• Français
  • Search
  • Conference
    • CAHR 2024
    • Future CAHR Conferences
    • Mark Wainberg Lecture
    • Past Conferences
  • Awards
    • HCP Travel Awards Competition
    • Mark Wainberg Fund
    • CAHR-CANFAR Excellence in Research Awards
    • Red Ribbon Award
    • Funding Archive
    • Funding Landscape
  • Training
    • Workshops
    • Webinars
      • HIV and COVID-19: Clinical Considerations for Health Care Professionals in Canada
      • HIV and COVID-19: Clinical Considerations for Health Care Professionals in Canada PART 2
    • Clinical Summaries
    • E-Learning Modules
    • Community Based Research
    • Student Profiles
    • Training Workshops: Consultation Report
    • Publications / Resources
  • About CAHR
    • Who We Are
    • President’s Message
    • Board of Directors
    • Become a Member
    • CAHR Annual General Meeting
    • CAHR Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Media
    • CAHR News
    • Media
    • Featured Researchers
  • Conference
    • CAHR 2024
    • Future CAHR Conferences
    • Sponsors & Exhibitors
    • Mark Wainberg Lecture
    • Past Conferences
  • Awards
    • HCP Travel Awards Competition
    • Mark Wainberg Fund
    • CAHR-CANFAR Excellence in Research Awards
    • Red Ribbon Award
    • Funding Archive
    • Funding Landscape
  • Training
    • Workshops
    • Webinars
      • HIV and COVID-19: Clinical Considerations for Health Care Professionals in Canada
      • HIV and COVID-19: Clinical Considerations for Health Care Professionals in Canada PART 2
    • Clinical Summaries
    • E-Learning Modules
    • Community Based Research
    • Student Profiles
    • Training Workshops: Consultation Report
    • Publications / Resources
  • About CAHR
    • Who We Are
    • President’s Message
    • Board of Directors
    • CAHR Board Trainee
    • Become a Member
    • CAHR Strategic Plan 2020 – 2025
    • CAHR Annual General Meeting
    • Call for Nominations: CAHR Board of Directors
    • Staff
    • Contact
  • Media
    • CAHR News
    • Media

2017 CAHR Red Ribbon Award Winner: Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco

This year’s Red Ribbon Award Winner is Francisco Ibáñez-Carrasco, Director of Education and Training at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network and program manager for Universities without Walls (UWW). The Red Ribbon Award is presented annually for outstanding service to the cause of research in a way that has increased our understanding of the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, while enhancing the quality of life of those living with this disease.

Francisco has long been an advocate for people living with HIV in Canada. In 1986 he arrived in BC from Chile and was diagnosed with HIV shortly afterwards. This put him in the unenviable position of ‘research subject’ and his experiences here would guide his future. “I realized that researchers were asking me to do a lot of things,” Francisco says. “How could it be that the people who were being asked to do surveys or give samples of blood or answer very personal questions were somehow peripheral to the work?” From then on he became an advocate for the meaningful involvement of people with HIV in research.

Francisco is unique in that he is able to sit on several sides of a table, as a teacher (with a doctorate in Education from Simon Fraser University), a social science researcher, and as a person living with HIV. His down-to-earth approach helps him to relate to people and it’s critical for the line of work he’s in. “I find community based research tremendously intimate,” Francisco explains. “To have to discuss issues around bareback, violence or drugs—these topics are not just prickly, they are deeply personal. I’m the Queen of the Intimate,” he says jokingly.

But for Francisco, it’s the small and intimate conversations that are so productive. “I travel this amazing country for work and activism, I try to stay in the back of the room and chat with people. After being bombarded with data, charts and graphs, people want to get real and into the nitty-gritty of research. I’m there for that. Everybody has a place in HIV research.” He takes the most pride in changing individual lives: “If one person changes their viewpoint, or they say ‘I never thought I could do that, it sounds kind of fun and I’m going to try it’. If I can talk to just one person who will be a leader tomorrow, that’s the greatest reward.”

Universities without Walls reflects his philosophy to empower people with HIV to actively participate in research both for the benefit of the participants and the project. “If you dignify the situation, make it fun, and compensate them for their contribution, people will take the opportunity every single time. If you put your heart into it, people will do amazing things and they will surprise you.”

CAHR would like to congratulate and thank Francisco for his continued advocacy and his contributions to the field of HIV research in Canada and abroad. He will be presented with the Red Ribbon Award at the CAHR conference in Montreal, Quebec

Our Mission

  • Promote excellence in HIV research
  • Foster collaboration and cooperation among HIV research communities, including basic science, clinical science, epidemiology & public health and social science
  • Promote education and the development of new researchers
  • Provide a unified voice for Canadian HIV researchers and engage diverse stakeholders (community, industry, Government, NGO’s etc.) in ongoing dialogue and knowledge exchange to ensure that HIV research remains responsive to their needs

CAHR 2024
April 25 to 28, 2024

Learn More

Recent News

  • Journée nationale de la vérité et de la réconciliation
  • National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
  • À la mémoire de Joanne Lindsay
  • Remembering Joanne Lindsay
  • Professional Development Workshop for Infectious Disease Researchers
  • Résultats du Fonds Mark Wainberg 2023
Subscribe to the CAHR Newsletter

About CAHR

With a membership of more than 1,000 researchers and others interested in HIV research, the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) is the leading organization of HIV/AIDS researchers in Canada. CAHR is the organizing body for the Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR Conference).

CAHR encourages Canadian researchers to be leaders in knowledge translation and to effectively respond both to the Canadian and global HIV/AIDS epidemics. Since its founding in 1991, CAHR has promoted excellence in HIV research, including mentorship and career development of investigators entering the field.

CAHR fosters collaboration and co-operation among HIV research communities, including basic, clinical and social sciences, epidemiology and public health. CAHR also engages people living with HIV/AIDS and AIDS service organizations in ongoing dialogue and information exchange to ensure that HIV/AIDS research remains responsive to the epidemic and its stakeholders.

CAHR is a registered charity.

Links

  • Who We Are
  • Conference
  • Awards
  • Workshops
  • Featured Researchers
  • Student Profiles
  • CAHR News

Contact

For more information or to make a comment, please contact us:

Canadian Association for HIV Research

440 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 200
Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7X6

1-888-374-CAHR (2247)
info@cahr-acrv.ca
  • Media
  • Contact
  • Français