FHS congratulates Doctoral student Kate Salters, who received awards
from both the Soroptomist Foundation of Canada and CIHR to support her
research that will improve the quality of women’s lives.
Salters will receive $7,500 from the Soroptimist Foundation of Canada
for her PhD research examining the social, physical, and environmental
barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health care among
vulnerable women living with HIV in Canada. She was also the recipient
of a CIHR Doctoral Research Award ($35,000/year for 3 years) which is
funded in partnership with the Canadian Association for HIV Research
(CAHR).
Research has shown that women living with HIV face gender barriers to
health care services, and Salters — alongside supervisor and Canada
Research Chair Dr. Angela Kaida — are investigating women-centred
services that could more fully address their unique needs in a
supportive, inclusive, and accessible manner.
In collaboration with the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS),
Salters will look at contraceptive use, access to family planning
services, and other sexual and reproductive health outcomes among a
sample of 1,500 women living with HIV in British Columbia, Ontario and
QuÂŽbec.