History
The Ontario Cohort Study builds on the successes of two previous database and infrastructure projects called the:
- HIV Ontario Observational Database (HOOD)
- HIV Ontario Information Infrastructure Project (HIIP)
The HIV Ontario Observational Database was:
- Created in 1994
- Funded by the Positive Action Fund with contributions from Burroughs-Wellcome
- Housed at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
- Led by Anita Rachlis, Peggy Millson and Greg Robinson
- Governed by a committee that included a majority representation of community members and people with HIV
- Designed as a retrospective (to the last HIV negative test result or date of HIV diagnosis) and prospective (data collection every six months) study with socio-demographic and behavioural data collected at enrolment
- A voluntary, anonymous cohort study enrolled 3,431 participants by 1999
The HIV Information Infrastructure Project was:
- Created in 1998 with the formation of the OHTN
- Mandated to extend HOOD to include clinical management systems to facilitate the delivery of care
- Enhanced HOOD to improve the efficiency of data gathering through electronic data extraction
- Transitioned HOOD to the OHTN in 2000
- Led by Anita Rachlis and Peggy Millson until 2001 when Ahmed Bayoumi because the lead investigator
- Governed by a committee chaired by Don Kilby with a majority representation of people with HIV
- Expanded to include clinical management systems and an updated electronic version of HOOD (e-HOOD) in 2005. This expansion allowed for on-site electronic data collection in clinics and offices of health care providers using paper medical charts