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HIV Prevention for Gay and Bisexual Men

Research Team: Trevor Hart (nominated principal investigator), Jody Jollimore (principal investigator), John Cox (principal investigator), Gilles Lambert (principal investigator), David Moore (principal investigator), Daniel Grace (principal investigator); Ann Burchell; Art Zoccole; Ayden Scheim; Barry Adam; Bertrand Lebouche; Bouchra Serhir; Brent Oliver; Brian Hansen; Cecile Tremblay; Clemon George; Dan Allman; Darrell Tan; David Brennan; David Thompson; Eric Latimer; Eric Roth; Floyd Visser; Greg Oudman; Greg Thomas-Reilly; Jason Wong; Joanne Otis; John Maxwell; Jorge Flores-Aranda; Ken Monteith; Mark Gilbert; Mark Hull; Martin Blais; Michel Alary; Mona Loutfy; Olivier Ferlatte; Owen McEwen; Paul Shuper; Pierre Coté; Réjean Thomas; Robert Hogg; Roberto Ortiz; Sandra Gardner; Sharmistha Mishra; Ted Myers; Terry Howard; Todd Coleman; Troy Grennan; Vanessa Allen; Wayne Robert; Zack Marshall

What is this research about?

In Canada, over half of new HIV infections occur in gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men. This unacceptably high rate of infection is particularly evident in Canada’s largest cities Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto. Each of these cities is in a different province, and with Canada’s provincially based health care system, different policies to address the HIV epidemic and help prevent new infections are being implemented in each city. This situation is compounded by a relative dearth of methodologically aligned surveillance studies allowing for direct comparisons between the three cities.

This initiative brings together a national research team to ascertain new prevalence estimates for HIV and a number of STIs as well as examine the influence of sociobehavioural and biomedical HIV prevention programs on HIV risk in urban centres across Canada. Focusing on the needs of gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, the team will:

  • Conduct a national multisite study in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal to determine:
    • Prevalence estimates for HIV, Syphilis, Hepatitis B and C, and rectal, pharyngeal and urethral Gonorrhea and Chlamydia
    • Elucidate factors that affect HIV and STI transmission to better understand the drivers of infection in each city and contextualize them within a broader gay men’s health framework
  • Evaluate sociobehavioural and biomedical HIV prevention programs on HIV, sexual, and drug use risk behaviours and contribute to research addressing the development and evaluation of HIV/STI prevention and other health promotion strategies
  • Increase research capacity among new researchers and community members, including training investigators who reside in smaller urban and rural areas
  • Increase the amount and quality of information provided by research to health providers and the community to facilitate more effective programs via an expanded KTE strategy led by established knowledge users

OHTN Support:

This project is supported by a $1.5 million team grant awarded through the CIHR Advancing Boys’ and Men’s Health Research initiative in 2015. Though this initiative, CIHR worked with other research funders, including OHTN and CANFAR, to address disparities that affect men’s health. OHTN, CIHR and CANFAR contribute equally to this award, with OHTN contributing $100,000 each year for five years (2015-2019).

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