Dr. Kiran Rabheru is a Professor of Psychiatry and a Geriatric Psychiatrist at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. For over 40 years, he has cared for his patients and their carers, as a primary care physician and later as a geriatric psychiatrist. Dr. Rabheru is a Certificant and a Fellow of the College of Family Physicians and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada. He is designated as a Founder of the subspecialty of Geriatric Psychiatry in Canada and is recipient of the Outstanding Achievements in Geriatric Psychiatry Award by the Canadian Academy of Geriatric Psychiatry (CAGP) , Currently, Dr. Rabheru serves as Chair of the Board, International Longevity Centre, Canada (ILC Canada), and Chair, Advocacy and Public Awareness Committee of the International Psychogeriatric Association. With a soft launch in July 2021,, and a formal launch in November 2021, Dr. Rabheru has founded a Canadian Coalition Against Ageism (CCAA) in partnership with 14 key Canadian organizational. CCAA is inspired by the WHO’s Global report on Ageism and is a nation-wide social change movement to eliminate ageism against older persons while protecting and promoting their human rights. In May 2023, Dr. Rabheru was invited to co-chair a new Lancet Commission on Long Term Care, based the core principles of WHO’s Healthy Aging model and human-rights.
He has served as a Board member and President of CAGP as well as co-leader of the Canadian Coalition for Seniors’ Mental Health (CCSMH). Dr. Rabheru is Chair – Section of Positive Psychiatry, World Psychiatric Association (WPA) and serves on the National Leadership Team, Fountain of Health , promoting healthy aging, brain resilience and vitality. He is past chair of the steering group for the (Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People (GAROP) with 400 members worldwide, united in the work to strengthen and promote the rights and the voice of older persons globally to live free from discrimination and fully enjoy their rights. Dr. Rabheru is dedicated to serving older persons and envisions a world free from ageism. Through scientific advocacy and reframing how society thinks, feels, and acts about aging, he works to ensure that older adults live without discrimination and fully enjoy their rights. His goal is to create an inclusive world where no one is left behind.