Heather McKay

Dr. Heather McKay is a Professor in the Department of Family Practice within the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. She is based at Vancouver General Hospital and serves as a research supervisor for graduate students in Experimental Medicine. Her work is affiliated with the Edwin S.H. Leong Centre for Healthy Aging, where she focuses on population health interventions for older adults.

Dr. McKay's research centers on knowledge translation and implementation science in health, with particular emphasis on:

• Physical activity interventions for older adults, especially the "Choose to Move" program
• Scale-up and implementation of public health interventions
• Social and biological determinants of aging
• Health promotion and disease prevention strategies
• Community-based health services for seniors

Her work bridges the gap between research evidence and real-world implementation, focusing on how effective interventions can be successfully scaled up across diverse populations and settings. She has particular expertise in adapting interventions for specific populations, including older men and ethnic minority groups such as Chinese Canadian seniors.

Dr. McKay's publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory from developing evidence-based interventions to studying their implementation and scale-up in real-world settings. Her recent work (2022-2025) focuses heavily on the challenges of scaling effective health promotion programs, with particular attention to:

• The economic considerations of program scale-up
• Overcoming the "voltage drop" that often occurs when interventions move from controlled trials to broad implementation
• Adapting programs for specific populations (e.g., Chinese older adults in Canada)
• Leveraging digital platforms for intervention delivery, especially in response to pandemic challenges
• Understanding the social dimensions of physical activity programs for older adults

Dr. McKay appears to be actively involved in interdisciplinary research collaborations, as evidenced by her work spanning gerontology, public health, implementation science, and health economics. She serves as a research supervisor for graduate students in Experimental Medicine programs at UBC and is interested in collaborations with research clusters and on grant applications.