Grant: Doctoral Research Award: HIV/AIDS CBR - Aboriginal Stream

My research will be conducted in collaboration with the Cedar Project; an ongoing prospective cohort study involving at-risk Aboriginal young people aged 14-30 who reside in Vancouver and Prince George, British Columbia, who either smoke or inject illicit drugs. For the PhD program, I propose to utilize time-series analyses to investigate predictors of transitioning to positive Hepatitis C (HCV) status, becoming HIV positive, and barriers to HIV/AIDS treatment access over time among the Cedar cohort. Appropriate time series models will adjust for significant predictors to determine which risk factors are independently associated with HIV seroconversion. The equivalent modeling will be conducted for all participants who seroconverted to HCV. The Cedar Project addresses a paucity of information on sexual vulnerabilities among Aboriginal young people. My study findings will be brought back to the affected Aboriginal communities and federal/provincial authorities including Chief and Councils. Project Partners will have the leading role in developing recommendations for programming and policy to reduce HIV and HCV infection risks. These will be derived from study evidence regarding the determinants of sexual and drug use vulnerabilities to meet the needs of the at-risk Aboriginal young people and their communities. Future studies will deliver meaningful research for the Aboriginal councils who use the findings for general planning of services and evaluating the efficacy of programs. My work for the Cedar Project will contribute to the capacity for Aboriginal service providers to raise awareness, identify needs, advocate for adequate resources, and develop an HIV/AIDS strategy that respects and integrates traditional and cultural values and beliefs of individuals, families and communities with mainstream HIV and HCV prevention and treatment, while taking into account determinants of health vulnerabilities of the cohort.