A 91亚色-led research team has secured $872,400 in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to expand equitable, trauma鈥慽nformed HIV prevention and treatment for women in Ontario.
The five鈥憏ear project will examine how nurse practitioners and registered nurses can deliver low鈥慴arrier, community鈥慸riven services for groups that experience gaps in access to health care.
The project is led by Mia Biondi at 91亚色鈥檚 School of Nursing, , with co-principal applicants Karen Campbell (91亚色), Molly Bannerman (Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative), Grace Chiutsi (AIDS Committee of Toronto) and Guillaume Fontaine (McGill University). The team also includes co-investigators from 91亚色 and partner institutions, including School of Nursing Faculty Roya Haghiri-Vijeh, Catriona Buick, Ramesh Venkatesa Perumal; and School of Nursing graduate students Tamara Barnett and Michelle Hermans. The team received guidance from external partners, including service provider and community advisory boards, with members such as聽Elene Lam,聽from the School of Social Work.
The research builds on Phase I funding of $100,000 awarded in 2024 through CIHR鈥檚 Community-Based Research program and responds to a documented rise in HIV infections among women in Canada. The award funds projects grounded in lived experience and community partnership.
Biondi says cis and trans women, in particular, experience systemic and social inequities that limit access to HIV information, counselling, prevention and treatment. These inequities are intensified for women who are racialized, use drugs, have migrated, are criminalized, participate in sex work or identify as 2SLGBTQIA+.
The inform the direction of the project, the team held focus groups in spring and summer of 2025 with women affected by HIV and those who may benefit from prevention medication; service organizations and their leadership; nurse practitioners and registered nurses; and policy鈥憁akers. Guided by its advisory boards, the team gathered input on facilitators and barriers to care, as well as supports for women鈥慶entred models and what training and collaboration are needed.
Participants also helped identify priorities that will inform the project鈥檚 next steps.
鈥淒rawing from these findings, we have outlined a five鈥憏ear plan that includes further consultation, co鈥慸esign of care models, pilot implementation and evaluation in communities where it is most needed,鈥 explains Biondi. 鈥淭he goal is to strengthen access to HIV prevention and treatment by supporting women-led, women-centred, nurse-facilitated, low-threshold models that can be delivered in community settings."
The proposal聽will work to develop a聽scalable,聽sustainable provincial implementation plan, where women in the community are leading the initiatives, she notes.
The project, says Biondi, is rooted in strong community-led integrated knowledge translation聽as well as justice, equity, diversity, decolonizing and inclusion plans. It also outlines聽training and capacity-building for聽women in the community, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, HIV聽sector service providers and graduate聽students.聽聽