Grant: Dissemination Events - Priority Announcement: HIV/AIDS

The Canada-Africa Prevention Trials Network (CAPTN) is a network of eight African HIV centres in Uganda, Kenya and South African and five Canadian institutions dedicated to reducing the spread of HIV in Africa through HIV prevention research. The network includes a broad spectrum of organizations, from established HIV research centres to indigenous HIV/AIDS service organizations. The CAPTN supports HIV research in the clinical, basic science and social sciences through its annual merit-based mentorship and scholarship training program for young African researchers, enabled through support from the Global Health Research Initiative (GHRI). As an African-led, Canadian-Enabled capacity-building initiative, research supported by the Network is locally meaningful and promotes active participatory research and community engagement The geographic dispersion of the network requires on-going communication to support its capacity-building activities, and includes an annual face-to-face meeting of representatives from each of its 13 sites. The CAPTN is requesting funds to support the travel and accommodation of the seven successful young African researchers currently being supported by the network through its training program to attend the annual CAPTN meeting in Entebbe, Uganda in 2012 to present their research findings. Members of the local community and community advisory boards, as well as policy makers and institutional research partners in Entebbe will also be engaged through a town hall meeting. Finally, a portion of the funds requested will also be dedicated to the development and delivery of a scientific abstract writing workshop in conjunction with the annual meeting, for the young researchers in attendance and for local HIV researchers in Entebbe. The expanded annual meeting of the CAPTN will provide a forum for international knowledge exchange and will highlight opportunities for cross-cultural validation of evidence-based practices.