CTV: Faculty of Science Alumn, Dr. Robert B. Tate, Director of the world’s longest health study

Nearly seven decades ago, Faculty of Science Alumn, Dr. Robert B. Tate,  along with fellow U of M researchers began tracking the health of almost 4,000 servicemen in an effort to study heart disease, CTV reports.

Dr. Tate completed a BSc in mathematics at University of Winnipeg in 1973 and an MSc degree in statistics at the University of Manitoba in 1975. He then began his career with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba as a biostatistician with the Manitoba Follow-up Study. Twenty-five years later, he completed a PhD in cardiovascular epidemiology, transitioned to an academic appointment and is now a tenured Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences. He is the Director of the Manitoba Follow-up Study (http://www.mfus.ca), Canada’s longest running prospective study of cardiovascular disease and aging. His primary research interest lies with this long-term study, but he has collaborated with many local, national and international health researchers. Dr. Tate has contributed to over 150 peer-reviewed publications in journals of health policy, general medicine, epidemiology, cardiovascular disease and gerontology.

The Manitoba Follow-Up Study is still going today, with the remaining participants in their nineties helping researchers who took over the work from the scientists who launched the study.