BC-CfE researchers presented their latest findings and publications at this month’s annual Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) conference. CAHR represents all Canadian HIV/AIDS researchers and its annual conference includes presenters of all disciplines of the scientific approaches to HIV/AIDS with the ultimate goals of better prevention and treatment of the disease and its eventual cure and eradication.
This year’s 30th edition of the CAHR Conference was the second year the event took place virtually due to COVID-19. The conference theme was CAHR 2021: Maintaining Our Focus.
As CAHR organizers state, “Our current context also brings with it many parallels to the early days of HIV. Not so long ago, we anxiously monitored the rise and fall of new HIV case numbers around the world and carefully watched the daily updates on the spread of what was a lethal and barely understood disease. The stark reality is that the HIV virus will continue to be a major health concern, long after a COVID-19 vaccine is distributed and people adapt to a new normal. And while the attention dedicated over the last year to COVID-19 has been critical, at the same time, we must maintain our focus on the reality that thousands of new HIV infections continue to occur each year in Canada and the number of people living with the disease in Canada is rising.”
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, presided over the conference’s official opening by presenting the annual Dr. Mark Wainberg Lecture. Fauci’s lecture was titled “Lessons from the Concurrent HIV/AIDS and COVID-19 Pandemics“. As one of the principal architects of the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a program that has saved millions of lives throughout the developing world, and as the face of the American COVID-19 response, Fauci is uniquely prepared and eminently qualified to discuss both COVID-19 and HIV/AIDS.
BC-CfE researchers covered many topics at CAHR 2021, as the event saw seven oral presentations from BC-CfE staff or affiliated researchers and 20 poster presentations.
Among the many topics covered by BC-CfE researchers was the subject of women living with HIV. Kalysha Closson presented on “Sexual relationship power, condom use and violence among women living with HIV in Canada“. Aniqa Shahid presented on “Reconstructing Within-Host HIV Evolutionary History in Seroconverters from the Women’s Interagency HIV Study“. And Claudette Cardinal, a Peer Indigenous Research Associate with the BC-CfE’s Epidemiology and Public Health Group, talked about “Allied in researching gender and combination antiretroviral therapy treatment change” when she presented her poster.
In Canada, despite Aboriginal people representing about 3% of our population, the HIV infection rate among Aboriginal people accounts for up to 8% of reported HIV cases. This disproportionate representation and the concomitant issues of discrimination, stigma, and the legacy of colonialism informed the numerous presentations by First Nations members of the BC-CfE.
BC-CfE Peer Indigenous Research Associate Valerie Nicholson and Research Coordinator Rebecca Gormley, both with the Epidemiology and Public Health Group, gave an oral presentation titled, “‘It interferes with me Getting in Touch with my Culture’: Indigenous Women with CHIWOS-PAW Speak Out about Denial of Culture in Healthcare“. Nicholson also presented a poster of her own, titled, “Researcher Journeys: Water Connects us All. Using Water Teachings to Enrich the Work and Practice of Indigenous and Allied HIV Researchers“.
Claudette Cardinal presented a poster titled, “Finding the Balance: Embracing the Two-Eyed Seeing Approach to Understand What Cultural Safety in Care Means to Older Adults Living with HIV“.
As the population living with HIV/AIDS grows older, and as the majority of deaths attributed to COVID-19 are among the elderly, the subject of seniors’ health came up repeatedly at CAHR 2021. Dr. Mark Brockman, SFU Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier II in Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity, presented on the topic with his work titled, “Elderly residents of long-term care facilities develop partial humoral immunity following one dose of mRNA vaccine BNT162b2“
The BC-CfE’s Hope Lapointe, who works within the BC-CfE’s Laboratory Program, presented a poster titled, “An Inter-Laboratory Genomic Cross-Validation of a COVID-19 Outbreak in a Long-Term Care Facility“. Antonio Marante, a BC-CfE Peer Research Associate, showcased the creativity and ingenuity required in creating COVID-safe methods of delivering care in her poster presentation titled “Innovating to remain connected while staying apart: The Thrive PRAs maintain focus on Older Adults Living with HIV in Vancouver Coastal Health despite pandemic restrictions“.
Anna Vorobyova is research coordinator for the BC-CfE’s Thrive team, which is a community-based research study measuring trends in healthcare utilization and health outcomes among older adults living with HIV (OALHIV). Thrive uses its findings to highlight potential gaps in care for OALHIV and to comprehensively assess how OALHIV manage their health and navigate the health systems in BC. Vorobyova presented two posters at CAHR 2021: “Home Care Our Way – Findings from a Community-Based Study on Access to Home and Community Care Services amongst Older Adults Living with HIV in British Columbia” and “I’m Positively Positive – Exploring how Older Adults Living with HIV maintain resilience“.
And finally, the COAST study (Comparative Outcomes And Service Utilization Trends) is a population-based study examining the health outcomes and health service use of people living with HIV (PLHIV) as compared to a random 10% sample of the total population of BC. Andreea Bratu is the COAST research coordinator and her poster presentation was titled, “Indigenizing our Research: Indigenous Community Leadership in HIV Epidemiology Research“.
All BC-CfE presentations can be found online at: https://bccfe.ca/blog/bc-cfe-research-presented-cahr-2021-virtual-conference.