Grant: Team Grant: HIV/AIDS and STBBI Community-Based Research - Supplementary Funding

Objective: Canada has made progress in reducing HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI). Yet the toxic drug supply, especially fentanyl mixed with other substances, is driving overdose deaths and raising the risk of HIV and HCV. Rollbacks in harm reduction, combined with stigma and criminalization, put people who use drugs (PWUD) at higher risk and threaten gains. Our team will create a pan-Canadian Community-Based Research (CBR) Network bringing together researchers, service providers, community organizations, and people with lived and living experience. Anchored by the Substance Use Health Network (SUHN), the network will share knowledge, build capacity, and generate evidence so PWUD receive equitable, stigma-free, and integrated HIV/STBBI and substance-use health care. What We Will Do: Research & Innovation: Build a national platform to monitor drug policy, co-develop a Substance Use Health framework with practical tools, integrate and compare data across sites, and elevate innovations in rural, remote, and smaller communities. Capacity Building: Strengthen leadership and skills through a peer buddy system, targeted support for PWUD-led, provider training co-led by PWUD, and mentorship for Black, Indigenous, and racialized PWUD and providers. Knowledge Translation: Use SUHN's infrastructure to quickly move evidence into practice through weekly learning sessions, toolkits, policy briefs, peer-led storytelling, and regional and national events. Why This Matters: These three objectives form a cycle of change: research generates evidence, capacity building equips communities and providers, and knowledge translation ensures rapid uptake and feedback. With SUHN's national infrastructure, lived-experience leadership, and proven knowledge-sharing systems, we are not starting from scratch-we are scaling a functioning national engine to save lives, reduce stigma, and strengthen Canada's response to HIV, STBBI, and the overdose crisis.