National Advisory Committee
National Advisory Committee for the Canada Pavilion at AIDS 2024
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The Canada Pavilion has historically been led by civil society with support from the Government of Canada. The Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) has been selected by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to oversee the design, development, and leadership of the Canada Pavilion at AIDS 2024.
AIDS 2024 is an opportunity for Canada to join the call to action to end the HIV pandemic as a threat to public health and individual well-being by bringing together research, healthcare, activists and policy officials.
The National Advisory Committee was formed to support the planning and preparation of the 2024 Canada Pavilion, and provide feedback on theme, messaging, and activities. Committee members represent the diversity of actors in the Canadian HIV/AIDS response and includes representation from: people living with HIV/AIDS, governmental and non-governmental organizations, service providers, researchers, health care professionals, and community-based organizations.
Recognizing the importance of Indigenous perspectives and the voices of those with lived experiences, the National Advisory Committee collaborates closely with Indigenous Consultants and Community Consultants to ensure their voices are central to the development of Canada Pavilion.
Members of the 2024 National Advisory Committee are listed alphabetically below.
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Member organizations:
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AIDS Committee of Durham Region (ACDR) leads in the creation of a safe and healthy community, free from stigma, where every person has the opportunity for a meaningful and fulfilling life. Read more...
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AIDS New Brunswick is a non-profit, membership-driven organization, with two main focuses: the education, support, and prevention of sexually transmitted and bloodborne infections, and harm reduction that supports safer sex and safer drug use. Read more...
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Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP) is Canada’s largest Black specific AIDS service organization. Since 1989, Black CAP has worked to respond to the threat of HIV and AIDS in Toronto’s African, Caribbean and Black communities. Read more...
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CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks provides a National forum for Aboriginal Peoples to wholistically address HIV and AIDS, HCV, STBBIs, TB, Mental Health, aging and related co-morbidity issues; promotes a Social Determinants of Health Framework through advocacy; and provides accurate and up to date resources on these issues in a culturally relevant manner for Aboriginal Peoples wherever they reside. Read more...
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Canadian AIDS Society (CAS) is a national coalition of over 120 community-based AIDS organizations across Canada. CAS is dedicated to strengthening the response to HIV/AIDS across all sectors of society, and to enriching the lives of people and communities living with HIV/AIDS. Read more…
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The Canadian Association of Nurses in HIV/AIDS Care (CANAC) is a national professional nursing organization committed to fostering excellence in HIV/AIDS nursing, promoting the health, rights and dignity of persons affected by HIV/AIDS and to preventing the spread of HIV infection. Read more…
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Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research (CANFAR) was founded in 1987 and aims to end Canada’s HIV epidemic by leading national strategies to increase prevention, testing, treatment and linkage to care, and to end HIV stigma. Fueled by fundraising, CANFAR supports research, builds awareness and cultivates partnerships. Read more…
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The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is Canada's federal funding agency for health research. Composed of thirteen Institutes, CIHR collaborates with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health systems. Read more...
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Canadian Positive People Network (CPPN) is an independent network for and by people living with HIV and HIV co-infections in Canada.
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Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA) is the independent national voice and trusted advocate for public health, speaking up for people and populations to all levels of government. It champions health equity, social justice and evidence-informed decision-making. Read more...
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Casey House is a specialty hospital in Toronto providing ground-breaking care to people living with and at risk of HIV. It offers a growing mix of inpatient, outpatient and community-based services that meet clients where they are in their individual journeys of health and wellness. Read more...
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CATIE strengthens Canada’s response to HIV and hepatitis C by bridging research and practice. It connects healthcare and community-based service providers with the latest science, and promote good practices for prevention and treatment programs. Read more...
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The CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN) is a Canada-wide partnership of researchers, people living with HIV and their caregivers, governments, health advocates, and the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. CTN is committed to generating knowledge on the prevention, treatment, and management of HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs), and to developing a cure for HIV through conducting scientifically sound clinical trials, research, and other interventions. Read more...
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The CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Advisory Committee (CHASRAC) was established in 2003 to guide the implementation of the CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative, in keeping with the parameters set out by the Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada. CHASRAC is instrumental in providing guidance to the CIHR HIV/AIDS and STBBI Research Initiative on the development and implementation of its strategic plan and in making recommendations to CIHR regarding strategic programs and priorities for HIV/AIDS and STBBI research. Read more...
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La COCQ-SIDA est la Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida. Elle solidarise les gens, unit les démarches, les actions et les ressources impliquées pour répondre aux enjeux qui touchent les personnes vivant avec le VIH et l’ensemble des populations affectées par l’épidémie. Read more…
The Dr. Peter AIDS Foundation operates the Dr. Peter Centre, which provides health care - including meals, counseling, nursing, and art/music therapy - to individuals living with poverty, homelessness, mental illness, addictions, and complex medical needs, in addition to HIV. Read more...
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Healing Our Nations is a program under the Union of Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq, and it is the ONLY Indigenous led HIV/AIDS organization in Atlantic Canada that serves all 33 First Nation communities and the off-reserve population through education, prevention and awareness interventions. Read more...
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Manitoba Harm Reduction Network works toward equitable access, systemic change, and reducing the transmission sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI) through advocacy, policy work, education, research and relationships. Read more...
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National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases (NCCID) is one of six National Collaborating Centres established by the Government of Canada and funded through the Public Health Agency of Canada to promote and support evidence-informed public health. The Centres are hosted regionally, and aim to improve the effectiveness of public health programs and policies. Read more...
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Native Women's Association of Canada is a National Indigenous Organization that defends the rights, delivers programming to, and amplifies the perspectives of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirit, transgender, and gender-diverse people in Canada, inclusive of First Nations – on and off reserve, status and non-status, disenfranchised – Métis, and Inuit. Read more...
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PEERS Alliance supports those living with and at risk for HIV, Hep C, and all sexually transmitted infections in PEI by offering a variety of programs and services targeted to diverse communities. Read more...
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The Positive Leadership Development Institute (PLDI) offers people living with HIV (PLHIV) an opportunity to identify and develop their leadership and resilience skills in a safe environment by and for. PLDI trainings are for all PLHIV that want to be leaders. Read more...
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No kheÌ…yoh t’sih’en t’sehena Society (PLN) provides quality support, awareness education, and prevention services to people living with, affected by, and at-risk for HIV / AIDS / HCV. As a leader in preventative health, PLN promotes the holistic well-being of individuals and communities in Northern British Columbia. Read more...
REACH Nexus is a national research group working on how to address HIV, Hepatitis C and other STBBIs in Canada. It focuses on reaching the undiagnosed, implementing and scaling up new testing options, strengthening connections to care, improving access to options for prevention (PrEP and PEP) and ending HIV stigma. Read more...
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Realize is the leading national, charitable, organization in Canada working to improve the health and well-being of people living with HIV and other episodic disabilities, across the lifespan, through integrated research, education, policy, and practice. Read more…
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Individual members:
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Dr. Mona Al-Khaifi completed a Family Medicine residency program at the University of Toronto in 2018. Subsequently, she completed a Women’s Health Fellowship at Women’s College Hospital in 2019 and a fellowship in Breast Diseases at the CIBC Breast Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital in 2021. Dr. Al-Khaifi also has successfully completed a Master of Public Health at Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto.
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Dr. Alkhaifi currently is the physician-lead of the Follow-up and Survivorship Program at Louise Temetry Breast Cancer Centre, SunnyBrook Health Sciences Centre. She is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Reflecting on her profound experience in women’s health, Dr. Alkhaifi asserts: “I adopt compassionate, high-quality patient-centered care for women with breast cancer diagnoses including survivorship care”.
Dr. Al-Khaifi is passionate about patient education, specifically in the area of women's health . Dr. Al-Khaifi aims to bring her experience in caring for marginalized populations to examine how teams can meet the needs of the most disadvantaged women diagnosed with breast cancer. Her goal is to provide a space for care that is culturally safe and non-judgmental. She is also a public speaker, and she has been invited to present her work on breast cancer survivorship care at several national and international conferences and sessions. Dr. Alkhaifi is passionate about incorporating more novel programs into postgraduate medical education and to enhance important competencies, such as empathy and cultural sensitivity.
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Claudette Cardinal- Wâpakwaniy is a wise woman from the Kehewin Cree Nation in Alberta. With 29 years of experience living with HIV, she has dedicated thousands of hours to research initiatives focusing on HIV, mental health, aging, and Indigenous communities over the past two decades. As a prominent figure in the field of HIV advocacy among Indigenous women in Canada, Claudette serves as an Indigenous Community Research and Community Member at the Feast Centre for Indigenous STBBI Research. She is a member of the International Community of Women Living with HIV–North America.
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She collaborates with a wide range of organizations, including: the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity, THRIVE, COAST, and the Canadian HIV Observational Cohort (CANOC), SHARE/CARE among others.
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Claudette is currently involved in many research projects focused on Indigenous peoples living with HIV/AIDS and is passionate about the relationships between community and researchers, and how to develop meaningful ones in a good way. She aims to keep learning about culture, to share what she has already learned, and to encourage others to be curious and to bring love to their work.
Wâpakwaniy’s close connection to the project is reflected in her words, “Culture is within me. Culture is me. I am Culture.”
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Dr. Alexandra King, MD, FRCPC, is a citizen of Nipissing First Nation (Ontario). She is the Cameco Chair in Indigenous Health and Wellness and co-leads Pewaseskwan (the Indigenous Wellness Research Group) at the University of Saskatchewan. Dr. King and Pewaseskwan work with Indigenous communities and relevant stakeholders to improve Indigenous health outcomes.
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She is an Internal Medicine Specialist with a focus on HIV/AIDS, hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV/HCV co-infections. She is a clinical expert on the Hepatitis C Working Group for the Canadian Task force on Preventative Health Care (CTFPHC). She is a Principal Investigator and co-Investigator on numerous Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and other Tri-Council grants, as well as holding a program grant from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). Her research interests encompass Indigenous health and wellness, Indigenous methodologies, STBBI, heart disease and spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA).
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Dr. King’s legacy is a story of her passion exemplified by numerous research projects and collaborations. She is committed to working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to co-create community-directed research rooted in Indigenous ancestral wisdom and lived/living experience, as well as Indigenous research philosophies and methodologies. She brings leadership skills to create a culturally safe and responsive research and care, etuaptmumk (Two-eyed Seeing, the bringing together of Indigenous and Western worldviews or forms of knowledges) and Ethical Space (supporting people with disparate worldviews to meaningfully engage with each other).
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In her tenure, Dr. King has garnered millions of dollars in grants towards projects. The research excellence under her leadership has contributed to USask ascending to the institution’s highest-ever recorded ranking on distinguished platforms such as the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings.
Dr. King is a sought-after speaker, and her work has been published in prestigious journals and presented at conferences both nationally and internationally. Her contributions have been recognized with various awards, including the Annual Excellence Award from the Department of Medicine in November 2023, and the Principal’s Indigenous Education Award in 2023.
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Shanice Harris is a 4th year Bachelors of Social Work Student at Toronto Met University. she also graduated from Seneca College from the Social Service Worker Program. Shanice has worked for 5+ years in the community while supporting and being of service in various ways. She has been a coordinator at CAYR Community Connections as the Hepatitis C Project Coordinator which helped facilitate and conduct educational outreach and community testing drives for the community. This project was in collaboration with the HIV/AIDS team as well as the Harm Reduction Team. She also has worked as the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF) Project at Women’s Health in Women’s Hands to help build capacity for the community with education around vaccination and health promotion. Shanice is also a community member herself as she is in pursuit of building her own grass-root organization and being a recipient of a micro-grant to help support her efforts in offering space for BIPOC mothers to thrive and grow with each other!
She is dedicated and passionate about supporting individuals with who they are and where they are. She believes that everyone has a story to tell and every individual is the best teacher to share that story.
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Pavilion Consultants:
Community Consultant, Martin McIntosh initially navigated a career in the advertising in London England and Toronto. In 2012, he returned to London ON, dedicating a significant portion of his life to the HIV/AIDS sector. He has been a key member of London's Regional HIV/AIDS Connection leadership team for over seven years, and currently serves as the Executive Director bringing invaluable experience as a PLWHIV. Martin is also a seasoned facilitator, contributing over eight years to both the Ontario AIDS Networks (since 2014) and AIDS Bereavement and Resilience Program of Ontario (since 2019). From 2020 – 2022, Martin co-chaired the Ontario HIV Treatment Networks OCS Governance Committee
Indigenous Consultant, Renée Masching is an Indigenous health researcher and consultant with Seven Directions Consulting. For more than two decades, Renée has brought her skills and passion to leading Community-Based organizations, informing policy and Indigenous health research. Her work is focused on strengthening health services for Indigenous Peoples, particularly related to HIV/AIDS, Hep C and STBBI. Renée lives by the ocean in Mi’kmaq Territory (Nova Scotia) with her husband, sons, and a menagerie of pets.