People
Management Team
Andrew Sixsmith, PhD
Director
STAR Institute
Andrew Sixsmith is the Director of the STAR Institute and a Professor in the SFU Gerontology Department. Andrew was the Scientific Director of between 2015-2020 and the Associate Scientific Director between 2020-2022. He is now an AGE-WELL Network Advisor. He is past President of the International Society of Gerontechnology and was previously Director of the Gerontology Research Centre and Deputy Director of the IRMACS Centre at SFU. His research interests include aging, social isolation, technologies to connect people, technology for independent living, technology policy and the digital divide, theories and methods in aging and understanding the innovation process. His work has involved him in a leadership and advisory role in numerous major international research projects and initiatives with academic, government and industry partners. He received his doctorate from the University of London and was previously a lecturer at the University of Liverpool in the Institute of Human Ageing and Department of Primary Care.
Pam Borghardt
Managing Director
STAR Institute
Pam Borghardt is the Managing Director of the SFU STAR Institute. She is responsible for the overall management of the Institute including staff supervision and financial management. Pam has been affiliated with the since the proposal development stage and spent most of 2017 as their Acting Managing Director. Previous to that she was the Managing Director of the highly successful SFU IRMACS Centre for over 12 years.
Mei Lan Fang
Engagement and Education Director
STAR Institute
Mei Lan Fang is the Engagement and Education Director of the STAR Institute and is an Adjunct Professor in the Gerontology Department at SFU. Mei is also a Lecturer / Assistant Professor in health gerontology, located in the School of and Health Sciences at the University of Dundee. Mei holds a Master鈥檚 in Public Health, specializing in social and health inequities, and a Ph.D. in Urban Studies, focused on environmental gerontology. Her post graduate research progresses community-based participatory research concepts, theory, and methods for designing age-friendly environments and was nominated for the MacFarlane Award for most outstanding doctoral research contribution at Heriot Watt University. In the past 10 years, Mei has worked as a transdisciplinary research scientist and health sciences methodologist where she both uses and builds intersectional place theory, methods and practice in health-related areas of critical public health, ethnic and migration studies, environmental gerontology, ageing and technology and global health promotion. Mei has produced over 50 peer-reviewed publications ranging from journal articles, books, book chapters, method protocols to published conference proceedings, that all stem from a broad spectrum of completed and ongoing community-oriented and participatory projects.
Juliet Neun-Hornick
Special Projects Manager & Graphic Designer
STAR Institute
Juliet Neun-Hornick is the operations manager and in-house graphic designer of the SFU STAR Institute. Juliet manages the research team and provides direct assistance to the institute Director, managing academic and community-based projects, activities and events, and acting as liaison between Director and research staff and students. Juliet designs the institute's branding, promotional and knowledge mobilization materials and manages the institute website and digital media channels. Juliet also supports institute financial management. In addition, Juliet is the digital media coordinator for , and manages special projects (including AGE-WELL's AgeTech book series published by Springer Nature), supports special events, and designs promotional and event-specific materials.