Research at the Front Lines
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
HILTON TORONTO
November 16, 17, 2009
1
Cover Art: HIV, Luke Jerram, Glass Microbiology
www.lukejerram.com
November 2009
Welcome
Delegates,
Welcome to the 11th Annual Ontario HIV Treatment Network Research Conference: Research at the Front Lines:
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Care. The 2009 conference will showcase research that
examines the factors that increase vulnerability and risk for individuals and communities disproportionately
affected by HIV, and the interventions that may lead to more resiliency and improve quality of life for individuals
and communities. Using an interdisciplinary approach and working at the intersections of social science,
population health and health services, the research presented at the conference will focus on:
Strengthening Community by understanding the problems and factors driving the epidemic
Promoting Research that finds innovative and practical solutions by developing evidence and science-based HIV interventions
Driving Change by moving research evidence into action with a measurable impact on policy and practice
The Conference Planning Committee has assembled a dynamic group of international speakers including:
Jonathan Anderson, an HIV clinician from Australia who has a special interest in public health, particularly health
economics; Ron Stall, whose research focuses on HIV prevention and behavioural epidemiology of gay men;
Charles Collins, an expert in the Diffusion of Effective Behavioural Intervention Program in the United States;
Bonita Stanton and Lynette Deveaux, who worked together to bring a US-based prevention intervention for
youth to the Caribbean; and Robert Carr, who works with International Council of AIDS Service Organizations to
mobilize community organizations to build an effective response to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support
for those living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Physicians, scientists and researchers conducting innovative studies in Canada and speaking at the conference
include: Mario Ostrowski and Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, scientists who are making breakthroughs in
understanding HIV at the cellular level; Alan Li, an HIV primary care physician and co-chair of the Committee for
Accessible AIDS Treatment; Marina Klein, a physician at McGill University Health Centre specializing in HIV/HCV
co-infection; and Thomas Kerr, a research scientist with the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS with a focus on
injection drug users, HIV positive individuals and street-involved youth.
We hope that the diverse group of speakers will ignite discussion and help us develop innovative, evidence-based
interventions in Ontario and across Canada.
The OHTN gratefully acknowledges the members of the abstract review committee who helped develop the
conference program and reviewed over 200 abstracts submitted to the conference this year. We are also very
appreciative of the generous contributions made by our industry sponsors.
Yours Sincerely,
SEAN B. ROURKE, PH.D.
Scientific and Executive Director, OHTN
Associate Professor, University of Toronto
Scientist, CRICH, St. Michael’s Hospital
DARIEN TAYLOR
Conference Co-Chair
Director, Program Delivery
Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange
EVAN COLLINS
President
Ontario HIV Treatment Network
Board of Directors
OHTN Board of Directors
Officers
Evan Collins, President
Lynne Leonard, Vice-President
Ken Logue, Secretary
Neil McGregor, Treasurer
Community Members
Lisungu Chieza
Evan Collins
Michael Hamilton
Peter Hayes
Neil McGregor
LaVerne Monette
Darryl Perry
Outpatient Clinic Directors
and Coordinators
Leonard Moore
Primary Care Physicians
Ken Logue
Linda Robinson
Meaghan McLaren
Researchers
Rupert Kaul
Lynne Leonard
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Ontario Drug Distribution
Monitoring Program (Ex-Officio)
Anita Rachlis
Ontario Ministry of Health and
Long-Term Care (Ex-Officio)
Leio J. Coloquio
Ontario AIDS Network (Ex-Officio)
Rick Kennedy
Honorary Director
Jay Browne
Frank McGee
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Conference Sponsors
PLATINUM
GOLD
BRONZE
CONTRIBUTOR
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Collaborating Partners
CACVO
Le conseil des africains
et caraïbeens sur le
VIH/SIDA en Ontario
ACCHO
African and Caribbean
Council on HIV/AIDS
in Ontario
Ontario AIDS Network
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Conference Map
HILTON TORONTO CONVENTION LEVEL
CARMICHAEL
JACKSON
washrooms
SPEAKER
READY
ROOM
TORONTO l
REGISTRATION
coat
check
foyer
TOM THOMSON
guest elevators
HARRIS
CASSON
MACDONALD
TORONTO ll
LISMER
JOHNSON
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Program at a Glance
Monday, November 16, 2009
8:00 8:30 am
Registration / Breakfast
8:30 9:45 am
Toronto I & II
Welcome
Panel: Shaping the Research that Affects Us: Experience of People with HIV in Research
9:45 10:45 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Building the Case for Effective Interventions
Speakers: Jonathan Anderson and Ron Stall
10:45 11:30 am
Foyer
11:30 12:30 pm
Harris
MacDonald
Special Session
Trans PULSE
Oral Abstracts
Special Session
No Health Without The MaBwana
Mental Health
Study
12:30 1:30 pm
Break / Poster Viewing
Lismer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Oral Abstracts
When the Law
Steps In
Oral Abstracts
Complex Treatment
Challenges
Lunch
CIHR Centre for REACH in HIV/AIDS Focus on Intervention Research, Sean B. Rourke
CIHR Centre in HIV Prevention Social Research, Liviana Calzavara
1:30 2:30 pm
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Prevention Interventions Beyond Our Borders
Speakers: Robert Carr and Charles Collins
2:45 3:45 pm
Harris
MacDonald
Lismer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Toronto I & II
Oral Abstracts
What Makes
T-Cells Tick?
Special Session
HIV & Youth ArtsBased Approaches
Film Screening
Co-infection
Documentary
Oral Abstracts
Front Line Care
Oral Abstracts
Reducing Risk
in Gay Men and
Other MSM
Special Session
DEBIs in Depth
4:00 4:45 pm
Toronto I & II
Dr. Susan King Lecture — Focus on Youth: Taking a DEBI from Baltimore to the Bahamas
Speakers: Bonita Stanton and Lynette Deveaux
4:45 5:45 pm
Toronto I & II
6:00 7:00 pm
Tom Thomson
Lismer
Innovations for PHAs
HIV Epidemic in Ukraine
6:00 8:00 pm
Reception
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Panel: Prevention Interventions Within Our Borders
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Program at a Glance
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
8:00 8:30 am
Registration / Breakfast
8:30 10:15 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Cellular Interventions and Clinical Care
Speakers: Mario Ostrowski, Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker and Marina Klein
10:30 11:30 am
Toronto I & II
MacDonald
Foyer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Special Session
Focus on Youth:
Caribbean Partnership
Web Tours
Poster Viewing
Special Session
HIV, Housing and
Health
Special Session
HIV Stigma Campaign
11:30 - am
12:30 pm
Harris
Oral Abstracts
Reaching High Risk
Youth in Smaller
Urban Centres
MacDonald
Lismer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Oral Abstracts
Outsmarting
the Virus
Film Screening
FIX: The Story of
an Addicted City
STARTS at 11:00 am
Oral Abstracts
One Size Does Not Fit
All: Women & HIV
Oral Abstracts
Trials and Tribulations
of HAART
12:30 1:30 pm
Lunch
1:30 2:30 pm
Toronto I & II
Jay Browne Living Legacy Award Presentation
PLENARY: How Research Can Drive Change
Researcher as Advocate
Speaker: Thomas Kerr
Dr. Charles Roy Lecture: Involved, Invested and Inspired: Shared Leadership and Collective Empowerment in the
Third Space of Research-Policy-Practice
Speaker: Alan Li
2:45 3:45 pm
Harris
MacDonald
Lismer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Oral Abstracts
For Mature
Audiences Only
Oral Abstracts
The Fight for
Immunity
Special Session
Intervening in Theory,
Methods and Practice
Oral Abstracts
Where There’s Smoke…
Oral Abstracts
Cultural Insights
4:00 5:00 pm
Harris
MacDonald
Lismer
Carm/Jackson
Tom Thomson
Oral Abstracts
On the International
Front
Oral Abstracts
What a Teen Wants,
What a Teen Needs
Special Session
Innovative PHA Skill
Building Strategies
Oral Abstracts
Knowing What Works
Oral Abstracts
A Dose of Reality
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
8:00 am
Foyer
Registration and Breakfast
8:45 am
Toronto I & II
Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00 am
Toronto I & II
Shaping the Research that Affects Us: Experience of People with HIV in Research
Sean B. Rourke and Darien Taylor, Conference Co-Chairs
Ontario researchers working in academia realize the value of engaging the community in their
work and have benefited from the partnership but what have community members gained from
being involved in research? People with HIV who are actively involved in research describe the
impact their involvement has on their work and their lives.
Speakers
Marisol Desbiens, Latino Positivo
Randy Jackson, Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, McMaster University
James Watson, Positive Spaces Healthy Places
Lisungu Chieza, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands, U of T HIV Research Ethics Board
Moderator
Darien Taylor, Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, U of T HIV Research Ethics Board
9:45 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Building the Case for Effective Interventions
Is it Worth It? Evaluating the Cost-effectiveness of HIV Interventions
Jonathan Anderson, University of Sydney Medical School
Rising rates of HIV in Australia have prompted calls for the introduction of new prevention
technologies; however, competing demands on limited resources have prompted vigorous debate
on their widespread introduction. The Assessing Cost-Effectiveness in HIV project (ACE-HIV), a
group of national stakeholders from government, community, clinicians and academics selected
prevention and healthcare interventions for a series of economic evaluation focused on evidence
of effectiveness, benefits and cost and non-economic factors such as equity, ethics, culture,
feasibility and acceptability.
The economic evaluation results showed that some of the newer prevention technologies such
as circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis have the potential to be cost-effective or even
cost-saving. Needle syringe programs are cost-saving and could be doubled in scale and still
save money. On the other hand, established programs such as non-occupational post-exposure
prophylaxis are not good value for money in their current form.
The ACE-HIV project helped inform policy and decision making on priorities for research and
implementation of new prevention technologies. Early antiretrovirals for prevention, adult male
circumcision and pre-exposure prophylaxis could be valuable as part of a combination prevention
program for HIV, but require careful consideration of all the issues before widespread adoption.
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
10:15 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Building the Case for Effective Interventions
The Implications of Syndemics and Strengths on Increasing HIV Intervention
Efficacy among Gay Men
Ron Stall, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh
The bulk of the research that has been done on gay men focuses on the health implications of
sexual risk behaviors, even though it is now well known that there are multiple epidemics for
which gay men have higher prevalence rates than their heterosexual male counterparts. This
presentation will present evidence to document some of these health disparities as well as a
theory to explain why these disparities exist. Data that have now been collected to test the theory
will be presented. The presentation will end with a discussion of the importance of resilience or
strengths in explaining health profiles among gay men, and why a focus on strengths, rather than
vulnerabilities, may be a more productive research agenda in addressing health disparities among
gay men.
Moderator
Frank McGee, AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
10:45 am
Foyer
Break and Poster Viewing
11:30 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Harris
Trans PULSE
Trans PULSE is an innovative community-based research (CBR) project that responds to problems
identified by Ontario’s trans communities regarding access to health and social services. The
project represents a working partnership with many groups including community organizations
and academic partners. Trans PULSE strives to understand the ways in which social exclusion,
cisnormativity (the belief that trans identities or bodies are less authentic or “normal”), and
transphobia shape the provision of services for trans people and how these, in turn, affect
health. Some of the things that we are studying include income stability, housing discrimination,
relationships and family, sexual health, HIV vulnerability, mental health, community
connectedness, access to social services, access to health care services, and hormone use. This
special session presents preliminary results from the project; lessons learned using respondentdriven sampling in Ontario’s trans communities; and challenges emerging in a CBR project where
‘community control’ is favoured over ‘community engagement’.
Speakers
Greta Bauer, The University of Western Ontario
Michelle Boyce, Diversity Training Live
Todd Coleman, The University of Western Ontario
Rebecca Hammond, Dalhousie University
Jake Pyne, Community Development Consultant
Kyle Scanlon, The 519 Church Street Community Centre
Robb Travers, Wilfrid Laurier University, University of Toronto
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
11:30 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
MacDonald
No Health Without Mental Health: Improving Access to Mental Health Services for
People with HIV
People with HIV often face complex medical and social challenges that affect their mental health
and can result in depression, trauma and substance use. The strategies presented in this session
focus on increasing access to mental health care and support.
101
Adriana Carvalhal The wHEALTH Project: Access to Care and Mental Health Issues of
HIV-Positive Women
103
Carlos Rivas Action as a Key Stage of the Theory / Practice Circle: Developing a New
Intervention to Treat HIV Diagnosis Related Trauma
104
James Weaver Enhancing Access to Harm Reduction Mental Health Care and Treatment:
An HIV Prevention Strategy for High Risk Substance Users
Moderator
Rick Kennedy, Ontario AIDS Network
Lismer
The MaBwana Black Men’s Study: Listening to African, Caribbean and Black Gay Men
and other Men Who Have Sex With Men
The MaBwana Black Men’s Study was the first Canadian study to examine vulnerability to HIV
among African, Caribbean and Black gay and bisexual men. The purpose of this special session
is to discuss the research and its implications, highlight current epidemiologic trends and
HIV prevention efforts with Black gay and bisexual men, and release the MaBwana report—
MaBwana: Health, Community and Vulnerability to HIV among African, Caribbean and Black Gay
and Bisexual Men in Toronto—to OHTN conference attendees. The MaBwana study was developed
as an initiative of the African and Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in Ontario (ACCHO), within
the framework of the strategy on HIV/AIDS for African and Caribbean communities in Ontario.
MaBwana was implemented in 2006-2009 through the AIDS Committee of Toronto.
Current Trends in HIV and AIDS among Black MSM in Ontario
Robert Remis, University of Toronto
Engaging Black Gay Men in HIV Prevention Efforts
Trevor Gray, Prisoners HIV/AIDS Support and Action Network
MaBwana Background, Highlights and Implications
Winston Husbands, AIDS Committee of Toronto
Current HIV Prevention Efforts with Black MSM in Toronto
Shannon Ryan, Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention
Moderator
Lydia Makoroka, AIDS Committee of Toronto
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
11:30 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Carmichael /
Jackson
When the Law Steps In: Criminalization, Immigration and HIV
New research examines the impact of current immigration policies and the criminal code on
people with HIV when they enter the country and/or make personal decisions about disclosure.
105
Laura Bisaillon Implications of Mandatory HIV Screening as a Pre-Condition for
Immigration to Canada
108
Tamar Rubin Immigrant Women’s Experiences with Immigration Medical Examination
HIV Testing
106
Richard Elliot Criminalization Creep: Legal Developments and Community Responses
to Criminal Prosecutions for HIV Exposure
107
Glenn Betteridge, Eric Mykhalovskiy The Criminalization of HIV Non-Disclosure in
Canada: A Preliminary Analysis of Trends and Patterns
Moderator
Anne Marie DiCenso, Prisoners HIV/AIDS Action Support Network
Tom Thomson
Complex Treatment Challenges
People with HIV often face a variety of complex health challenges. This session explores treatment
challenges and options for a number of concurrent conditions that can compromise their health.
109
Sandra Gardener Viral Hepatitis Testing is Deficient in HIV Seropositive Patients:
An OHTN Cohort Study Analysis
110
Geoffrey So Incidence of Hypertension in an Ontario HIV-positive Cohort
111
Darrell Tan Asymptomatic Shedding of Herpes Simplex Viruses (HSV) Despite Successful
Antiretroviral Therapy in HIV-1, HSV Co-infection
112
Jill Tinmouth Perianal Bowen’s Disease in HIV-Infected Men Who Have Sex with Men
Moderator
Meaghan McLaren, University of Ottawa
12:30 pm
Toronto I & II
Lunch
1:00 pm
Toronto I & II
Focus on Intervention Research: CIHR Centre for REACH in HIV/AIDS
Speaker: Sean B. Rourke, Ontario HIV Treatment Network, University of Toronto,
St. Michael’s Hospital
CIHR Centre in HIV Prevention Social Research
Speaker: Liviana Calzavara, University of Toronto
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
1:30 pm
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Prevention Interventions Beyond Our Borders
What can we learn from prevention interventions used in other jurisdictions?
Reducing Risk in Marginalized Populations: What can the North Learn from the South?
Robert Carr, Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy, International Council of AIDS Service
Organizations (ICASO)
The issue of HIV prevention is a complex one that once seemed so straightforward but has proven
to raise a number of challenges. The presentation will look at some of the key lessons learned
in effective prevention work at the individual, group and community levels. Inter-relationships
between these areas of intervention will be explored as well as some of the challenges that
still need innovative solutions. Of particular interest will be the challenges of prevention in
the context of concentrated and mixed epidemics and the role of stigma and human rights
approaches in creating an environment in which progress on prevention becomes possible,
including legal and political barriers, seen as symptoms of deeper, underlying issues that affect
our responses to HIV.
Lessons Learned from Dissemination of Evidence-Based Interventions for HIV Prevention
in the United States
Charles Collins, Team Leader, Science Application Team, Centers for Disease Control
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention began
disseminating evidence-based behavioral interventions to both community-based and clinic-based
HIV prevention providers in 2002. Prior to this dissemination, it was estimated that 70% of all HIV
prevention practice was street-outreach condom distribution. Over the last 7 years, 23 unique
evidence-based interventions have been disseminated to over 3,388 HIV prevention agencies. The
degree to which the field of prevention practice is willing to adopt evidence-based interventions
is dependent on a range of factors including the complexity of the interventions selected for
dissemination, the establishment of a customer centered philosophy that honors the prevention
agency stakeholder’s ability to select, adopt, adapt, and implement the interventions; the costs of
implementation; and the agency capacity to successfully implement the interventions. The lessons
learned in the USA may be of benefit when considering strategies to increase the scientific basis
for HIV prevention practice in Canada.
Moderator
Llana James, Incwell Consulting
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Harris
What Makes T-Cells Tick? Understanding Interleukin Regulation, Signaling and Stimulation
Understanding how T-cells interact with the HIV virus is necessary to advance treatment options.
This session will provide an overview of the most recent developments in interleukin research.
121
Angela Crawley Interleukin-4 Downregulates CD127 Expression on Human Thymocytes
and Mature CD8+ T-cells
122
Elliott Faller JAK/STAT Signaling Mediates Regulation of IL-7R Expression on CD8 T
Cells by Both Transcriptional and Non-Transcriptional Mechanisms
123
Alison O’Connor The Role of IL-7 in the Survival and Function of Memory CD8+
T Cells in Health and HIV Disease
124
Scott Sugden Mutational Analysis of the HIV Tat Protein and Its Ability to Down
Regulate CD127 on CD8 T cells
Moderator
Paul MacPherson, Ottawa Hospital
MacDonald
HIV and Youth Arts-Based Approaches
This session will explore how youth and researchers are using arts-based methods—theatre,
collage, photovoice and hip hop—to make the links between structural inequalities and individual
risk for HIV. It presents the world as a transformable place where youth can play active roles
as change agents. Using this approach, youth are encouraged to critically research their worlds
and supported in developing active strategies for change. Each presentation will describe the
opportunities and challenges of using a particular arts-based method in the context of HIV
prevention research and highlight what new results these novel approaches uncovered.
Speakers
Katie Cook, Wilfrid Laurier University
Sarah Flicker, York University
Alix Holtby, Wilfrid Laurier University
Christine Smillie-Adjarkwa, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Sarah Switzer, Educator and Consultant
A creative arts-based project will be on display. It was created in partnership with youth and
service providers from Evergreen Centre for Street Youth and Youthlink Inner City and academics
from St. Michael’s Hospital and the University of Calgary to express experiences of street-involved
young women with sexual health and pregnancy.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Lismer
Film Screening and Panel Discussion
From Courage to Care: Living with HIV/HCV Co-Infection
The premiere of the short film, From Courage to Care: Living with HIV/HCV Co-Infection
documents the experience of three people with HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) co-infection. The film
is one component of a larger web-based project that includes detailed modules on HIV/HCV
treatment issues, stigma, harm reduction and rural access to care. A short Q&A session with the
filmmaker and documentary subjects follows the screening.
Speakers
Michelle Latimer, Director, From Courage to Care: Living with HIV/HCV Co-Infection
Colleen Price, Canadian Treatment Action Council
Danny Williams, Prisoners HIV/AIDS Support Action Network
Brenda LeSage, AIDS Thunder Bay
Carmichael /
Jackson
Front Line Care: Improving Services for People With and At Risk for HIV
This session examines aspects of the continuum of care for people with and at risk for HIV and
includes surveys of personal patient and physician experiences, an assessment of provincial HIV/
HCV Co-Infection services and recommendations for national pregnancy guidelines.
117
Curtis Cooper HIV-HCV Co-Infection Service in Ontario: An Evaluation of Resources
and Deficiencies
118
Shari Margolese A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Development of Canadian
Evidence-based Guidelines on Safe Pregnancy Planning for HIV-Positive Individuals
119
Kevin Saya-Moore, Daryle Roberts The Engaging Physicians Project Assists General
Practitioners in Creating a Non-judgmental and Welcoming Clinical Environment to
Allow for the Safe Disclosure of Sexual Practices and Health Concerns of Men who
have Sex with Men
120
Sandy Tecimer The Experiences of Ontario HIV-discordant Couples (Male Positive,
Female Negative) in Seeking Sperm Washing Fertility Services
Moderator
Ken English, AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Tom Thomson
Reducing Risk in Gay Men and Other MSM
Despite rising rates of HIV among other populations, gay men and other men who have sex with
men continue to bear a disproportionate share of the epidemic. This session explores the risk
factors for and the resilience of men who have sex with men.
113
David Brennan, Rory Crath Disordered Eating, Body Image and Sexual Risk among Gay
and Bisexual Men
114
Jessica Cattaneo, Marco Posadas Towel Talk: A Brief Counselling Program For Men Using
Bathhouses
115
Todd Coleman, Daniel Pugh Qualitative Findings from the Health in Middlesex Men
Matters (HiMMM) Project
116
Devan Nambiar, Andre Ceranto Developing a Coordinated Research Agenda for Ethnoracial Men who have Sex with Men in Ontario
Moderator
James Murray, AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
Toronto I & II
DEBIs In-Depth
Charles B. Collins Jr., PhD, National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention
Charles B. Collins provides an in-depth look at the Diffusion of Effective Behavioural Interventions
(DEBI) program in the United States and the core principles to consider when adapting DEBIs to a
local context. The DEBIs are designed to bring science-based, community, group, and individuallevel HIV prevention interventions to community-based service providers. Their goal is to
implement effective interventions, reduce the spread of HIV, and to promote healthy behaviors.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
4:00 pm
Toronto I & II
Dr. Susan King Lecture
Focus on Youth: Taking a DEBI from Baltimore to the Bahamas
Bonita Stanton, Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Lynette Deveaux, Focus on Youth, Bahamas Ministries of Health and Education
Focus on Youth in the Caribbean, a 10-session HIV prevention program targeting grade sixth
youth, was developed, implemented and evaluated by a team of investigators from the United
States and the Bahamas. Two programs were also developed for their parents: Caribbean Informed
Parents and Children Together is a 22-minute video emphasizing the importance of parent-child
communication about sexuality followed by structured role-play and condom practice; and, Goal
for It is a 22 minute video emphasizing the importance of planning ahead and is followed by
supervised discussion and answers. The US-Bahamian team evaluated these interventions through
a randomized, controlled three-celled longitudinal trial (36 months follow-up) involving 15
elementary schools in The Bahamas. Significant program effect was detected including increases
in coping appraisal; enhancement of HIV/AIDS knowledge, condom-use skills, intention to use
condom; and increases in condom-use.
Moderator
Stanley Read, Hospital for Sick Children
4:45 pm
Toronto I & II
Prevention Interventions Within Our Borders
There is an urgent need for innovative prevention programs to reduce the number of people
newly diagnosed with HIV each year in Ontario from 1,000 to nil. This session features innovative
examples of prevention intervention programs in Ontario.
Having Sex while Drunk or High: Do Men who have Sex with Men Want
to Change?
Timothy Guimond, Rainbow Services, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Re-envisioning the Wheel: Adapting Many Men, Many Voices to Ontario
David Lewis-Peart, Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention
Operation Hairspray 2: Spray The Word About Health – An African and Caribbean Community
Partnership
Zhaida Uddin, Ottawa Public Health & Suzanne O’Byrne, Somerset West Community Health Centre
Mano en Mano
Gerardo Betancourt, Centre for Spanish Speaking People
Evaluation of the HIV Stigma Campaign
James Murray, AIDS Bureau
Moderator
Barry Adam, University of Windsor, Ontario HIV Treatment Network
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Monday, November 16, 2009
6:00 pm
Lismer
HIV Epidemic in Ukraine – Challenges and Opportunities
Ukraine has the most severe HIV epidemic in Europe with an estimated 400,000 people living
with HIV, but only 20% are diagnosed. A new National AIDS Program was developed to scale up
accessible prevention, care, treatment and support. Members of the team leading the Ukrainian
initiative will discuss the scale-up’s challenges and opportunities.
HIV in Ukraine – The Current Situation and National AIDS Strategy
Olena Ieshchenko, Deputy Head, National AIDS Committee, Ukraine Ministry of Health
The Role of Community-based Field and Outreach Services in HIV Prevention and Support
Viktor Isakov, Program Director, Outreach and Field Services, International HIV/AIDS Alliance
Ukraine
HIV in Ukraine – Capacity Development Challenges and Opportunities
Yuri Kobyshcha, HIV/AIDS Officer, World Health Organization, Ukraine
Moderators
Carol Major, Ontario HIV Treatment Network
Frank McGee, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
6:00 pm
Tom Thomson
Innovations for People with HIV/AIDS
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Foyer
Reception
Introducing initiatives specifically designed for PHAs: including the launch of the PHA Learning
Partnership, the announcement of the Legacy Mentorship Project, how to locate an HIV Related
Service using ASO411, CATIE initiatives in e-learning and online ordering of resources, and a
variety of initiatives from the Ontario AIDS Network.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
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Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
8:00 am
Foyer
Registration and Breakfast
8:30 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Cellular Interventions and Clinical Care
HIV Vaccine Discovery: Lessons from Steven Spielberg
Mario Ostrowski, University of Toronto
HIV has devised multiple strategies to evade and disarm the human immune response that is
trying to control the virus, behaving like a trojan horse in tricking the immune system. Thus,
there is no clearly effective vaccine to prevent HIV infection; nor can the infection be completely
eradicated. These conditions have discouraged scientists, but have also allowed some to take
drastic if not unusual approaches that do not fit current paradigms of vaccine development.
With the help of Steven Spielberg, this presentation will describe one strange approach that our
laboratory has embarked upon.
Rebuilding Health: One T-Cell at a Time
Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, University of Toronto
T cells develop within the thymus, and their differentiation involves a series of commitment
events and developmental checkpoints including T-lineage commitment, T cell receptor (TCR)
gene recombination and positive/negative selection to yield functionally mature T cells. These
events occur in a sequential, temporal and spatial fashion, as developing thymocytes migrate
through the thymus. His laboratory has developed a simple approach that makes use of a bone
marrow stromal cell line (OP9) expressing the Notch receptor ligand Delta-like 1 (OP9-DL1) that
effectively replicates the key functions of the thymus, by inducing and supporting the generation
of large numbers of human progenitor T cells from hematopoietic stem cells in vitro. This cell
culture system has several important advantages for the generation and study of human T cell
development. In particular, emphasis on how in vitro-generated progenitor T cells can be used
to regenerate T cell function in animal models. Their potential implications for the treatment of
immune-related diseases such as HIV-induced immunodeficiency will be discussed.
18
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
8:30 am
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: Cellular Interventions and Clinical Care
Co-infections and Co-morbidities: Meeting the Challenges of a Maturing Epidemic
Marina B. Klein, McGill University Health Centre
Since the advent of effective combination antiretroviral therapy, there have been dramatic
reductions of morbidity and mortality among people with HIV. Non-AIDS related illnesses,
co-infections and co-morbidities that were once rare, such as chronic viral hepatitis, human
papilloma virus, cardiovascular disease and neurocognitive dysfunction, have emerged as
important causes of illness and death among HIV infected persons. Furthermore, the HIV-infected
population is aging and living with long-term exposure to antiretrovirals, both of which may
modify the risk for disease and complicate its management. This presentation will review the
current understanding of non-AIDS related conditions and co-morbidities and highlight the
challenges that HIV-infected persons and their caregivers face in understanding and managing
these conditions with a focus on future directions for research and intervention work.
Moderator
Maggie Atkinson, AIDS ACTION NOW!
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
10:30 am
Foyer
Poster Viewing
10:30 am
Carmichael /
Jackson
HIV, Housing and Health: The Positive Spaces Healthy Places Study
This session will present findings from the first longitudinal community-based research initiative
in Canada to examine the relationship between HIV/AIDS, housing instability and homelessness,
and quality of life. The intersecting and compounding factors which place people with HIV
from specific sub-populations at increased risk will be examined. This study provides compelling
evidence of the need for targeted policy and programming strategies that recognize the unique
housing-related needs of people with HIV from specific sub-populations in order to maximize
community-level impact.
Worsening of Social Determinants of Health Among Aboriginal People Living with HIV/AIDS
The Need for Stable and Affordable Housing Among Women Living with HIV in Ontario
Disadvantages of Social Determinants of Health Among African or Caribbean Persons Living
with HIV in Ontario
Persisting Disparities of Social Determinants of Health Between Aboriginal and Caucasian
Persons Living with HIV
Speakers
Positive Spaces Healthy Places Study Team
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
19
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
10:30 am
Toronto I & II
Enduring Partnerships: Focus on Youth in the Caribbean
Bonita Stanton, Children’s Hospital of Michigan
Lynette Deveaux, Focus on Youth, Bahamas, Ministries of Health and Education
Beginning in the early 1990’s, an interdisciplinary group, including pediatricians, anthropologists,
health educators, psychologists and statisticians, developed and evaluated an HIV prevention
intervention targeting early adolescents living in public housing developments in Baltimore,
Maryland. The intervention, Focus on Kids, was effective in reducing risk behaviors and was
included in the CDC’s portfolio of effective adolescent programs. Learning about Focus on Kids
and concerned about their own growing problem with HIV, the Ministries of Health and of
Education of the Bahamas approached the researchers about collaborating to develop a similar
program. A partnership developed which has spanned over a decade and ultimately led to the
development of an intervention program targeting Bahamian children in grade six, a 10-session
adolescent HIV prevention program, and two programs targeting parents. This talk will describe
the context in which the epidemic occurred, events leading up to the collaboration and the
factors that have allowed it to succeed.
10:30 am
Tom Thomson
If You Were Rejected Every Time You Disclosed, Would You? Lessons Learned from the HIV
Stigma Campaign
Barry Adam, University of Windsor, James Murray, AIDS Bureau
This session assesses the lessons learned from the largest HIV-related work campaign directed
towards gay and bisexual men in Ontario. The campaign sought improve sexual health by
addressing stigma in the environment where gay and bisexual men have sex.
10:30 am
MacDonald
Web Tours
11:00 am
Lismer
Film Screening
Get an inside look at the resources available on the Canadian Institutes of Health Research,
Canadian AIDS Treatment Information Exchange, Healthy Housing, and Ontario HIV Treatment
Network websites.
FIX: The Story of an Addicted City
This documentary captures the pulse of one of Canada’s most controversial issues. It is the story
of Vancouver’s struggle to open Canada’s first safe injection site for drug users. It is the story of
a man and of a city fighting drugs and addiction. Dean Wilson used to be an IBM salesman. Now
he is possibly the most outspoken drug addict in Canada. He is a loud and articulate advocate for
street addicts from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, one of Canada’s poorest neighbourhoods,
and the site of the highest HIV rate in North America. Ann Livingston is the charismatic organizer
of VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users. She is a nonuser, driven by an impatient
spirituality. Together Ann and Dean lead an unpredictable crew of street addicts in their fight to
open North America’s first safe injection site in Vancouver.
20
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
11:30 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Harris
Reaching High Risk Youth in Smaller Urban Centres
This session features innovative youth outreach programs in Ottawa, Hamilton and Kingston.
137
Matthew Allen, Maiya Forrest Jazmyn Hallman How Can Youth have Meaningful
Engagement in Community-based Research? The Safe n’ Sexy Project Experience
138
Sandra Bullock Predictors of HIV Testing Among Street-involved and Homeless Youth
in Hamilton, Ontario: The Safe n’ Sexy Project Results
139
Ron Shore High-risk Youth, Drug Use and Hepatitis C in Kingston, Ontario
140
Zhaida Uddin Did You Spot the Banana? An Evaluation of a Sexually Transmitted
Infection Campaign for Ottawa Youth
Moderator
Cathy Worthington, University of Calgary
MacDonald
Outsmarting the Virus: Factors that Inhibit and Stimulate Viral Replication
This session explores a variety of factors that activate or inhibit replication of HIV-infected cells
in search of strategies to intercept this process.
133
Alan Cochrane Composition of HIV-1 RNP Confers Differential Regulation of Viral
Gene Expression
134
Wendy Dobson-Belaire HIV-1 and Gonorrhea Co-infection: A Disconnect Between
Responses in Cell Lines and Primary Cells
135
Rebecca Malott Effect of a Novel, Neisseria-specific Immune-Stimulatory Factor on
HIV-1 Expression and Lymphocyte Activation
136
Raymond Wong Clk SR Protein Kinases and Drugs Modulating Alternative Splicing
Demonstrate Potent Inhibition of HIV-1 Viral Replication
Moderator
Rupert Kaul, University of Toronto, University Health Network
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
21
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
11:30 am
Carmichael /
Jackson
One Size Does Not Fit All: Tailoring Programs to Meet the Needs of Women and HIV
Gender has a dramatic impact on the factors that put women at risk for HIV and the services
available to HIV-positive women. This session explores women’s diverse experiences and needs.
125
Edna Aryee Providing Affordable Housing and Improving the Quality of Life of AfricanCanadian Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Ontario
126
Alexandra Borwein You’re Breaking My HAART: HIV and Violence Among a Cohort of
Women on Antiretroviral Therapy in British Columbia, Canada
127
Lori Chambers, Khatundi-Irene Masinde A House is Not a Home: The Impact of Gender,
Race and Stigma on the Housing Experiences of African and Caribbean Mothers
Living with HIV
128
Tracey Prentice HIV Prevention and Women in Canada: A Meta-Ethnographic Synthesis
of Current Knowledge
173
Uitsile Ndlovu Mandatory Prenatal HIV Testing and the Opt-in vs Opt-out Debate:
African/Caribbean Women Diagnosed with HIV During Pregnancy Weigh In
Moderator
Lisungu Chieza, Women’s Health in Women’s Hands
11:30 am
Tom Thomson
Trials and Tribulations of HAART
Highly active antiretroviral therapy has resulted in dramatic improvements in health, but is
also associated with many adverse events. This session examines the effects of adherence,
lipodystrophy, gastrointestinal problems, and potential genetic ramifications of HAART.
129
Nisha Andany Gender and Ethnicity Differences in Body Change and Distress of HIVPositive Individuals Taking Antiretroviral Therapy in Ontario
130
Prameet Sheth Impact of Long-Term Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) on
CD4+ T Regulatory and TH17 Cells in the Blood and Sigmoid Colon
131
Charles la Porte The Effect of Multiple Dose Lopinavir/Ritonavir on Intestinal mRNA
Expression of ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2, CYP2B6, CYP3A4, SLCO1B1, CAR, FXR, PXR
and RXR in Healthy Volunteers
132
Janet Raboud Predictors of Adherence among HIV-Positive Individuals on HAART
Therapy
Moderator
Jonathan Angel, Ottawa Health Research Institute, Ottawa Hospital
12:30 pm
Toronto I & II
22
Lunch
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
1:00 pm
Toronto I & II
Poster Awards, Jay Browne Living Legacy Award
1:30 pm
Toronto I & II
PLENARY: How Research Can Drive Change
Researcher as Advocate
Thomas Kerr, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, University of British Columbia
A growing frustration with the irrelevance of conventional research has prompted a renewed
focus on scientists becoming more engaged with the broader community and the policy
development process. Traditional models of knowledge translation and transfer of research
often have little relevance or influence in the HIV/AIDS realm – especially those instances where
ideology and dominant cultural norms trump scientific evidence.
Drawing on personal experiences researching and advocating for harm reduction and HIV
prevention programs in Canada and Thailand, Dr. Kerr will explore the tensions that can arise
when researchers seek to promote change by advocating with their research and shed light
on the various actors and activities that are central to ensuring that research leads to action
and evidence-based decision-making. Dr. Kerr will also explore the role researchers can play in
instances where traditional forms of knowledge translation and transfer are likely to have little
impact.
2:00 pm
Dr. Charles Roy Lecture
Involved, Invested and Inspired: Shared Leadership and Collective Empowerment in the Third
Space of Research-Policy-Practice
Alan Li, Regent Park Community Health Centre and OHTN CBR Fellow
GIPA (Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV/AIDS), a grassroots movement that began
in the early 1980s and was formalized at the 1994 Paris AIDS Summit, has created a “third” space
whereby PHAs, service providers, policy-makers and researchers gather to find solutions to the
physical, social, political, economic and spiritual impact of HIV on individuals and communities
affected.
Advances in HIV treatment, globalization and societal changes have given rise to the changing
contexts of HIV/AIDS and GIPA. The third space, rooted in critical postcolonial and race theories,
refers to the dynamic space between the centre and the margins where the historically oppressed
or socially excluded communities dialogue, interact and develop new thinking, hybrid cultures and
innovative practices that challenge the status quo and the dominant discourse.
This lecture addresses the needs to re-conceptualize GIPA and challenge the conventional
research and knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) paradigms. It highlights the potential
in the third space for research and KTE cross-fertilization, PHA capacity building, and collective
empowerment to achieve health equity.
Moderator
Evan Collins
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
23
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Harris
For Mature Audiences Only: Sexual Risk Taking in Adults 45+
Little is known about HIV risk behaviour among older adults and the impact of aging with the
virus. This session surveys the landscape of people aging with HIV and examines the treatment and
prevention needs for a diverse group of older adults.
153
Shelley Craig The Importance of Provider Endorsement to Voluntary HIV Counseling and
Testing for Older Minority Women
154
Charles Furlotte Health and Social Service Experiences of Older Adults Living with HIV/
AIDS in the National Capital Region
155
Judy Gould HIV and Aging – An Emerging Landscape for Consideration and Care
156
Katie Mairs Sexual Risk Behaviour Among Canadian Snowbirds who Winter in Florida:
Who is HIV Testing?
Moderator
Yvette Perrault, AIDS Bereavement Project
MacDonald
The Fight for Immunity: Advances in Vaccine and Immune Responses
Recent media attention has renewed public interest in the development of an HIV vaccine.
Researchers will present findings from local vaccine and immunity initiatives that are contributing
to the global effort.
149
Ali Azizi Maturation of Dendritic cells by Liposomal-delivery of Multivalent
HIV Antigens
150
Anna Drannik Trappin-2/Elafin is Associated with Antiviral Activity and Reduced
Production of Pro-Inflammatory Factors in Human Genital Epithelial Cells
151
Sumiti Jain Targeting gp41 as a Strategy to Induce Mucosal Humoral Immunity
Against HIV-1
152
Brad Jones Comprehensive Elimination of Globally Diverse HIV Primary Isolate
Infections by HERV-K-Specific CD8+ T Cells
Moderator
Dan Allman, The University of Edinburgh Centre of Canadian Studies
24
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Lismer
Critical Social Science and Humanities Research at the Front Lines: Intervening in
Theory, Methods and Practice
This year’s OHTN Conference theme focuses on research conducted at the “front lines” with a
particular interest in research that can contribute to new interventions in HIV treatment, care
and support. What role do the critical social sciences and humanities play in front line
intervention research? In what ways can the theories, methods and research perspectives of
the critical social sciences and humanities contribute to improvements in HIV treatment, care
and support? In what ways might they challenge or unsettle assumptions about the form that
“intervention research takes”? The papers in this session will address these and related questions
through a range of approaches.
Disclosure Work: Trans Youth Negotiating Relationships, Sexuality and Safety in a
Cisnormative Social World
Rebecca Hammond, Dalhousie University, Hassle Free Clinic
Uncensoring Stigma: Research and Response-ability
Rosemary Jolly, Queens University
Reading Decolonizing Methodologies: Towards an Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Research Approach
Randy Jackson, Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network, McMaster University
Moderators
Eric Myhkalovskiy, York University
Barry Adam, Ontario HIV Treatment Network, University of Windsor
Carmichael /
Jackson
Where There’s Smoke: Results from Recent Safe Inhalation Studies
Research has shown that safe injection sites provide a valuable harm reduction service. Can a
similar approach work for reducing risk for people who smoke crack?
145
Jennifer Jairam Toronto Drug Users Willingness to Use a Supervised Consumption Site
and Their Preferred Service Models
146
Pamela Leece The Effectiveness of Harm Reduction Programs to Prevent HIV and HCV
Transmission Among People who Smoke Crack: A Systematic Review of the Evidence
1990-2008
147
Peggy Millson Where Do Injection Drug Use and Crack Smoking Occur in Toronto?
148
Tara Marie Watson A Place to Smoke Too: Identifying Challenges for the Design of
Supervised Consumption Sites (SCSs) for Crack Smokers
Moderator
Paul Lavigne, Ottawa Public Health
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
25
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
2:45 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Tom Thomson
Cultural Insights: Closing Gaps in Research, Prevention and Care
Cultural communities have distinct needs for HIV prevention, treatment and support services.
This session examines the gaps in research, policy and practice for culturally diverse communities
in Ontario.
141
Firdaus Ali Stigma and Discrimination among Canadians of South Asian Descent
in Toronto
142
LLana James, Mrya Romyen, Wangari Tharao The Way Forward: African, Caribbean and
Black Canadian HIV/AIDS Research Think Tank
143
Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp Migrant Farm Workers in Ontario: Health and HIV
144
Y. Rachel Zhou Living in “Transnational Spaces”: An Exploration of the Influence of
the Home Country on the HIV Risk Facing Recent Chinese Immigrants in Canada
Moderator
Josephine Wong, Ryerson University
4:00 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Harris
On the International Front: Local Researchers, Global Impact
Ontario researchers are studying prevention efforts in China, intervention programs in Cambodia,
MSM epidemiology in Nigeria and the integration of the HIV and disability sectors worldwide to
better understand risk factors and responses to the global pandemic.
165
Liviana Calzavara Understanding the Epidemic and Strengthening Prevention Efforts in
China: Condoms Use and Knowledge among Migrants in Shanghai
166
Ian Lubek, Michelle Green, Kate O’Brien Canadian Students Following Up on an HIV/AIDS
“Primary Intervention” Program in Cambodia (2006-2009)
167
Ted Myers HIV, Sexually Transmitted Infections and Men who have Sex with Men
(MSM) in Sub-Saharan Africa - The Case of Nigeria
168
Stephanie Nixon HIV and Disability in a Global Context: Into the Spotlight At Last
Moderator
Darryl Perry, Ontario HIV Treatment Network Board Member
26
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
4:00 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
MacDonald
What a Teen Wants, What a Teen Needs – Improved Sex Ed and Health Services for Youth
Teens want to know more about sex. They need to know how to protect themselves and their
partners. This session explores what teens know, how they behave, and what services they need.
169
Helena Shimeles Unpack the Black: Exploring Black Youth Sexual Behaviours in
the TDOT
170
Helena Shimeles Unpack the Black: Exploring Access to Clinical Sexual Health Services
for Black Youth in the TDOT
171
Susan Flynn, Robb Travers Why do Toronto Youth Learn So Much and Yet Not Know So
Much About HIV/AIDS? Results and Recommendations from the Toronto Teen Survey
172
Denise Jaworsky Involving Youth in Determining Evaluation Needs for Youth Sexual
Health Peer Education Programs
Moderator
Angel Parks, AIDS Committee of Toronto
Lismer
Innovative PHA Skill Building Strategies
This session will showcases several innovative strategies and tools that support and facilitate PHA
capacity building in various areas including research and community engagement.
PHAlearning.org: A Tool to Coordinate and Accredit Community Capacity Building
Joan Anderson, Toronto HIV/AIDS Network
Mark Fisher, Ontario HIV Treatment Network
Emmanuel Ndyanabo, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
“Can We Talk”: a Multi-Sectoral Collaborative Innovative Training Program to Facilitate
Empowered PHA / Health Provider Communication
Maureen Owino, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Judy Daniels, Tibotec, a division of Janssen-Ortho
Coming Out in Research: Training to Address Stigma and Disclosure Challenges of PHA
Researchers Working Within their Own Ethno-Racial Communities
Henry Luyombya, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Andrew Miao, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Marisol Desbiens, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Community Engagement Strategy to Involve Ethno-Racial, Faith-Based, Media and Social
Justice Leaders to Address HIV Stigma and Discrimination
Josephine Wong, Ryerson University
Henry Luyombya, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Omer Abdulghani, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
27
Full Program
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
4:00 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
Carmichael/
Jackson
Knowing What Works: Using Data to Drive Services in HIV Prevention and Care
This session provides examples of innovative program monitoring and evaluation systems that use
data to drive developments in service and policy.
157
Rob Boyd, Catherine Vandelinde Implementing an Anonymous Code in a Needle
Exchange/Safer Inhalation Program: What We Have Learned
158
Nicole Greenspan Public Health, Condoms and Bathhouses: A Cost-effectiveness
Analysis of Providing Condoms to Reduce the Spread of Syphilis at Bathhouses in
Toronto
159
Duncan MacLachlan Capturing Conversations: Implementing a Comprehensive Service
Reporting System for MSM Bathhouse Outreach
160
Nadia O’Brien Predictors of Emergency Department use by Individuals on HAART
Moderator
Murray Jose, Toronto PWA Foundation
Tom Thomson
A Dose of Reality: Innovative IDU Strategies
More than 10% of people with HIV in Ontario may have been exposed to the virus through
injection drug use. These innovative studies investigate the roles initiation, supervised injection
facilities and prisons play in reducing the potential harms associated with IDU.
161
Sandra Ka Hon Chu Injecting Realities: Effective Advocacy for HIV Prevention in
Canadian Prisons
162
Gillian Kolla Exploring the Context of Injecting for the First Time – A Qualitative Study
163
Kate Smith If We Build It, Would They Come? The Feasibility of a Supervised Injection
Facility in Ottawa
164
Carol Strike Giving Someone Their First Hit – Implications for HIV Prevention
Programming
Moderator
Richard Elliott, Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network
28
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Exhibition and Cover Art
Cover Art
This year’s cover art is a transparent glass sculptural replica of the HIV virus created by Luke Jerram. Part of
a series of glass microbiology sculptures, Jerram’s work strives to contemplate the global impact of diseases
and the ways that artificial colouring in scientific imagery affects understanding of the phenomena.
Removing this colouring changes the ways we perceive the representations of the disease. He is exploring
the tension between the artworks’ beauty and what they represent, their impact on humanity.
Virologists at the University of Bristol provided consultation on the creation of this work using a
combination of different scientific photographs and models. Editions of the HIV sculpture are on display in
the Wellcome Collection, London and the Bristol City Museum.
The following is an anonymous letter sent to Jerram about his work:
Dear Luke,
I just saw a photo of your glass sculpture of HIV. I can’t stop looking at it, knowing that millions of those guys are
in me, and will be a part of me for the rest of my life. Your sculpture, even as a photo, has made HIV much more
real for me than any photo or illustration I’ve ever seen. It’s a very odd feeling seeing my enemy, and the eventual
cause of my death and finding it so beautiful.
Thank you
www.lukejerram.com
Casson
The Power of One- Visualizing HIV Epidemiology
Understanding epidemiology can give even the most experienced statistician some trouble, but with this
exhibit, CATIE is hoping that a simple grain of rice will help.
Based on ideas used by Stan’s Café, a UK theatre company, the Power of One exhibit uses grains of rice
to give a graphic presence to numbers which illustrate the HIV epidemic in Canada. Each grain of rice
represents one person – when you enter the space, you are given a single grain to represent yourself. The
statistics, presented as labeled, differently-sized piles of rice, will invite viewers to draw conclusions that
can be moving, shocking, and thought-provoking. Juxtaposing Canadian HIV epidemiological numbers with
other facts and statistics that may be surprising and even funny, reminds viewers of the humanity and
humour required to understand the landscape of HIV.
We aim to assist viewers and participants to better understand basic epidemiological information about
HIV in Canada and in their region by creating representations of various HIV-related statistics. In needs
assessments and consultations throughout Canada, 79% of front line organizations working in HIV
indicated the need for tools to assist them to use and interpret epidemiological information.
This innovative, thought-provoking and interactive exhibit translates and simplifies this information using
plain language and accessible examples to assist people to understand the epidemiology of HIV in Canada.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
29
Biographies
Barry D Adam, PhD
Barry D Adam is University Professor of Sociology at the University of Windsor, and Senior Scientist
and Director of Prevention Research at the OHTN with a mandate to draw together researchers,
policy-makers, and community-based organizations in building province-wide capacity in effective
interventions for HIV prevention. Barry comes to HIV work with an extensive research record on the
dynamics of domination and empowerment, LGBT studies, HIV prevention, and issues of living with
HIV. He is currently investigating (a) how social discourses of masculinity, autonomy, adventurism, and
romance influence safer-sex decision-making; (b) the development of an attractive and effective HIV
prevention and sexual health program for HIV-positive men; (c) creation of an intervention for Latino
newcomers to Canada to help address their elevated rate of HIV sero-conversion; and (d) impacts of
criminal prosecutions for HIV exposure and transmission on people living with HIV.
Jonathan Anderson, PhD
Jonathan Anderson studied medicine at Bristol University, UK and trained as a general practitioner. After
moving to Melbourne Australia in 1990, he worked in a busy primary care clinic with a special focus on
gay and lesbian health, HIV, and sexual health. He has extensive experience in clinical and public health
research: his current research portfolio includes studies of the cost-effectiveness of interventions for
the prevention and management of HIV and their role in informing decision-making, as well as studies
measuring the quality of life and cost of care in HIV.
He is currently Senior Research Fellow with Deakin University Health Economics, a research fellow with
the Australian National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research and in 2008 was awarded the
title of Adjunct Associate Professor by Sydney Medical School. For the past two years, he has been the
President of the Australasian Society for HIV Medicine, the peak body for people working in HIV. He is a former member of the
Australian National Ministerial Advisory Committees on HIV and a current member of Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee
on Hepatitis. He has also been the chair of the Biomedical Prevention working group of the Australian National Centre in HIV
Epidemiology and Clinical Research.
Gerardo Betancourt
Gerardo Betancourt was born in Mexico, where he worked as a high school teacher for five years.
Holding degrees in Law and Education, he immigrated to Canada in 2000 and started the process
of assimilation and integration. In 2006, he started working as a Men’s Outreach Worker at the HIV
Prevention Program at the Centre for Spanish-Speaking Peoples (CSSP). In 2007, he began the Masters
in Adult Education and Community Development program at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education at the University of Toronto. He has participated for two years in the Summer Learning
Institute program at the OHTN. He has presented posters and oral presentations at conferences, both
domestic and international, and in 2008 he presented the first national Latino HIV/HEP C campaign
in Canada: ‘Guys Like You’ (www.guyslikeyou.ca). He has also worked with Barry Adam on community
based research projects and is co-principal investigator for ‘Mano en Mano’. He is currently preparing a
CBR study of Latino and Portuguese Vulnerabilities ‘Cuentame’, also with Barry Adam. He is currently AIDS Community Educator
at CSSP.
30
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Biographies
Jay Browne, PhD
Jay Browne received his Masters in Social Work from Ohio State University and a PhD in interdisciplinary
studies (sociology, community health, applied psychology and adult education) from the University
of Toronto (OISE). Jay was Director of Social Work at Chedoke-McMaster Hospitals and held a faculty
appointment in the Department of Psychiatry at McMaster University as an Associate Professor. As
the Chair of the Ontario Public Education Panel on AIDS, Jay was instrumental in helping the Ontario
government launch a very successful prevention/education campaign. Jay was a member of the Ontario
AIDS Advisory Committee and Coordinator of AIDS programs for Ontario. An inspirational force in the
creation of the OHTN, Jay briefly served as the OHTN’s interim Executive Director. He is well known for
his kindness and compassion and has a great deal of respect for people with HIV and encourages them
to speak out on their own behalf.
Liviana Calzavara, PhD
Liviana Calzavara a Professor at the University of Toronto and Deputy-Director of the Social, Behavioural
and Epidemiological Studies Unit, which specializes in education and research related to the social and
behavioural aspects of HIV/AIDS among marginalized populations. She is also the Director of the CIHR
Centre in HIV Prevention Social Research located at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Liviana’s
research integrates epidemiological and social science disciplines to provide a better understanding of
HIV transmission and prevention.
Robert Carr, PhD
Dr Robert Carr is Associate Director of Policy and Advocacy at the International Coalition of AIDS
Services Organisations (ICASO). He has been active in the field of HIV since 2000, when he began
research and advocacy on stigma and discrimination against people living with HIV in Jamaica, and then
in 2002, became Executive Director of Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, a national NGO serving the most
disenfranchised in Jamaican society, including prisoners, the hearing impaired, sex workers, gay men and
other men who have sex with men. Dr Carr went on to co-found the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities
Coalition, a coalition of indigenous frontline service providers working on rights based programming
with marginalised groups across the Caribbean. He has also published several books, including, Sexuality,
Social Exclusion and Human Rights: Vulnerability in the Caribbean Context of HIV (Ian Randle Press,
2009), co-edited with Christine Barrow and Marjan de Bruin, both of the University of the West Indies.
Lisungu Chieza
They say that you are someone through someone. I am who I am today because someone shared their story.
A micro-biologist and counselor by profession, Lisungu has lived openly with HIV for more than a
decade. During this time she has worked passionately to ensure the rights of women and girls living
with HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe, Africa and more recently for African and Caribbean women living in
Toronto. She currently works for Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (WHIWH) as the Clinical Research
Coordinator for the CIHR Emerging team in HIV and Co-Infections study. Through her involvement and
personal achievements she works to empower others to live positively with HIV/AIDS and also ensures
that the capacity of PLWHA is enhanced so that PLWHA are not just consumers of services but become
providers of service as well. She is a proud mother of two teenagers Taku and Tapi.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
31
Biographies
Charles Collins, PhD
Charles B Collins, Jr. Ph.D. is the Section Chief for Science Application in the Division of HIV/AIDS
Prevention at the CDC. His team of scientists are responsible for the dissemination of evidence based
behavioral interventions into HIV prevention practice. They are working with 25 evidence-based
interventions designated as having the highest evidence of efficacy. He has designed, implemented,
and evaluated an HIV intervention for African American drug users and a multi-site community-level
intervention for young MSM of color. He has conducted evaluability assessments and evaluations in
community-based organizations. Dr. Collins has published in many journals including AIDS Education
and Prevention, AIDS Care, and The Journal of Public Health Management and Practice,. Dr. Collins
received his Ph.D. from the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health. He received
the National Center for HIV, Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention Award for Operational Research
in 2002 and the Director’s Recognition Award in 2008 for his work on the Tiers of Evidence.
Marisol Desbien
Marisol Desbiens is a volunteer, public speaker and a peer research assistant. Her involvement with
HIV/AIDS started two years ago when she joined Voices of Positive Women. She is a volunteer for the
Speakers Bureau at PWA. She currently is the President for Latinos Positivos Ontario. Marisol is actively
involved in the HIV community. She works with Positive Spaces Healthy Places (PSHP) and Committee
for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT) doing community-based research projects.
Lynette Deveaux
Lynette Deveaux is the Project Coordinator/Investigator for the Focus on Youth Research Programme, an
HIV and Teen Pregnancy Prevention Initiative. This research is in collaboration with Ministries of Health
and Education in The Bahamas as well as Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
A School Psychologist, Mrs. Deveaux is presently on secondment from the Ministry of Education where
she functioned as the clinic and administrative Supervisor for the School Psychological Services Unit
in the Special Services Section. Her responsibilities included working with marginalized and at-risk
youths and their families. Mrs. Deveaux assisted in the adaptation of ‘Focus on Kids’ curriculum to the
more culturally appropriate ‘Focus on Youth’ curriculum. A specialist in training of trainers, she places
much emphasis on a practical interactive approach to training, allowing people to participate in formal
‘Teach-Backs,’ which are essential for effective implementation of new programs. She presently co-chairs the HIV and AIDS
Education Sector Policy Committee.
Tim Guimond
Dr. Tim Guimond is a Clinician-Researcher in Rainbow Services of the Addictions Program of the Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health. In addition to providing clinical services to Rainbow Services, he also
teaches students in the Addictions Program and conducts research with the LGBTT community. Tim has
substantial community based expertise, having founded the Ontario wide Lesbian Gay Bi Youth Line as
well as the Baltimore-Washington Dancesafe project, and consultation to the Gay Men’s Crystal Meth
Task Force. Tim’s educational background includes medical school at the Johns Hopkins University, a
psychiatric residency at the University of Toronto, where he also completed a Masters of Science in
Statistics. Tim completed the last two years of his residency at CAMH where he was involved in the
concurrent disorder service, provided statistical analysis to Dr. McMain’s HOPE study on DBT versus
general psychiatric management.
32
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Biographies
Randy Jackson, PhD cand.
Randy Jackson is currently completing his PhD at McMaster University in the faculty of Social Work.
Randy is also the Director of Research and Programs with the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN)
and a recent OHTN Community Scholar. Originally from the Chippewas of Kettle and Stoney Point First
Nation (southwestern Ontario), Randy has been involved in a number of research projects that engage
the community and incorporate Aboriginal values and perspectives.
Reflecting his beliefs about the significance of Aboriginal self-determination, Randy helped develop
CAAN’s position statement on Principles of Research Collaboration. His research interests include
cultural competence in service provision, homophobia from the perspective of two-spirit women,
cultural resiliency, Aboriginal participation in clinical trials, and mental health and depression.
Thomas Kerr, PhD
Thomas Kerr is the Director of the Urban Health Research Initiative at the BC Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, as
well as a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. At the BC Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, Thomas is a principal investigator of several large cohort studies involving people who inject
drugs and individuals living with HIV/AIDS, including the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study.
Thomas’s primary research interests are HIV/AIDS, injection drug use, health policy and service
evaluation, and community-based research methods. A key focus of Thomas’s work has been the
scientific evaluation of Insite, North America’s first safer injecting facility, and his research in this area
has contributed significantly to academic, public, and government discussion, both nationally and
internationally. Thomas has published over 200 scientific papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has received local
and national awards for his contribution to public health, including the National Knowledge Translation Award from the Canadian
Institutes of Health Research for his efforts to promote scientific discussion on illicit drug policy.
Susan King, MD
The OHTN is pleased to honour the life of Dr. Susan King, Professor of Paediatrics at the University
of Toronto and a specialist in Paediatric Infectious Diseases at The Hospital for Sick Children, by
establishing a permanent lecture series in her name. As the co-director of the HIV/AIDS Comprehensive
Care Program at the Hospital for Sick Children, Susan always had a special focus on the care of families
with HIV.
Her passion was the care and treatment of children with HIV and pediatric-related HIV research.
A tireless advocate for children and families affected by HIV, Susan was a founding member of
the Canadian Paediatric AIDS Research Group and the coordinator of the Canadian Perinatal HIV
Surveillance Program. Susan King died on February 15, 2009.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
33
Biographies
Marina Klein, MD
Dr. Marina Klein graduated from McGill Medical School (1991) and received her training in Internal
Medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital (1991-94). She completed a research fellowship in Infectious
Diseases at the University of Minnesota in 1998 and then returned to McGill University to join the
Division of Infectious Diseases/ Immunodeficiency Service at the Royal Victoria Hospital. While
on faculty she received a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from McGill and was
an Associate of the Canadian HIV Trials Network. She is a previous recipient of an MRC/CIHR New
Investigator award and is currently supported by a Chercheur-boursier J2 award from the FRSQ. She
focuses her research on clinical and epidemiologic aspects of HIV and Hepatitis C co-infection. With
support from the FRSQ, she has established a prospective cohort of co-infected patients to study the
interaction of these chronic viral infections which has recently been funded by the CIHR to expand
across Canada. She also is also a principal investigator for clinical trials in the treatment of co-infection. Additional research
interests include pharmacoepidemiology of antiretrovirals and HIV infection in women.
David Lewis-Peart
David Lewis-Peart is the Prevention Program Coordinator with the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention
(Black CAP) in Toronto. David is a graduate student at York University, where his focus of study is in
Research, Program Evaluation, BMSM youth, and community interventions. David has worked as a social
services counsellor and consultant over the past five years with organizations such as the Metro Action
Committee on Violence Against Women, Central Toronto Youth Services, the Center for Addictions and
Mental Health (SAPACCY), LOFT community services, and Fife House, and was the recipient of the TD
Canada LGBT Youthline Award for Achievement in Social Services and Anti-oppression in 2008.
David is the author of, Visibly Hidden: Rethinking BMSM and HIV Prevention, which has been used in
the creation of programming and resources for young Black gay and bisexual men. It includes the THINK
print media campaign, www.getthelowdown.ca; a sexual health website for young Black gay and bisexual men, the Dealing with
Being Different: A Coming Out Resource Booklet for Black LGBT Youth and their Families. He also spearheaded the development
of the Black Families and Friend (BFF) chapter of PFLAG Canada. Most recently, David launched Black CAP’s Toronto pilot of the
group HIV/STI intervention, Many Men, Many Voices (3MV) for BMSM youth, which he is currently in the process of evaluating
with Black CAP’s academic partners.
Alan Li, MD
Alan Li has been a primary care physician at Regent Park Community Health Centre since 1987. Between
1992 and 2000 he also worked at Casey House Hospice and was the medical director from 1997 to 2000.
Alan is the founding president of the Asian Community AIDS Services, a former national president of
the Chinese Canadian National Council, and a founding member of the Committee for Accessible AIDS
Treatment (CAAT). Alan has also worked with the five ethnoracial AIDS service organizations in Toronto
to form the Ethnoracial Treatment Support Network. Since 2005, Alan has been a community based
research fellow at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network and is a leader in action research on immigrant,
refugee and non-status PHA and culturally diverse communities in Canada. In recognition of his work,
Alan was recently awarded the Humanitarian Award by the African Caribbean Council on HIV/AIDS in
Ontario and the Council Award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario.
34
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Biographies
James Murray
James Murray is a Senior Program Consultant at the AIDS Bureau, Ontario Ministry of Health and LongTerm Care. In this capacity, James has assisted with the development of the Gay Men’s Sexual Health
Alliance, the strategy that developed and delivered the HIV Stigma Campaign. Prior to working at the
AIDS Bureau, James worked at the AIDS Committee of Toronto coordinating community-based HIV
prevention programming targeted to gay men. James holds an M. Ed from the University of Toronto.
Suzanne O’Byrne
Suzanne is presently employed at Somerset West CHC in Ottawa as Director, Community and Social
Services, a large department providing services such as individual and group counseling, practical
assistance, children and youth programs, mental health and harm reduction services. She was
instrumental in bringing Success By 6 to Ottawa and held the position of Executive Director for 3 years
prior to leaving for the position at Somerset West. Before this she had been the Director of Social
Work for three municipal Homes for the Aged for 13 years, and for 12 years, the Director, Community
Services for United Way/Centraide Ottawa, responsible for allocation of funds and community building
initiatives. She holds a Master of Social Work from Carleton University, is fluently bilingual, and among
other volunteer commitments, has been a member of the Board of Directors of St. Patrick’s Home and
Carlington Community Health Centre in Ottawa.
Mario Ostrowski, MD
Dr. Mario Ostrowski awakens every morning with two nagging questions: 1) Why can’t our immune
systems get rid of the virus if we get infected? and 2) Can we design an effective vaccine against HIV?
Dr. Ostrowski’s research investigates how HIV can escape the body’s immune defenses, and how the virus
cripples the immune system. In addition, his team is developing new ways of designing vaccines against
this lethal virus.
Graduating from the University of Western Ontario medical school, he went on to complete residencies
in pathology, internal medicine and infectious diseases. He held a position of visiting scientist at the NIH
prior to coming to the University of Toronto. He is part of a team of primary investigators whose work is
defined as translational research, where patients are directly involved with trying to solve the puzzle of
HIV. Because of the scope of the problem, his laboratory collaborates extensively with clinicians caring for HIV, and investigators
at many centers including UCSF and the NIH.
Sean B. Rourke
Sean B. Rourke, Ph.D., completed his doctorate in 1995 in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in
Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of California, San Diego. Sean is the Scientific and Executive
Director of the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, a Scientist with the Centre for Research on Inner City
Health, Keenan Research Centre in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital and an
Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He is also the Director
of the CIHR Centre for REACH (Research Evidence into Action For Community Health) in HIV/AIDS.
In his role at the OHTN, Sean has carved out a key role as a leader and facilitator: identifying and
exploring current and emerging issues in HIV prevention, care and treatment; building partnerships
between researchers and the HIV community; actively promoting community-based research and
mentoring community-based researchers; helping secure research funding; and assisting the community and academics in
developing participatory research that will lead to improvements in the care, support, treatment and prevention of HIV in Ontario
and Canada. In 2005, he received a New Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
35
Biographies
Charles Roy, PhD
Active in the AIDS Movement from the early years of the epidemic, Charles Roy organized the first
support group at the Montreal AIDS Resource Centre and was the social worker at the Hemophilia
Clinic of the Montreal Children’s Hospital. Upon moving to Ontario, he was involved with numerous HIV
organizations as a social worker, researcher, volunteer, board member and, eventually, the Executive
Director of the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Diagnosed with HIV in 1987, Charles played an important
leadership role in the Canadian PWA movement tirelessly advocating for the meaningful involvement
of people with HIV in research and service organizations. Charles died of complications related to HIV/
AIDS in August 2002 after a professional and personal life dedicated to the AIDS movement, community
based research, and social justice issues.
Ron Stall, PhD, MPH
Ron Stall is currently Professor and Chair of the Department of Behavioral and Community Health
Sciences in the Graduate School of Public Health at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Stall’s central
research interest is the study of how social and cultural forces shape the behaviors that place individuals
at higher risk for disease outcomes. Stall began work in 1984 on the AIDS Behavioral Research Project,
one of the first longitudinal studies of AIDS risk-taking behaviors in the world. Since that time he has
published over 120 peer reviewed scientific papers on many different aspects of the AIDS epidemic.
Stall is the 1999 recipient of the Chuck Frutchey Board of Directors Award from STOP AIDS/San
Francisco. He is listed as one of the most highly cited behavioral science researchers in the world
in the ISI Most Highly Cited website, received the 2005 CDC/ATSDR Honor Award for Public Health
Epidemiology and Laboratory Research and was inducted into Delta Omega (a public health honor society) in 2006. His current
research and teaching portfolio includes co-Directorship of a Certificate Program in LGBT Health, and PI or Co-PI status on a series
of NIH grants on issues important to gay men’s health.
Bonita Stanton, PhD
Bonita Stanton is Schotanus Professor and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Wayne State
University and Pediatrician-in-Chief at Children’s Hospital of Michigan. Dr. Stanton graduated from
Wellesley College and Yale University School of Medicine. She received her pediatric residency training
at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and completed an infectious disease fellowship at Yale
University. She served as the Medical Director of Yale’s Hill Health Center and then went to Dhaka,
Bangladesh for five years where she served as Director, Urban Volunteer Program, a program directed
towards the health of Bangladeshi’s living in the slums of Dhaka Bangladesh, and as the World Bank
Maternal Child Health Specialist for Bangladesh. She was then on faculty at the University of Maryland
until she became Chair, Department of Pediatrics, West Virginia University. In 2002, she moved to her
current position.
Dr. Stanton has consulted with numerous national and international groups including the World Bank, WHO, UNICEF, and USAID
on issues related to urban health, HIV/AIDS transmission in youth, maternal child health, vaccines and health services research. She
has been an author of over 200 articles as well as other chapters, reports and books. She is an editor of the 18th and 19th editions
of Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. She is a member of the Advisory Board to The Fogarty International Center at the National
Institutes of Health.
36
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Biographies
James Watson
James Watson is a project coordinator at the OHTN, currently overseeing the Positive Spaces Healthy
Places (PSHP) study, Phase III, and contributing to the Impacts of Criminal Prosecutions for HIV Exposure
and Transmission on People Living with HIV study. He comes to this work following experiences as a Peer
Research Assistant with PSHP Phase I & II and Research Assistant for the Sustaining Health Sustaining
Housing study conducted at Fife House. He has presented at the OHTN Research Conference, AIDS 2008
and CAHR. After 18 years of living with HIV, James is motivated to share his experience moving off of
disability, returning to school and engaging in Community Based Research. A paper he co-authored,
Between Skepticism and Empowerment: The experiences of Peer Research Assistants in HIV/AIDS,
Housing and Homelessness Community-Based Research was recently published in the International
Journal of Social Research Methodology and his paper HIV Capacity Building: Reclaiming Our
Confidence was published in HIV Australia. He holds a BFA from the University of Windsor and is currently completing a diploma
in Community Development.
Zhaida Uddin, BSc. (Hons), M.A
Zhaida Uddin has worked in HIV/AIDS since 1995, developing awareness campaigns, educational
materials, training guidelines, position statements, policy papers, reports for community-based
organizations and the City of Ottawa. Zhaida currently works with Ottawa Public Health, as a Project
Officer with the Special Initiatives Team, and over the last 5 years her focus has been around raising
awareness of the specific vulnerabilities the African and Caribbean communities face around HIV/AIDS
as well as youth, and providing prevention information and programming to the community through
partnership with other organizations in Ottawa.
In 2004, she initiated the design and implementation of ‘Operation Hairspray: an innovative community
approach to HIV/AIDS prevention education with African and Caribbean communities’, which has
been an extremely successful initiative. Zhaida is also a member of a number of provincial and local committees that focus on
policy, advocacy and programme development to raise awareness of and respond to the HIV prevention needs of the African and
Caribbean communities in Ottawa and Ontario.
Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker, PhD
Dr. Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker is a Senior Scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and a
Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Toronto. He holds a Tier-1 Canada
Research Chair in Developmental Immunology, and is the Director of the Advance Regenerative Tissue
Engineering Centre. Dr. Zúñiga-Pflücker’s work, which focuses on the development of the immune
system, led to the discovery of how to generate T lymphocytes from stem cells in a tissue culture
without a thymus.
Dr. Zúñiga-Pflücker received his PhD in genetics and immunology from the George Washington
University, Washington, D.C. As a graduate student, Dr. Zúñiga-Pflücker studied the cellular interactions
of thymus function at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. He went on to complete
his postdoctoral studies also at the NIH, looking into transcriptional regulation in early T cell development. Since his faculty
appointment, his laboratory has pursued a research program to uncover the molecular control of lymphopoiesis and thymus
biology, which have led to the publication of several groundbreaking papers demonstrating a role for Notch ligands in T cell
development and in embryonic stem cell differentiation.
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
37
Posters
Alhetheel, Abdulkarim. Regulation of Programmed Cell Death in Monocytes from HIV+ Patients by Interferon-γ and
Interleukin-10, 343
Ambagala, Aruna. A Self-boosting Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Vector in the Development of a Protective Human Immunodeficiency
Virus (HIV) Vaccine, 364
Andany, Nisha. Implementation of a Student-Initiated Preclerkship HIV Elective, 337
Arendt, Bianca. HIV-Associated Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver in the Era of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy: A Review, 312
Ashraf, Tamima. Regulation of P-Glycoprotein Expression by the Viral Envelope Protein gp120 and Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines in
Human Glial Cells, 357
Au-Yeung, Christopher. Tuberculosis Mortality in HIV-Infected Individuals: an Analytical Assessment, 313
Baidoobonso, Shamara. The Black, African and Caribbean Canadian Health (BLACCH) Study: Phase I, 320
Balfour, Louise. High Rates of Smoking and Depression Co-Occur Among People Living with HIV in Canada, 314
Blahoianu, Maria. Regulation of IL-23 in Human Monocytes Following HIV Infection, 345
Buhler, Shayna. The Impact of AIDS Vaccine Research on Health Systems Strengthening, 365
Busca, Aurelia. Monocytes to Macrophages Differentiation Confers Resistance to HIV-VPR Induced Apoptosis: Role of AntiApoptotic BCL2 and Inhibitors of Apoptosis (IAP) Proteins, 358
Calla, Domenico. Condoms and Community: Enhancing Community Engagement to Inform Public Health Practice and Condom
Distribution, 338
Challacombe, Laurel. Increasing Community Knowledge of HIV and Legal Disclosure in an Era of Criminalization, 339
Che Mat, Nor Fazila. Regulation of IL-23 Induced Signaling and Receptor Expression in Human CD4 T Cells Isolated from HIV
Positive Patients, 346
Cochrane, Alan. Different Roles of hnRNP D Isoforms in Modulating HIV-1 Gene Expression, 362
Corace, Kim. From Stigma to Disability: The Role of Depression Among PHAs, 334
De Rosa, Maria Fabiana. Role of Membrane Drug Transporters in the Permeability of Microbicides, 377
Duffy, Simon. Detecting Novel Sam68∆C-Associated Proteins Involved in Disrupting HIV-1 Replication, 360
Fairman, Peter. Effects of HIV-1 on the Maturation and Antigen Presentation of Monocyte Derived Dendritic Cells, 347
Faucher, Sylvie. Development of a Quantitative Bead Capture Assay for Soluble IL-7 Receptor Alpha in Human Plasma, 348
Ferreira, Victor. The Effect of HSV-2 Infection on HIV Replication in the Female Genital Tract, 315
Forbes, Rosemary. The Broader Determinants of Health in an Aboriginal Context, 322
Furlotte, Charles. “Got a Room for Me?” Housing Experiences of Eleven Older Adults Living with HIV/AIDS in Canada’s Capital City,
327
Ghazawi, Feras. Effects of Interleukin-7 on Notch-1 Expression in CD8 T-Cells, 349
Gray, Kimberly. Risk Behavior Among EAST (East African Health Study in Toronto) Participants with Multiple and Concurrent
Sexual Partners, 329
Guzzo, Christina. The Effect of HIV Infection on Expression Levels of the Interleukin-27 Heterodimeric Cytokine and Receptor, 350
Hard, Julie. Interprofessional Mentorship as a Means to Build Capacity Among Rehabilitation Professionals and People Living
with HIV in Ontario, 335
Hart, Trevor. Gay Poz Sex: A Community Based Counseling Intervention for HIV-Positive Men, 331
Henrick, Bethany. Understanding the Role of Innate Factors in Mother-to-Child HIV-Transmission through Breast Milk, 308
Johnston, Christine. Building a Collection of “Evidence”-Based HIV Front-Line Practices: The Programming Connection – Shared
Experience. Stronger programs, 341
Jones, Angeline. HIV Prevention and the African and Caribbean Diaspora, 369
Julien, Jean-Philippe. Probing the Promiscuity Displayed by the Broadly Neutralizing anti-HIV-1 Antibody 2F5 in Recognizing a
Variety of gp41 MPER-Related Peptides: a Basis for the Design of Small Molecule Vaccines, 366
Kafka, Jessica. Effect of Seminal Plasma from HIV-Infected Men on Female Genital Epithelial Cell Responses, 378
Kakal, Juzer. Regulation of the IL-7 Receptor Alpha Chain in Primary Human Cytotoxic T-Cells, 304
Kis, Olena. Uptake of Atazanavir (ATZ) is Susceptible to Inhibition by Antiretroviral Drugs in Caco-2 Cells, a Model of Human
Intestinal Epithelium, 374
Krahn, Thomas. The Diagnostic Utility of Serum RPR Titer and Peripheral CD4 Cell Count for Neurosyphilis Among Patients with
HIV: A Systematic Review, 316
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RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Posters
Liu, Jun. The Adjuvancy of OX40 Ligand (CD252) on an HIV-1 Canarypox Vaccine, 367
Lo, Calvin. HIV Induces a Unique Cytokine Profile with Delayed Interferon Alpha Production in Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells, 351
Lombardo, Anthony. Online Sex Seeking Among MSM: Subculture and Socialization, 375
Marsh, Angie. Endogenous Retroviral Element (ERV) Antigens: Immunological Targeting of HIV-Infected Cells, 368
McDiarmid, Marney. PhotoPositive: Exploring HIV-Related Stigma Within Communities of Gay and Bisexual Men in Toronto, 302
McLaughlin, Denny. Expression of the Interleukin-7 Receptor is Down Regulated on CD4 T-Cells by the HIV Tat Protein, 353
Mujib, Shariq. Induction of Tim-3 Expression by the Common Gamma-Chain Cytokines IL-2, IL-7, IL-15 and IL-21, 352
Mwalwanda, Mary. 50+ Years as Women Living With HIV-Case Managers Provide a ‘wHEALTH’ of Experience, 307
Ndlovu, Uitsile. “Nobody tell me and I don’t ask” –The Experiences of African/Caribbean Black Muslim Women with Prenatal HIV
Testing in Ontario, 317
Nixon, Stephanie. Taking Seriously Our Obligations to Share Research Results: One Approach to Knowledge Transfer and
Exchange with Adolescents, 370
O’Brien, Kelly. Developing a New HIV Disability Questionnaire: A Community-Integrated Approach, 333
O’Brien, Kelly. Enhancing Labour Force Participation for People Living with HIV in Canada: Scoping Review Results, 326
O’Brien, Kelly. Exploring Relationships Between Dimensions and Contextual Factors of Disability: Development of a Measurement
Model, 336
O’Brien, Nadia. Moving from Paradigm to Practice: The Ashodaya Sex Worker Empowerment Project in Mysore India and its
Promise for HIV/AIDS Prevention, 371
O’Brien, Nadia. Overcoming Employment Barriers: Health and Financial Worries Among a Cohort of HIV-Positive Individuals on
HAART, 321
O’Loghlen, Sean. A Comparison of Antiretroviral Treatment Uptake in HIV Patients that are Canadian-Born and those Born
Outside Canada, 376
Parashar, Surita. The Effect of Medication Support Services on the Association Between Housing and Adherence Among a Cohort
of Unstably Housed People Living with HIV/AIDS Accessing HAART, 323
Petrovic, Bojana. HIV Risk Behavior Among Undergraduate Students During Reading Week Vacation, 330
Popiel, Melissa. HIV and Employment Activity in Canada: A 2009 Survey, 324
Rebbapragada, Anu. Detection of Human Papilloma Virus in Self Collected Vaginal and Anal Samples from Afro-Caribbean
Women Residing in Toronto, 318
Robillard, Kevin. Expression of ABC Drug Efflux Transporters in a HIV-1 Transgenic Rat Model, 361
Rueda, Sergio. Job Security is Associated with Quality of Life in Men Living with HIV: The OHTN Cohort Study, 379
Salit, Irv. Cost-Effectiveness of Anal Cancer Screening in HIV-Positive Men, 332
Sandre, Daniella. The Ottawa HIV Quit Smoking Program, 340
Saxena, Mansi. TLR-9 Agonist Protects Human Monocytic Cells against HIV-Vpr-induced Apoptosis: A Critical Role for
Calmodulin-dependent Protein Kinase-II and an Anti-apoptotic cIAP-2 Gene, 354
Scott, Allison. Peer Investigator Experiences in a Community Based Research Study: Expression Through Creative Projects, 303
Sharpe, Simon. Identification of the Oligomerization Interface in the Transmembrane Domain of HIV-1 Vpu, 359
Singhal, Neera. The Effect of Mixed Carotenoids Supplementation on CD4 T Lymphocyte Count in HIV/AIDS, 355
Sok, Phan. Clinical Outcomes Prior to the Era of Antiretroviral Therapy in Cambodia, 372
Song, Haihan. HIV-1 Increases Non-LTR Associated long Interspersed Element 1 Expression by Retrotransposition, 363
Taggart, Linda. Changes in the Incidence and Outcomes of Hematologic Malignancies in Individuals with HIV in the cART Era, 319
Tebeje, Meskerem. Harm Reduction Theatre Troupe Project, 301
Tebeje, Meskerem. Reaching Vulnerable Women in Priority Areas in the Greater Toronto Area: Voices of Positive Women’s
Community Connections Project, 306
Tebeje, Meskerem . Using Art to Educate the Youth and Open-up a Dialogue re: HIV/AIDS in the Ethiopian-Canadian Community,
305
Tenywa, Paul. Access to HIV/AIDS Resources by Mothers and Children: Lessons from Rural Communities in Uganda, 373
Wagner, Anne. Correlates of Psychological Distress in HIV Positive (HIV+) Women, 310
Wilson, Michael. Mobilizing Evidence at the Front Lines: Improving HIV/AIDS Policy and Care in Canada, 342
Wolfert, Stephanie. Optimizing Prenatal HIV Testing in Ontario, 311
Young, Charlene. In Vitro HIV Infection Results in Impaired IL-7 Signaling in Primary Human Thymocytes, 356
Finding New Solutions in HIV Prevention, Treatment and Support
39
Acknowledgements
The OHTN Gratefully Acknowledges the Following People for their Contributions to the Conference:
Barry Adam
Charles Collins
David Lewis-Peart
Stanley Read
Jonathan Anderson
Marisol Desbiens
Alan Li
Allison Scott
Jonathan Angel
Lynette Deveaux
Mona Loutfy
Ron Stall
Maggie Atkinson
Nicole Greenspan
Frank McGee
Bonita Stanton
Greta Bauer
Tim Guimmond
James Murray
Darien Taylor
Gerardo Betancourt
Adrian Guta
Kelly O’Brien
Robb Travers
David Brennan
Randy Jackson
Treena Orchard
Zhaida Uddin
Roy Cain
Llana James
Mario Ostrowski
James Watson
Liviana Calzavara
Ashok Kumar
Suzanne O’Byrne
David Wille
Robert Carr
Thomas Kerr
Angel Parks
Juan Carlos
Zuniga-Pflucker
Lisungu Chieza
Marina Klein
Anita Rachlis
Moderators of Concurrent
Sessions
Oral Abstract Presenters
Special Thanks
Conference Planning
Committee
40
RESEARCH AT THE FRONT LINES
Poster Presenters
The Ontario HIV Treatment Network is funded by the AIDS Bureau, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care