Greetings!
 

Did you know that it's been almost exactly 28 years since the first Canadian documentary on HIV/AIDS premiered at the 1985 Toronto International Film Festival?

 

In September 1985, No Sad Songs, produced by the AIDS Committee of Toronto, premiered at TIFF. Directed by Nik Sheehan, the film focuses on the emotional and psychological effects of HIV/AIDS on victims, their friends and families.

 

According to Hot Docs, the film centres on Jim Black, aged 37, who faces an early death from AIDS, and Catherine Hunt, whose beloved brother suffers from AIDS. Jim has made it his personal crusade to deal openly with the issues of AIDS and not regard it as a shameful disease. Candidly, he reveals his tenderness for his friend Kevin and the hurt he experienced by his family's rejection. Catherine is an impassioned example of a supportive family member. We learn from her how the open expression of love and trust makes it easier to bear sickness and the prospect of death.    

 

For more interesting facts, visit Project Remember. 
Deadline is September 20 for oral abstracts and e-posters      
 

The OHTN is currently accepting abstracts for the 2013 OHTN Research Conference. We encourage you to take advantage of this important opportunity to showcase your work at our annual conference, which drew in more than 600 researchers, clinicians and people living with HIV last year. Don't miss out on this opportunity.  

 

Please note that, as a condition of funding, OHTN-funded researchers are required to submit abstracts of OHTN-supported research for presentation at the conference.

 

In other conference news:  
  • We are currently accepting submissions for arts-based KTE for the conference, arts-based projects that communicate new and emerging knowledge or approaches to HIV treatment, care and experiences.
  • Registration for the conference is officially underway. Please note that to take advantage of the early-bird rate, you need to register before September 15. 
  • Scholarship applications are now being accepted for the conference, with financial assistance available to Ontario residents who have financial limitations that would otherwise exclude them from attending. 
Maximize Your Time at RC2013
In a new OHTN series, Bob Leahy of PositiveLite.com shares his expertise       
 
In a new three-part series, we asked Bob Leahy, contributing editor at PositiveLite.com, for some tips on how to get the most out of the 2013 OHTN Research Conference.

In part one, we asked him about time management at the conference.  


OHTN: How little or how much should I plan my time at the conference? Should I micro-manage or be more spontaneous?

 

Leahy: I'm a bit of a planner. I like to look over the conference program in advance so that I have a rough idea of what are the main presentations - these are referred to as "plenary sessions" where everyone attends - and what are the concurrent sessions I'll have to choose from. Then when I get my printed program on check-in, I go through it with a magic marker and highlight the sessions I'm going to. Leave it to the last minute, without any planning, and you might have to make rush decisions or feel a bit overwhelmed. So planning pays off. And if you can't decide which sessions to attend, ask those around you for recommendations.

 

OHTN: What's the best way to prioritize which sessions to attend?

 

Leahy: I don't think there is a one-size-fits-all answer to this. Some people will want to stay on a single track that explores their particular areas of interest - for example HIV prevention or treatment. Others may want to be the butterfly that flits from subject area to subject area, in an attempt to get as diverse an experience as possible out of the conference. Neither is right or wrong. But again, planning ahead with the conference program makes it more likely that what you attend will be a good fit with your interests. For my part, I tend to avoid anything too technical - you can usually identify those sessions by the language in the program.

 

OHTN: Apart from the plenary and concurrent sessions, what else is going on?

 

Leahy: You'll need to check your program to see what else is going on, but the range is impressive. I've always enjoyed the mix of plenary sessions and workshops, films, poster presentations, and even theatre. There is a lot to be said for doing it all, but your body will tell you how much you can actually do while staying alert and healthy. I will often take advantage of the social media room when I need a break, if I see my energy levels are slipping.

Your answers will be presented at the 2013 conference  
 

We want to know! Whether scientific, policy or practice-based, what were the most significant findings in the HIV sector in the past year or 18 months? What new evidence has the greatest potential to shape the course of prevention and care? The top 20 findings will be presented at our 2013 conference.

 

Tell us your opinion!

Relive the OHTN's First Live Blog Featuring Barry Adam
Full transcript of our discussion with Barry Adam is now online 
 

OHTN Live Blogs allow you to interact with our funded speakers about their research and health-related issues of popular interest to the general public. Our first live blog featured Barry Adam, Senior Scientist and Director of Prevention Research at the OHTN. This was a valuable knowledge translation activity for anybody involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS both in Ontario and Canada as a whole. We hope to host many more in the future.

 

The full transcript of the discussion is available online.  

Housing Summit in Montreal
The Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit takes place September 25-27  
 

The  North American Housing & HIV/AIDS Research Summit VII is taking place September 25 to 27 in Montreal.

 

The Housing & HIV/AIDS Research Summit Series provides a unique interdisciplinary forum for presentation and discussion of new findings on the role of housing in HIV prevention and care. Now in its seventh year, the Summit Series is established as the premiere venue for informing HIV/AIDS housing policy, and is acknowledged as an innovative and influential opportunity for the broader discussion of housing and health. The Summit VII theme is Closing the Housing Gap in the HIV Treatment Cascade, to focus on the potential of housing strategies to improve HIV treatment effectiveness: the focus of HIV prevention and care strategies in most jurisdictions. The 2013 North American Housing & HIV/AIDS Research Summit is convened by the National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC), the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), and la coalition des organismes communautaires qu�b�cois de lutte contre le sida (COCQ-SIDA).

 

This year's Summit will feature presentations from Marjolaine Boutin-Sweet, Official Opposition Housing Critic; Jennifer Ho, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Dr. Ronald Valdiserri, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dr. Irene Hall, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Eric Latimer, At Home/Chez Soi; and Dr. David Holtgrave, Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. For a detailed program, please visit our website.

 

Please plan to join us! Registration is available here. For more information and to learn about partnership opportunities, please email us or phone us at 877-743-6486 ext. 2306.

In the next few issues of Did You Know, we will introduce the 14 fellows who make up UWW's fifth cohort. For the first time, we have accepted three senior fellows into our cohort. They have previously completed UWW but will re-engage with the program in an active mentorship role. We asked them how they first got involved in HIV research, the biggest challenge facing HIV researchers today, as well as some lighter questions.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


The first Rapid Response is entitled "HIV Services in Rural and Remote Communities" and was requested by Sue Scruton, National Programs Consultant at the Canadian AIDS Society. We asked Scruton some questions about requesting the Rapid Response, what its impact will be and what she thinks of the service, in general.

OHTN: Why did you request a Rapid Response on this specific topic?
 
Scruton: The Canadian AIDS Society recently began a project which is a national needs assessment of ASOs that serve rural and remote populations. Essentially, we want to understand the challenges in providing services to rural and remote populations. The final report will be informed by the literature review, a survey, and key informant interviews.
 
OHTN: What impact will this Rapid Response have for researchers, ASOs, people living with HIV/AIDS, etc.?
 
Scruton: This Rapid Response will help us to understand the challenges faced by ASOs in providing services to rural and remote populations. A thorough understanding of the challenges is fundamental to any attempt to map out possible solutions. It is our hope that this project will ultimately improve the quantity and quality of services to people living with HIV/AIDS across Canada.  
 
OHTN: Have Rapid Responses been a valuable service for you? In what ways?
 
Scruton: This is our first request. I think it's a brilliant initiative and a tremendous resource. It saves me time, and because the people conducting the literature review are specialists, the end result is probably better and more professional than I could have done.

______________________________________ 
   
The second Rapid Response is entitled "Effectiveness of HIV Testing Interventions for High-Risk Populations."
Service-delivery interventions that have been shown to be effective include offering rapid HIV testing in outreach settings, implementation of "opt-out" testing policies and guidelines promoting regular HIV testing. Intensive long-term interventions that reach a greater proportion of at-risk populations over longer timeframes are likely to have more impact on HIV testing rates. 

Here's where you can find the Rapid Responses online:

HIV Services in Rural and Remote Communities

Effectiveness of HIV Testing Interventions for High-Risk Populations    
September schedule of weekly presentations

St. Michael's Hospital Rounds are weekly presentations featuring insights into HIV-related research. The rounds are open to the public - anyone can attend.

 

WHERE:
St. Michael's Health Centre [map]
410 Sherbourne Street
3rd Floor Classroom
Each round includes a complimentary lunch.

 

WHEN:
Every Tuesday, 12:30 - 1:30pm

 

Here is the September schedule.

Let's get people testing!   

Getting priority populations to test for HIV is critical. We can help with your testing campaign.

To get you started, we've developed some stock materials here. Feel free to use them for your campaign. We will also be happy to customize them for you by adding addresses, dates, and logos as needed. To find out more, contact the OHTN KTE Unit.

 

CNIHR Grant Program 
Currently accepting funding applications
 

The Creative and Novel Ideas in HIV Research (CNIHR) grant program is currently accepting applications for its latest round of funding. The CNIHR program is a joint initiative of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH-funded Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR), and the International AIDS Society (IAS).

 

The CNIHR program welcomes innovative proposals from early-stage scientists without prior experience in HIV research to answer essential questions in HIV research, including emerging issues of long term survival with HIV infection, prevention of HIV transmission, and research toward a cure.

 

The Centre for Mindfulness Studies offers course to help physicians manage the daily stress of their work

The OHTN is providing a number of scholarships for HIV physicians interested in attending "Mindfulness for physicians: enhancing personal and professional resilience," a course offered by the Centre for Mindfulness Studies in Toronto. The scholarships will cover the cost of the course. If you are interested, please contact Dmitry Rechnov at the OHTN. 


Here is a description of the course from the website: "Physicians report high levels of stress that have been linked to burnout. Stress and job dissatisfaction is costly for doctors, their patients, and their families. This eight-week course combines Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (Segal, Z. et al.), Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and Brief Solution Focused Therapy (BSFT) techniques to help physicians manage the daily stressful events that arise in both their professional and personal lives."    

    

The centre is one of Canada's leading providers of professional development and continuing education in mindfulness-based interventions. To view the other workshops, please visit their website.  

Community Resources
Job opportunities and events

Visit the OHTN website to find out about job opportunities in the sector and community events:

 

Job Opportunities 

Calendar of Events 

Contact the OHTN
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