Grant: Foundation Grant

<html> <body> <p>The proposed research program seeks to build upon my existing research (Gender and Sexual Health Initiative, or GSHI for which I am founder/ director) at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS by developing innovative research strategies to improve prevention, treatment and care for women, gender and sexual minority populations living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, while at the same time serving as a KT and educational platform to increase applied sexual health and HIV research capacity in Canada and globally. This foundation grant comes at a critical and timely juncture and would serve to create synergies and scientific and training opportunities that would not otherwise exist, and which could not be fostered through single project/grant initiatives. <em>Over the next five years, the overarching and linked goals will be:</em> <br> </p> <p>1. To <strong>build a collaborative and coordinated interdisciplinary team</strong> to examine and address the social and structural determinants of sexual health and HIV prevention, treatment and care outcomes among women, gender and sexual minority populations;&nbsp;2. To <strong>develop harmonized data collection and systems for sharing to facilitate comparative analyses</strong> on sexual health and HIV/AIDS and allow for methodological and scientific innovation and the exploration of novel hypotheses; 3. To <strong>build KT capacity</strong> between the research, clinical, community, and policy knowledge users to promote development of evidence-based police and practice in sexual health and HIV;&nbsp;4.&nbsp;To <strong>create an infrastructure for mentoring and training of next generation of graduate trainees</strong> in applied sexual health and HIV research that has a direct impact on policy and practice&nbsp;</p> <p>This foundation grant brings together four conceptually-linked studies (both existing and new) under the GSHI umbrella (AESHA I, AESHA II, CHAPS, SHAWNA), which span policy analyses, social epidemiology, mapping, community-based and qualitative research among youth and adult women, men and transgender sex workers (SWs) and women living with HIV (WLWH). Drawing on a &lsquo;Structural HIV Determinants Framework&rsquo;, o<em>ur specific research objectives over the next 5 years are to longitudinally evaluate</em>: 1) the impact of changes in social and structural features of the work environment (e.g. community organization; violence; policing) on HIV/STI risks and sexual health among youth and adult female, male and transgender SWs; 2) social and structural factors (e.g. stigma; peer engagement; incarceration) that promote or mitigate engagement in sexual health and HIV care and inform novel women-centred sexual health and HIV care responses;) 3) the impact of social-spatial environments (e.g. density and social geography of services; mobility) on HIV/STI risks, sexual health and access to HIV care among SWs and WLWH; 4) to serve as a platform to evaluate naturally-occuring population health interventions (e.g. C-36 laws on SWs' sexual health and HIV outcomes; integrated housing &amp; HIV care models on WLWH's engagement in treatment).&nbsp;By bringing together an interdisciplinary and intersectoral team of researchers, knowledge users (e.g. community, service providers, policy experts), we will seek to build synergies and address gaps in knowledge, policy and practice in sexual health and HIV/AIDS, and thereby reduce health and social inequities amon vulnerable populations.<br> </p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p> <br> </p> </body> </html>