Media Advisory - NOTICE OF EVENT & POTENTIAL INTERVIEW SUBJECTS - ONTARIO HIV
TREATMENT NETWORK PRESENTS INNOVATIVE RESEARCH CONFERENCE (15 & 16 NOVEMBER)

    
       Research at the Front Lines: Targeting the Complexities of HIV
                    HILTON TORONTO, 15 & 16 NOVEMBER 2010
    

TORONTO, Nov. 11 /CNW/ - On 15 and 16 November, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network will host the 13th Annual Ontario HIV Treatment Network Research Conference. The Conference theme is Research at the Front Lines: Targeting the Complexities of HIV. It will be the second in an innovative three-year series promoting effective interdisciplinary interventions in HIV prevention, treatment and support in Ontario and Canada. The Conference will take place at the Hilton Toronto (145 Richmond Street West, Toronto).

Conference highlights and speakers who may be available for interviews include:

    
    -   Honourable Deb Matthews (Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term
        Care) will deliver opening remarks highlighting important Ontario
        HIV/AIDS research, researchers and program developments from the past
        year. Monday, 15 November, 8:30 a.m.

    -   Dr. Amy Justice (Yale School of Medicine and Principal Investigator
        of the U.S. Veterans Aging Cohort Study) will present her
        groundbreaking research on the complexities and challenges of aging
        with HIV and ways to improve health-related quality of life for
        people with HIV. Monday, 15 November, 9:00 a.m.

    -   Dr. Mona Loutfy (Director, Women's College Research Institute) will
        talk about her team's projects to reduce the stigma and
        discrimination directed at families living with HIV who want to
        conceive children, and to increase access to pre-conception
        prevention and fertility services. Monday, 15 November, 4:45 p.m.

    -   Jeff Crowley (Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy and
        Senior Advisor on Disability Policy at the White House) will speak
        about the role of research in the new National HIV/ AIDS Strategy for
        the United States. Tuesday, 16 November , 8:30 a.m.

    -   Dr. Mark Tyndall (University of Ottawa) and Dr. Vinh-Kim Nguyen
        (Université de Montréal) will discuss and debate the evidence about a
        controversial new paradigm in HIV prevention-Treatment 2.0. Also
        known as "treatment as prevention", the theory goes that treating as
        many people as possible with anti-HIV medications as early as
        possible after infection will reduce the amount of HIV in their
        bodies and the risk of transmitting HIV to others. Tuesday, 16
        November, 1:30 p.m.

    -   Ron Shore (Ontario Harm Reduction Distribution Program) will look at
        the underlying conditions that promote drug addiction and high-risk
        drug use. What determines, or creates, the cognitive and personal
        conditions to engage in known risk? Why does risk behavior cluster in
        certain settings? Do neighbourhoods play a role in the creation of
        high-risk behavior? Tuesday, 16 November, 3:45 p.m.

    -   Honourable Glen Murray (Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation)
        will deliver closing remarks. Tuesday, 16 November, 4:45 p.m.

    -   Over 150 research presentations by leading Canadian and Ontario
        researchers-from universities, hospitals, research institutes,
        community health centres, and community-based AIDS organizations.
    

The complete Conference Program Book, including session descriptions and speaker bios, is available online: www.ohtn.on.ca/pdf/RC10/RCprogram_10_web.pdf

About the Ontario HIV Treatment Network

The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (www.ohtn.on.ca) is a non-profit, collaborative network of people with HIV, community-based agencies, health care providers, policy makers, educators and researchers in Ontario. The OHTN supports and conducts high quality research to help end the HIV epidemic, and shares the best available evidence with all those who can put that knowledge into action. The OHTN is the leading funder of HIV research in Ontario.

For further information: Glenn Betteridge, Manager of Knowledge Translation & Exchange, Telephone: [phone] x2212, Email: [email protected], Website: www.ohtn.on.ca