WELCOME

AQUA NIBII WAAWAASKONE

Aqua Nibii Waawaaskone, the singer, hand-drummer and songwriter also known as Nibii Waawaaskone (Water Flower), crafts music reflecting her deep respect for Indigenous traditions, and determination to thrive as a Métis woman of Ojibwe descent, two-spirit artist, and cultural activist in a contemporary context. In addition to her passion for music, Nibii Waawaaskone works to empower youth and women. She is a longstanding facilitator of community drum circles, a partner with several Indigenous organizations, regularly collaborates with like-minded artists, and facilitates cultural workshops across Canada.

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: No One Left Behind: Making U=U Universal

BRUCE RICHMAN

Bruce Richman is the executive director of Prevention Access Campaign's Undetectable = Untransmittable (U=U), a growing international movement to share the revolutionary but largely unknown fact that people living with HIV on treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV to sexual partners. In 2012, nine years after his diagnosis, Bruce learned U=U. After recognizing that millions of people with HIV and the public were not being informed about this ground breaking science, he joined with activists and researchers to ensure the science reaches the people it was intended to benefit. U=U is based on the principle that all people living with HIV have a right to accurate and meaningful information about their social, sexual, and reproductive health based on science not stigma.

Bruce and the U=U campaign have been featured extensively in national and international media including The Washington Post, CBS Evening News, China Global Television, CBC Canada, and The Lancet. Bruce was honored as Healthline magazine's HIV "2017 Person of the Year" and Plus Magazine "#1 Most Amazing HIV+ People of 2018." He received the 2017 Partnership Award from National Association of State & Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD).

Bruce has worked in philanthropy and social change for over twenty five years developing cause-related initiatives for high profile people and brands. He received his Ed.M from Harvard Graduate School of Education and his JD from Harvard Law School.

PANEL DISCUSSION: Enhancing Community-based HIV Testing

DR. SEAN B. ROURKE, PhD, FCAHS

Sean B. Rourke, born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Scientist with the Centre for Urban Health Solutions at St. Michael’s Hospital, and Professor of Psychiatry, University of Toronto. He is an international expert in the neurobehavioural complications of HIV. He is also the Director of two national centres funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR): the CIHR Centre for REACH in HIV/AIDS, and the CIHR Community-Based Research (CBR) Collaboration Centre for HIV, which support pragmatic solutions to address the HIV epidemics across Canada. Sean is also the Director of Universities Without Walls 2.0 which is training the next generation of HIV researchers in Canada.

Sean is transforming how program and implementation science can be used to have a stronger impact on policies and front-line services, and to solve complex health problems for people living with or at risk for HIV/AIDS. With his novel and effective approach to community stakeholder engagement, partnership development across disciplines and sectors, and innovative knowledge transfer and exchange and research-to-action strategies, Sean is having a major influence in getting us closer to ending the HIV epidemic in Canada.

NATASHA TUTT, MSW

Natasha Tutt is a queer femme Social Worker in Brampton. She works with Bloom Clinic, one of 18 provincially funded Hepatitis C treatment teams across Ontario. Natasha received her MSW from York University in 2012 and has worked and volunteered in various HIV and 2SLGBTQ+ community initiatives for over 15 years. Natasha is strongly dedicated to incorporating meaningful community engagement and advocacy in her work as well as personal life.

STEPHANIE STYLIANOU, ADDICTIONS & COMMUNITY SERVICE WORK DIPLOMA

Stephanie Stylianou has been with the AIDS Committee of York Region (ACYR) for a little over a year in the role of Harm Reduction Outreach Worker. She has a diploma in Addictions and Community Service Work, and has lived expertise of drug use and mental illness. Stephanie started working in harm reduction as a Peer Support Worker and then moved on to the team at ACYR. She prides herself in rapport building through an empathetic and compassionate approach. Stephanie believes in the innate goodness of people and uses that as a framework for how she works alongside services users on their journeys. Her passion and knowledge for harm reduction has grown over the past year, and continues to do so as she sees the positive impact it has on people who use drugs in York region.

WORKSHOP SESSION: HIV Prevention Access (PrEP/PEP)

DR. KEVIN WOODWARD, MD, FRCPC

Dr. Kevin Woodward is an Infectious Diseases Specialist at McMaster University. He has been practicing for ten years in the area of HIV with a focus on Sexual Health and HIV Prevention. Dr. Woodward is the Program Director for the Infectious Diseases Residency Program and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at McMaster University.

WORKSHOP SESSION: Treatment Access for Immigrants & Refugees

Maureen Owino

Maureen Owino is the Director of Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT), She has been with CAAT since 2007 first as the program coordinator and for the last 4 years as the program director. CAAT is an organization committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV who are facing access barriers related to their status using the tools of education, training, research, service coordination, and advocacy.

Under Maureen’s leadership, CAAT has had the honor of being nominated and receiving 3 awards namely: The 2009 City of Toronto Access to Equity and Human rights award, the 2012 Casey Award for Leadership and Capacity Building in promoting the health and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS facing barriers to treatment and services, the 2014 OAN Honour Roll /Award for contribution to advancing the cause of Social Justice in HIV/AIDS.

Since 2007, Maureen has been an active organizer and advocate for immigrants, refugees, women and youth with HIV/AIDS in Toronto. She has been an active volunteer in many organizations including being a board member of the Black Coalition for AIDS Prevention (Black CAP), Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), HIV Legal Clinic of Ontario (HALCO) and a steering committee member of the Toronto HIV Network.

Maureen is currently a member of the Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (OACHA) and a Community Advisory Committee member for the CIHR Canadian HIV Trials Network (CTN).

Maureen is the recipient of the 2017 Ontario AIDS Network’s Caring Hands Award and the 2019 Women’s Health in Women’s Hands Community Health Centre Women of Resilience awards for resilient leaders.

She has a Masters in Environmental Studies degree from York University is currently a PhD student at York University.

Maureen’s passion and commitment to working in an anti-oppression framework, and towards community empowerment and capacity building is undeniable.

2019 Speakers