A Lifetime of Care? Factors that Influence Retention

To achieve the best health outcomes, it's important for people with HIV to stay in care. Many factors influence retention This session looks at what we know about the care continuum within the OCS, age-related differences in engagement and retention in care, the providers in HIV care, and factors associated with missed visits in a tertiary care centre.

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Characterization of the HIV care continuum among persons in HIV care in Ontario in 2011

Lucia Light SLIDES

Age-related differences in HIV care engagement: Results from the OHTN Cohort Study

Michael Manno SLIDES

Are we prepared for an aging HIV population?: A needs assessment identifying the barriers and challenges to care and services

Amrita Ahluwalia SLIDES

Factors associated with missed clinic visits at a tertiary care centre

Leah Szadkowski SLIDES

HIV and Co-morbidities

People living with HIV experience other co-occurring conditions which create more complex care needs and influence the course of the treatment cascade. In this session, researchers discuss the development and progression of cardiovascular disease; the potential utility of omega-3 fatty acid supplementation to reduce risk; estimates, uptake and outcomes of colorectal cancer screening; and the experiences of disability among those living with HIV.

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Higher incidence of plaque in HIV infected adults compared to uninfected adults: A matched cohort analysis of carotid artery intima media thickness progression and carotid artery plaque

Lawrence Mbuagbaw, Marek Smieja SLIDES

Low omega-3 index in erythrocytes is a risk factor for progression of atherosclerosis in people living with HIV

Bianca M. Arendt SLIDES

A population-based estimate of the extent of colorectal cancer screening in men with HIV

Tony Antoniou SLIDES

Anal cancer screening in HIV primary care: Uptake and outcomes

Irving E. Salit SLIDES

What personal attributes influence the disability experience for adults living with HIV? A structural equation model analysis using data from the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study (OCS)

Kelly O'Brien SLIDES

Race, Risk and Response: Issues in African, Caribbean and Black Communities

The intersection of race and other factors can increase HIV risk. In this session, presenters will discuss topics related to HIV among African, Caribbean and Black men and women including: experiences of racism, sexism, HIV-related stigma and quality of life; the role of childhood sexual abuse in sexual risk taking; the impact of the criminalization of non-disclosure on racialized communities; and the challenges of providing culturally appropriate peer-based services. The session will also report on a process for validating the research priorities for African Caribbean and Black communities in Ontario.

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Racism, sexism, HIV-related stigma and quality of life among HIV-positive Black, African, Caribbean women in Ontario, Canada

Carmen Logie SLIDES

Childhood sexual abuse and sexual risk taking among gay and bisexual men of colour

David Brennan SLIDES

The impact of criminalization of non-disclosure of HIV positive status on racialized communities

Roberta Timothy SLIDES

3rd Ontario African, Caribbean & Black research think tank – 2012: Validating the research priorities set for HIV research amongst African, Caribbean and Black communities

Zhaida Uddin, Wangari Tharao SLIDES

Visioning Health: Indigenous Issues, Indigenous Methodologies

Aboriginal communities continue to experience disproportionate rates of HIV. Many community-based and decolonizing initiatives are underway to build community resilience and enhance prevention. This session examines: decolonizing approaches to engaging with positive Aboriginal women; rates of psychological distress; the findings of community-based participatory research with Inuit women in the Canadian Arctic; and Hepatitis C treatment outcomes among First Nations.

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Connecting helps us heal: Using the arts and culture to decolonize research with HIV-positive Aboriginal women

Tracey Prentice, Kerrigen Beaver SLIDES

Psychological distress among Aboriginal participants in the Ontario HIV Treatment Network Cohort Study (OCS)

Laura Warren SLIDES

Community engaged research: Community-based participatory HIV prevention research in the Canadian Arctic

Jenny R. Rand SLIDES

Hepatitis C treatment outcomes in First Nations Canadians

Curtis Cooper SLIDES

Vaccine Vectors and Other Strategies to Reduce Risk

If we can trick our body into mounting an immune response to HIV before infection occurs, we may be able to prevent future infection. This session explores several novel vaccine vectors, including herpes viruses like varicella zoster virus and cytomegalovirus; and strategies to enhance immune responses to vaccines that mimic HIV. The latest findings on the use of curcumin as a microbicide to inhibit HIV infection will also be presented.

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A trimeric HIV-1 gp140-BAFF fusion construct enhances mucosal anti-trimeric HIV-1 gp140 IgA in mice

Jun Liu SLIDES

Shaping Frontline Services to Meet Needs: Programs that Can Change Lives

To change the course of the treatment cascade, we must look beyond treatment to other forms of care and support for people living with HIV. This session provides a snapshot of several programs in practice and explores lessons learned.

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Community development in practice: Improving service delivery through partnerships

Hector Addison, Jane Karago SLIDES

Improving service delivery and client engagement at Casey House: Lessons in client satisfaction evaluation approaches

Emma Firsten-Kaufman SLIDES

Highlighting Toronto's only Aboriginal IDU program

Denise Baldwin SLIDES

Positive life - Life skills for PHAs

Ed Argo SLIDES

Transformation: Engagement and capacity building - PHAs living their dreams

Gareth Henry SLIDES

Living learning space: Recognizing public pedagogy in a small town AIDS service organization

Colin Hastings SLIDES

Challenge Panel: Gay Men and Substance Use

Recreational substance use and its impact on HIV prevention and treatment has long been an issue among gay men. Perry Halkitis, an investigator with the Centre for Drug Use and HIV Research at New York University, will discuss the biological foundations, psychological factors and social consequences of substance use – including methamphetamine addiction – for gay men. Join him for an in-depth discussion of the issues and possible interventions.

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Perry Halkitis SLIDES

Preparing Providers: Tools and Strategies to Enhance Health Services

People with HIV are more likely to remain engaged in their care when health care providers are sensitive to their health issues and needs. This session looks at: the health care sector's readiness to meet the needs of an aging HIV population; teaching tools for long-term care providers; online guidelines for rehabilitation professionals working with people living with HIV; and an innovative simulated clinical encounter for medical students.

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Who is providing care to people with HIV? A cross-sectional, populationbased study of outpatient providers among people with HIV in Ontario, Canada

Claire E. Kendall SLIDES

Enhancing uptake of an online evidence-informed guide to HIV rehabilitation among occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech-language pathologists

Nancy Salbach SLIDES

Perspectives of clinical preceptors in an innovative simulated clinical encounter involving people living with HIV/AIDS: A qualitative analysis

Malika Sharma SLIDES

Innovative simulated clinical encounter involving people living with HIV/AIDS in training medical students improves medical student comfort in HIV care

Sandra Gardner SLIDES

Stigma: Impacts and Interventions

Within the metaphor of the treatment cascade, stigma is like the current, flowing from one end to the other with dramatic effect on risk, engagement, retention and empowerment. In this session presenters will discuss: the structural barriers experienced by women living with HIV; interventions to reduce HIV stigma and stress; approaches to measuring stigma and its impact; and opportunities for addressing stigma in medical care and service provision.

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Structural barriers and legal issues experienced by women living with HIV in Ontario

Carmen Logie SLIDES

Reducing HIV stigma amongst ethno-racial leaders: Findings from the Community Champion HIV/AIDS Advocates Mobilization Research Project (CHAMP)

Alan Li, Henry Luyomba SLIDES

Beyond scales: Capturing and flushing out the effects of stigma and impact of anti-stigma interventions

Kenneth Fung, Amanuel Tesfamichael SLIDES

Improving medical care and medical education: Suggestions from people living with HIV/AIDS

Sarah Al-Obaidi SLIDES

Project PRIDE (Promoting Resilience In Discriminatory Environments): A novel HIV-prevention intervention addressing minority stress among gay and bisexual men

Amy C. Willis, Trevor A. Hart SLIDES

From Preconception to Post-partum: Women and Reproductive Issues

People with HIV who want to have families now have more options; however, they also face unique issues. This session examines a range of reproductive health issues including: the factors that influence conception decisions; the mechanisms of protease inhibitors in combination antiretroviral therapies that impact on birth outcomes; population-based analyses of adequacy of care and adverse neonatal outcomes among women living with HIV; and effective approaches to post-partum support for positive mothers.

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Results from the feasibility of the Ontario HIV Preconception Cohort – Understanding the factors that influence conception decisions

V. Logan Kennedy SLIDES

Adverse neonatal outcomes among women living with HIV in Ontario: A population-based study

Tony Antoniou SLIDES

Post-partum support for mothers living with HIV: What works and what doesn't

Kaitlyn Mellor, Gladys Kwaramba SLIDES

HIV and Aging

Growing old with HIV is reality for many people in Ontario and Canada. The increasing number of older people with HIV has spurred research on the clinical and social aspects of aging with HIV. The session will begin with an overview of the research that is inprocess across Canada on aging and HIV, and then examine particular issues for women and service providers, the implications for long-term care, and models and tools for understanding aging within a disability framework.

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In-process research activities in Canada related to HIV, aging and health services

Kate Murzin SLIDES

Fatigue, quality of life, physical function and participation in social, recreational, and daily living activities in women living with HIV: A descriptive study

Abigail Hum SLIDES

"He's got HIV. Well he's basically like a diabetic": Service provision for HIV as a long-term chronic illness

Jessica Cattaneo SLIDES

Aging with HIV: A model of disability

Nicole Gervais SLIDES

Reliability and validity of the HIV disability questionnaire (HDQ) with adults living with HIV in Canada and Ireland

Kelly O'Brien SLIDES

Newcomers, Migrant Workers and Minorities: Experiences of Risk and Resilience

Migration is a challenging life event. Even under the best of circumstances, many people who migrate experience issues of dislocation, racism, stigma and loss of community. At the same time, for some it is a hopeful experience, marked by new potential, new communities and new opportunities. In this session, presenters will examine: HIV risk in the context of the migration experience; housing related issues; challenges for HIV positive refugee claimants; and resiliency responses in dealing with a positive HIV test.

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Brownkiss: A storytelling model of engagement

Suruthi Ragulan SLIDES

HIV/AIDS knowledge and sexual health practices among Asian migrant farm workers in Ontario

Mandana Vahabi, Josephine P. Wong SLIDES

"I need a safe place for myself": Issues of refugee claimants in transitional housing for people living with HIV/AIDS

Amrita Ahluwalia SLIDES

Understanding the intersecting effects of gender, class, race and culture on the sexual practices and HIV risks of young Asian women in Toronto

Josephine P. Wong SLIDES

From crisis to rebirth – Exploring resiliency responses of Asian MSM in dealing with testing HIV positive

Alan Li, Christian Hui SLIDES

Building Better Therapeutics

HAART has revolutionized the way we manage HIV infection, but there is more to be done. In this session, researchers present the latest findings on: the role of antiretroviral therapy in treating elite controllers; drug transporters at the blood-testis barrier; antiretroviral therapy transport and metabolism; novel drugs; and opportunities to cure HIV infection.

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T-Pharmacytes for the targeted eradication of latent HIV reservoirs

Brad Jones SLIDES

Targeting HIV Nef to enhance immune recognition of HIV infected cells

Shariq Mujib SLIDES

Impact of antiretroviral therapy in HIV "elite controllers" on gut immunology and the HIV reservoir

Connie Kim SLIDES

Role of drug efflux transporters in the permeability of the HIV-1 integrase inhibitor, Raltegravir, across blood-tissue barriers

Tozammel Hoque SLIDES

Expression of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) membrane drug efflux transporters in human testicular tissue

Billy Huang SLIDES

Special Sessions, 2:30pm, 2:45pm

ACCHO – ACB Youth & HIV Prevention Interventions

A panel presentation and participant discussion on successes and challenges of interventions among ACB youth in Ontario, including their design, implementation, evaluation and next steps towards further research.

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HIV Prevention Interventions amongst African, Caribbean & Black Youth: Next Steps towards Addressing Research Knowledge Gaps SLIDES

HIV risk perceptions and the distribution of HIV risk among African, Caribbean and other Black people: Mixed methods results from the BLACCH Study

Shamara Baidoobonso SLIDES

The Devil's Pantry – Navigating and Surviving the Challenging World of Food Sensitivities

SickKids Research Fellow, Deborah is a Naturopathic Doctor working in the research department at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. Deborah is currently working on a project funded by Health Canada to conduct a systematic review on the interactions between specific natural health products and pharmaceutical drugs used in cancer treatment.

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Adverse Reactions to Foods: Food allergies and food intolerances - What's in your grocery bag?

Deborah Kennedy SLIDES

HIV in Canada's North

Canada's North presents unique challenges and many successes in the fields of HIV research, prevention and care. Building on the recent Community-Based HIV Research in the North workshop jointly hosted by CAHR and CIHR, this panel will continue the dialogue on HIV in the Canadian North. This session brings together a variety of perspectives from university-based researchers, graduate students, community health representatives epidemiologists and frontline community workers who work and live in diverse regions across the North. This panel will provide space to discuss HIV trends, specific challenges and solutions, and highlight strengths and opportunities within community-based HIV research in Northern Canada.

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HIV and other STBBI in Canada – Focus on Canada's North

Susanna Ogunnaike-Cooke SLIDES

Challenge Panels, 3:00-4:15pm

Where Does Basic Science Fit Harris in Impact-focused Research?

Research funding organizations – including the OHTN – are becoming more focused in their research calls. A growing number of research competitions ask applicants to focus on a certain problem or outcome – such as the recent CIHR call for "cure" research and "centres" competitions. In the last year, the OHTN has adopted its impact-focused research policy, which asks applicants to describe the potential impact of their research in the short-to-medium term (i.e., 2 to 5 years). The horizon for basic science is usually much longer than that... so where does basic science fit in impact-focused research? The panel will talk about opportunities and challenges for basic science, and provide opportunities for discussion.

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Impact-based basic research

Mario Ostrowski SLIDES

How basic research findings were expanded into a patientfocused intervention

Connie Kim SLIDES

Community perspective on basic science: Better communication, more impact

Robert Reinhard SLIDES

Reaching Heterosexual Men – Opportunities and Challenges

Heterosexual men with HIV are an under-researched and underserviced group. Recently, clinicians and researchers have begun engaging with members of this community to explore their experiences, challenges and priorities. In this session, community members, clinicians and researchers will share their knowledge and experiences - challenges and lessons learned - working with heterosexual men with HIV. Participants will discuss strategies to enhance services and supports for heterosexual men with HIV.

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Heterosexual masculinities and HIV: Challenges to risk reduction and and optimal care

Lesley Doyal SLIDES

Heterosexual black men and the burden of HIV

Winston Husbands SLIDES

Research and advocacy priorities for heterosexual men: Results from a peer-led summit

Tony Antoniou, Jose Zuluaga SLIDES

Thinking Outside the Box: Engaging People in Testing and Care

Perhaps the most important and challenging step in the treatment cascade is engaging people who are hard-to-reach. In this session, speakers will focus on: factors associated with testing, interventions to reach marginalized populations, and the service and care needs of people in transitional housing.

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Factors associated with HIV testing from an online survey of gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men living in Middlesex County, Ontario: The Health in Middlesex Men Matters (HiMMM) Project

Todd A. Coleman, Lyn Pierre Pitman SLIDES

Taking the next step: HIV testing and treatment within marginalized populations

Joel Boivin SLIDES

Outreach programs can successfully engage highly marginalized HCV-infected individuals facing multiple barriers to care

Benedicte Carriere SLIDES

"I've learned how to survive, but not learned how to live": Needs and services in transitional housing programs in Ontario for PHAs

Jeffrey Aguinaldo SLIDES

HIV and STIs

STIs are a serious health problem on their own; they also increase the risk of HIV transmission. In this session, researchers will present findings on: herpes simplex virus 2 in the female genital tract; the incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea among positive men who have sex with men; risk factors for syphilis diagnoses among men who have sex with men; syphilis screening; and addressing STIs among street-involved youth in Canada.

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α4ß7 expression on blood T-cells is increased during herpes simplex virus 2 infection and correlates with markers of HIV susceptibility in the female genital tract

Tae Joon Yi SLIDES

Incidence of chlamydia and gonorrhea co-infection among HIV-positive men who have sex with men in Ontario

Ramandip Grewal SLIDES

Risk factors for first and subsequent syphilis diagnoses among HIV-positive gay and other men who have sex with men in Ontario

Ann N. Burchell SLIDES

Addressing vulnerability to and resilience against sexually transmitted and blood borne infections among street-involved youth in Canada

Christine Soon SLIDES

Testing for syphilis: A survey of physicians providing care to people living with HIV

Brooke Ellis SLIDES

Therapy, Technology and Treatment: Interventions to Reduce Gay Men's Risk

Intervention research is essential to identify therapies, technologies and treatments that can reduce risk and prevent new infections among gay men and other men who have sex with men. This session will examine: an intervention to address social anxiety among high risk HIV negative gay and bisexual men; therapeutic counselling within highly sexualized environments; the use of online platforms and apps to reach hidden at-risk sub-groups of men of who have sex with men and address homophobia; and the acceptability and potential benefit of PrEP among MSM.

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A new integrated HIV prevention and mental health counselling for social anxiety program for HIV-negative gay and bisexual men

Trevor A. Hart SLIDES

Developing clinical guidelines for therapeutic counselling in a sexualized environment: Using a case discussion approach

Jessica Cattaneo SLIDES

Connecting communities: URL to IRL

Ramraajh Sharvendiran SLIDES

There's an app for that: Halting homophobia & HIV through technology

Olivia Kijewski SLIDES

Exploring the PrEP cascade: Modest proportions of MSM undergoing anonymous HIV testing would potentially be able to benefit from PrEP

James Wilton SLIDES