Shannex, a company founded by Port Hawkesbury area businessman Joe Shannon is donating $3.5 million to three universities to support research on healthy aging.

The donations focus on such areas as artificial intelligence, improved support and care for individuals during transitions as they age, opportunities for specialized nurse and caregiver education, innovations for food and nutrition for seniors and strategies to improve overall wellness and quality of work life for long term care staff.

The company says it is providing $2 million to Dalhousie University to create the Shannex Research Chair in Artificial Intelligence and Healthy Aging. The school will also establish the Shannex Research Lab in AI and Healthy Aging within the healthy aging research hub.

Shannex is contributing $1 million to the University of New Brunswick to create the Shannex Research Chair in Aging Transitions, the Shannex Aging Labs, the Shannex Long Term Care Institute and Care of the Older Adult Certificate and scholarships.

Mount Saint Vincent University will get $500,000 to establish the Shannex Research Chair in Workforce Wellbeing to be located within a future Shannex licensed long term care home and adjacent to the schools’s Nova Scotia Centre on Aging.