The federal government’s investment will support research on prevention, treatment and developing a cure for HIV.
(L-R): Dr. Michael Allard, Dr. Jeannie Shoveller, Dr. Aslam Anis, The Honourable Hedy Fry, Dr. Melanie Murray, Darren Lausher (Community Advisory Committee, CTN).
The Government of Canada, through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), is investing $22.85 million for AIDS/HIV research in the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN). The CTN’s National Centre is hosted by the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences (CHÉOS), and is supported by the faculty of medicine at UBC, Providence Health Care and Providence Health Care Research Institute.
Hedy Fry, member of parliament for Vancouver Centre, made the announcement on June 26, 2019, on behalf of Ginette Petitpas Taylor, minister of health.
“Investments in HIV research are essential to continuing the creation of scientific knowledge that will translate into the most effective prevention strategies and treatment for Canadians living with and affected by HIV,” Fry said. “The recipients being celebrated today should be proud of their work as it holds tremendous potential to save lives. Thank you for your innovative approaches and to building a healthier Canada.”
Dr. Jeannie Shoveller, a professor in the faculty of medicine’s school of population and public health, research director of the BC Centre on Substance Use, and the first woman to be named chairperson of CIHR’s Governing Council, also spoke to the importance of the investment.
“The investments that we are making today will continue the vital work that will help improve the lives of people in B.C. and across the world,” she said at the announcement, which was made at the CTN’s National Centre in St. Paul’s Hospital.
Dr. Melanie Murray, a clinical associate professor in infectious disease at UBC, a Michael Smith Scholar and CTN investigator, spoke about her research on aging and co-morbidities among women living with HIV.
“The investments that we are making today will continue the vital work that will help improve the lives of people in B.C. and across the world.”
Dr. Jeannie Shoveller, professor in the school of population and public health
More than 35 years after HIV was first discovered, the virus remains a pressing threat to global health, with an ever-growing number of people infected and a need for access to life-saving treatments.
More than 63,000 people in Canada live with HIV and 2,165 people become newly infected each year, according to the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research.
The CTN has been supporting a thriving community of researchers, people living with HIV and their caregivers, health advocates and pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to generate knowledge about prevention, treatment, management and a cure for HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections since 1990.
To maximize the network’s impact and ensure better health outcomes for Canadians, the CTN will work collaboratively with national and international networks and partners. They will create an inclusive environment of HIV research capacity from across disciplines, sectors and perspectives by engaging HIV scientists, clinical investigators, knowledge users, community members, people at risk and people living with HIV.
The CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, which is the research arm of the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada, funded the announcement. The initiative invests $21 million each year to support research, capacity building and knowledge translation activities in four key areas: biomedical and clinical research; health services and population health research; community-based research; and the CTN.
With this latest investment, CIHR has provided around $100 million to the CTN, a central feature of the national response to the HIV epidemic since 2001.