BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS’ Post

We are thrilled to congratulate Angela McLaughlin on successfully defending her PhD earlier this month! Her thesis "Phylogenetic Inference of Transmission and Migration Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1 in Canada" was accepted with highest honours and concludes a very successful (and busy) period of graduate studies. Doing her graduate work in the UBC Bioinformatics program and at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Dr. McLaughlin’s work has been recognized by countless awards and scholarships including two CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Doctoral Awards, and multiple new investigator scholarships at both the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) and the annual meeting of the International AIDS Society (IAS). Furthermore, she’s conducted her research at the highest standard resulting in her work on HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 appearing in the world’s top peer reviewed publications such as Evolution, Medicine & Public Heath (https://lnkd.in/gTtK-NNU), ELife (https://lnkd.in/g4bRMF9y), and EBiomedicine. During both her MSc and PhD degrees Dr. McLaughlin has been an integral part of the Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics Lab at the BC-CfE, so we’re delighted to see her complete her graduate work so successfully and look forward to what she accomplishes next! #PhDdefense #HIVresearch #HIV #SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #phylogenetics #evolutionarygenetics #laboratoryscience #labscience #virology #medicalscience

Did you know the BC-CfE Laboratory performs approximately two-thirds of Canada’s clinical HIV drug resistance testing, HLA-B*57:01 screening for abacavir hypersensitivity, and genotypic testing for HIV CCR5 tropism? The BC-CfE Laboratory Program is a leader in HIV research and testing, providing critical insights into treatment efficacy, side-effects and resistance, helping tailor treatment options and improve health outcomes for people living with HIV. Their work also contributes to advancements in personalized medicine, phylogenetics, vaccine and cure research. As part of this work, the Clinical Laboratory Drug Resistance Testing and Genotyping team are looking for a Team Lead to coordinate the day-to-day operations required in providing timely, accurate and high-quality results to our clients. If this sounds like you, or someone you know, please visit (or share) https://lnkd.in/g_BwJEfC for more information. #LaboratoryScience #LaboratoryResearch #LaboratoryJobs #Virology #NowHiring #JobAlert #ScienceJobs #Jobs

Congratulations to Aniqa Shahid on successfully defending her PhD! Passed without revisions, Dr. Shahid’s thesis is a culmination of her highly regarded (and award-recognized) research looking into the HIV reservoir and how it can inform HIV cure strategies. Over the course of her PhD studies with Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Dr. Shahid’s work has been recognized for its notable impact on HIV research, including receipt of CIHR's Frederick Banting & Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Award (https://lnkd.in/gHPeyKEz), and a New Investigator Award in Basic Sciences at CAHR 2024 (https://lnkd.in/girs3kgr). She’s also been an integral member of the BC-CfE’s Laboratory team during her studies, and in addition to her work in HIV, Dr. Shahid led research into sample quality and patient experience improving COVID-19 testing procedures, when the Laboratory shifted resources to support COVID-19 testing, sequencing and monitoring (https://lnkd.in/gU9ah36z). Well-deserved congratulations Dr. Shahid, your work over the course of your PhD studies has been inspiring, and we can't wait to see what you accomplish next! #PhDdefense #HIVresearch #HIVcure #HIVreservoir #HIV #laboratoryscience #labscience #virology #medicalscience

Dr. Peter Phillips, Medical Director of the Urban Health Acute Care Unit (a collaboration between the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS & Providence Health Care), spoke with Nick Logan and CBC News about the science and clinical evidence behind the use of Doxycycline for the prevention of bacterial STIs and a quick background on uptake here in BC. https://lnkd.in/gyjiX4tf Since launching the Doxcycline for bSTI program through the Drug Treatment Program (DTP) last year, Dr. Phillips says the program has since enrolled 2,300 people, with that number increasing by approximately 300 people a month. This program which leverages the centralization of the Drug Treatment Program, offers Doxycycline free of charge to eligible people already on #PrEP or #HIV treatment in BC, to prevent sexually transmitted bacterial infections. As one client in BC explains in CBC's story, “He likely wouldn't have known he had access to DoxyPEP if it hadn't been for a prompt when he was renewing his HIV PrEP prescription around six months ago.” It is thanks to the powerful design of the DTP that has allowed this program to ramp up so quickly and we want to take this moment to thank our team in the DTP for their tireless work integrating Doxycycline into their system of care to further BC's efforts in infectious disease prevention. Thanks also to Dr. Phillips for providing vital context to the CBC story, as we hope it will serve other provinces with inspiration to follow our lead.

Important new BC-CfE research, published in The Lancet HIV, shows that the made-in-BC Treatment as Prevention (TasP) strategy coupled with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) dramatically reduces premature HIV/AIDS-related deaths and new HIV infections. The study developed by BC-CfE Scientist & Senior Methodologist Dr. Viviane Lima and Executive Director & Physician-in-Chief Dr. Julio Montaner, looked at the impact of three milestones in the fight against HIV in British Columbia – the introduction of highly effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) in 1996, TasP in 2010, and PrEP in 2018. Results revealed that free access to TasP for all BC residents living with HIV coupled with free access to PrEP for those at high-risk of acquiring HIV, reduced HIV/AIDS-related mortality by 95% and new HIV infections by 91% between 1996 and 2022. “Our results confirm that adding targeted PrEP to TasP is a critical component of an effective HIV prevention strategy,” said Dr. Julio Montaner. “With that in mind, it is inexcusable that we are still seeing rising rates of new HIV infections in Canada. We therefore call on jurisdictions across the country and abroad to implement TasP plus targeted PrEP to optimize and accelerate the control of HIV/AIDS, and thereby reach the goal of an HIV-free generation.” Further, results showed that when PrEP is free, introduced at scale and combined with an ongoing TasP strategy, it significantly reduced HIV transmission even when analysis was restricted to the limited number of people living with HIV in BC who have a detectable HIV viral load. As such, ART, TasP and PrEP were shown to be synergistic in their ability to most effectively reduce HIV transmission. For more on this new research, please see: https://lnkd.in/gmDdzZH7.

Congratulations to these outstanding undergraduate award recipients including BC-CfE Research Assistant Evan Barad who was recognized with the FHS Award for Extraordinary Achievement!

Congratulations to Dr. Guinevere Q. Lee and the international team of researchers from Weill Cornell Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Rakai Health Sciences Program (RHSP), University of Cape Town and Johns Hopkins Medicine on this important paper published in Nature Communications! An alumnus of the BC-CfE, we're proud of Dr. Lee's leadership on this work that brings us a step closer to the ultimate goal of an ”HIV cure for all”. A great read on this work below, and for a copy of the publication in Nature Communications, visit: https://lnkd.in/gzPJCEmX.

🎉 Congratulations to all the recipients of the UBC Department of Medicine 2024 Faculty and Staff Awards announced this morning! Particularly proud that Viviane Lima, BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Scientist & Senior Methodologist, was among them, receiving the distinguished Martin M. Hoffman Award for Excellence in Research! https://lnkd.in/gSq_Q7v9 Dr. Lima was recognized for outstanding research and scholarly contributions, highlighting her exhaustive publication record, dedication as a supervisor to a large team of students (including the EMBARC Study team), and the integral knowledge she provides in supporting studies across the breadth of the BC-CfE. Please join us in congratulating Dr. Lima on this well-deserved honour! #Congratulations #ResearchExcellence #MartinMHoffman #UBCawards #awards #ResearchAward #HIVresearch #Research #ScholarlyExcellence

This past Friday, healthcare providers from across BC joined us for our Spring BC-CfE Update, an afternoon of sessions covering the latest testing, treatment and prevention information for syndemic conditions to HIV including bacterial STIs & substance use disorder. Touching on innovative ways to improve primary care delivery and harm reduction particularly for those underserved by the healthcare system, participants left with new knowledge to disseminate in the communities they serve. Thank you to Elder Carleen Thomas for opening our conference in a good way, BC Minister of Mental Health & Addiction Hon. Jennifer Whiteside & BC Minister of Health Hon. Adrian Dix for providing opening and closing remarks, and all our amazing speakers for a great day of education and discussion. We hope those who attended Friday’s sessions found the event informative and we encourage those who weren’t able to join us, to check back when the videos are uploaded later this month at https://lnkd.in/gf6YDccf. Save the date for our next BC-CfE Update scheduled September 20, 2024!