and don’t like. Click the link to read the full Toronto Star article
January
2022
- Featured on the "Women on the Rise" series by Tamil Women Rising, a nonprofit organization that empowers Tamil women and their allies to seek success and advance their careers. (March 3, 2022)
- Be EPIC: New virtual-reality training program gets $1M EPIC boost: Grant will expand Western-developed PSW training for dementia care (May 2022)
- Interviewed by Madelaine Currelly on her radio show, Aging – A New Reality, on Northumberland 89.7 FM
- Topic: Health Care for Older Adults. Included discussions on Be EPIC training, communication, hearing, and aging
- Topic: Importance of Social Well-being
- PSW Perspectives on Quality of Care - Dementia Connections Magazine (October 2022)
2020
- Be EPIC: Improving front-line care for growing number of Canadians living with dementia (February 2020)
- Be EPIC: Person-Centered Communication, Dementia Connections Magazine (July 2020)
- Be EPIC: Working conditions impacting person-centered care & COVID-19 impacts update (December 2020)
2019
2018
- What sparked a career in gerontology? Read a faculty profile of Dr. Savundranayagam, published by Western Undergraduate Research Journal.
2017
2013
