Jennifer Vena is the Scientific Director of Alberta's Tomorrow Project (ATP). ATP is a longitudinal cohort study of 55,000 Albertans, currently in its 20th year, that sits within the Cancer Research and Analytics dept in Cancer Care Alberta, Alberta Health Services. Dr. Vena is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Depts of Oncology and Community Health Sciences (University of Calgary) and Dept of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Sciences (University of Alberta). Dr. Vena’s work largely focuses on lifestyle behaviours and prevention of cancer and chronic diseases, as well as population cohort science, and involves scientific, strategic, and operational elements.
I'll provide an overview of my academic training (graduate and post-doctoral) and transition to a non-academic yet still very research-related setting. I'll also talk about my experience with Alberta's Tomorrow Project which is a large cohort/research study that also functions as a research platform to provide data and biosamples for researchers in cancer and chronic disease.