The Healthy Brains, Healthy Aging Initiative achieves a significant research milestone.

TORONTO, ON – Sept 10th, 2026 — The Weston Family Foundation is pleased to announce a major milestone from the Healthy Brains, Healthy Aging Initiative (HBHA), which was established with $12 million in Foundation funding for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA) at McMaster University.

The first baseline data release from the initiative is now available to researchers, including stool metagenomic data from nearly 6,000 participants, approximately 2,400 of whom also completed brain MRI scans and cognitive assessments. New core CLSA Follow-up 3 data, including sleep tracker data, are also being released, providing additional information that can be linked with the HBHA data. Together with the CLSA’s extensive health, biological, social, lifestyle and environmental data, these measures provide researchers with new opportunities to investigate the biological, behavioural and environmental factors associated with brain health and cognitive aging.

Researchers in Canada and internationally can apply to access the HBHA data through the CLSA’s established data access process. The next application submission deadline is Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 5 p.m. Eastern.

Apply to access the HBHA data: The first Healthy Brains, Healthy Aging data release opens new frontiers in research on how the brain ages – Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)

Read the press release here: The first Healthy Brains, Healthy Aging data release opens new frontiers in research on how the brain ages – Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging (CLSA)