• Français
  • Search
  • Conference
    • CAHR 2023
    • 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
    • Posters and Presentations
    • 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 2023
    • 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
    • Posters and Presentations
    • 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

Dr. Peter Newman

Where Social Science Meets Basic Science
University of Toronto

Dr. Peter A. Newman, Canada Research Chair in Health and Social Justice at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto, firmly believes in multidisciplinarity in HIV research. “When social and biomedical sciences work in tandem it can translate the great science that’s happening into tools that are meaningful and effective,” says Dr. Newman. His research takes HIV treatment and prevention methods that are in development through basic and clinical sciences, and applies them to “the most important laboratory—the real world”—to see how they can have the greatest potential. “You can have the most amazing technology—even a vaccine that is highly efficacious” says Dr. Newman, “but if you can’t get that vaccine out to the people who will need it, or they refuse to use it because they are too afraid, or they don’t understand it, that vaccine is going to be virtually worthless to populations at high risk.”

Working with a CIHR Team grant through the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative, and a CIHR Operating grant, Dr. Newman is investigating the potential of HIV prevention methods for use by MSM and transgender women in India and Thailand. In the last decade, rates of HIV among most populations in India and Thailand have gone down but MSM and transgender women continue to be at very high risk—in some Indian and Thai cities HIV prevalence among MSM and trans women is estimated from 15% to 30%. “We’re looking at the acceptability of new technologies that are either just emerging or on the horizon,” explains Dr. Newman. Though some of these types of studies have been done in North America, Dr. Newman explains that culturally, both India and Thailand are very different. “Some of the issues with acceptability cross national boundaries but some are distinct. We have to start from the ground up.” For instance, family is a centrally important part of life in India and Thailand; in India, in particular, many MSM are married to women. It raises some big questions around disclosure, treatment, and prevention. “What if their status is disclosed and someone finds out? Or where are they going to keep the medicine where their mother or wife doesn’t see it? So the risk is huge, potentially losing your family, your wife, or your male partner—major sources of love and support—is pretty severe,” says Dr. Newman. “In some cases the risks to using HIV prevention or treatment may seem to outweigh the benefits; it’s up to us to work together to change the social and structural factors that inform that equation.” In addition, he is working on some of the logistics and challenges around clinical trial participation. India requires that all drugs used are tested in clinical trials within its borders. But, there are some difficulties and barriers to participating in clinical trials. “In addition to fears about disclosure that one is an MSM or seen to be at high risk for HIV, a lot of issues come up about insurance; people are very concerned about side effects and they worry about who will take care of their family if something happens to them in the trial.”

Ultimately, he says this kind of systematic and detailed study in collaboration with key populations will ensure the best use of prevention and treatment methods as they become available. “We can’t dictate what products are out there, but we try to make information that we garner available at the grassroots level to inform advocacy efforts on the part of communities and policies to support how you might implement new prevention tools in a way that would be the most socially acceptable and user friendly.”

Evident in his research, Dr. Newman believes it’s critical that key populations and disenfranchised people are included in studies of acceptability and applicability. And it’s no wonder—he was graduating university when the first cases of HIV were identified in the early 80s. He worked as a volunteer on hotlines in Boston and as a social worker in the largest public health AIDS clinic in the US, helping people living with HIV when very few options for treatment were available. “It was a very intense experience,” he says. Since then, he has become an advocate for the disenfranchised, trying to give a voice to those who often go unheard. “I try to use very cool and cutting edge research methods to represent people’s truths as accurately as possible but also in a way that speaks to policy makers and to funders. You can use state of the art research methods to help represent the needs and priorities of vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. For me, that’s a powerful paradigm that I like to work in.”

The Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR), the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, the Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR), the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN) and the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI) Research and Development Alliance Coordinating Office (ACO) would like to thank Dr. Newman for his significant contributions to our understanding of HIV. His work is part of a larger Canadian research effort that is making a difference in the lives of those affected by HIV in Canada and around the world.

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 2023 Conference Logo

CAHR 2023
April 27 to 30, 2023

Learn More

Recent News

  • #CAHR2023 - Ancillary Events / #ACRV2023 - Événements connexes myemail.constantcontact.com/CAHR-2023---An…
  • CAHR extends its thanks to all Sponsors of the CAHR 2023 Conference. Learn more on our website, or visit them in the exhibit hall at the conference : cahr-acrv.ca/conference/spo… #CAHR2023 https://t.co/xEI7YTmvUB
  • L'ACRV adresse ses remerciements à tous les commanditaires du congrès ACRV 2023. Vous en saurez plus à leur sujet en consultant notre site Web ou en leur rendant visite à la salle des exposants du congrès : cahr-acrv.ca/fr/congres/spo… qGwC #ACR https://t.co/XIPkTSSQ39
  • For those developing a CAHR 2023 poster or interested in refining your presenting skills, CAHR has an online tutorial that aims to provide you with tips to make your poster one to remember. Click here: rise.articulate.com/share/n61pMfDF… #CAHR2023
  • Cliquez ici : rise.articulate.com/share/wSF8uyi0… #ACRV2023 (2/2)
  • Résultats du concours de bourses de voyage pour professionnels de la santé – 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