HIV – staying in the global and local loop.
Cindy says:
I am currently involved with a group of graduate and undergraduate students led by Dr. Mike Gold in the planning for World AIDS Day events happening in the Life Sciences Center on December 1st. Here, everyone has an opportunity to hear out two world renowned AIDS researchers and get up to speed with the disease from both a global and local angle.
First up, we have Dr. Julio Montaner. Dr. Montaner, the current president-elect for the International AIDS Society, is a passionate physician and a pioneering advocate for HAART (highly active antiretroviral therapy) as both AIDS treatment and prevention. His tireless efforts have saved countless lives and challenged the Canadian government to further improve the lives of its citizens. He’ll give an overview about HAART and the various efforts to implement that form of therapy.
We’ll also have Dr. Mark Tyndall, Program director of Epidemiology at the BC Center for Excellence, coming out. He has long been involved with studying the impact of HIV/AIDS in Vancouver, especially the downtown east side. Although we mainly hear about the AIDS epidemic in the under developed regions (such as Africa), the fact is that this disease also has a very direct impact on our own local community. “Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside has an estimated 1400 to 1900 residents who are HIV-positive, but only 316 currently receiving the recently developed anti-retroviral treatments that could dramatically extend their lives.” (the Tyee 2006)
Anyway, both will be giving talks on December 1st at the Life Science Center. Details are as follows:
Dr Julio Montaner: LSC3, 2:30pm
Dr. Mark Tyndall: LSC3, 12:00pm
