CAHR 2013 Wainberg Lecturer: Dr. Liviana Calzavara

The 2013 Mark Wainberg Lecture presented by Dr. Liviana Calzavara who gave the audience some key issues to ponder over the course of the conference. Her presentation, titled “Refocusing our efforts: Addressing the unspoken structural factors that shape HIV research” was thoughtful and at times questioning and critical of the status quo. She discussed many of the structural forces such as government policies, funding priorities, expectations, and societal ‘norms’, that influence the direction of research. She suggested that it is time to revisit original priorities set out by Federal Initiative to Address HIV/AIDS in Canada in 2004. Dr. Calzavara expressed her concerns about the number of various organizations, government bodies, NGOs and institutions working on HIV/AIDS research and the need for coordination and clear priorities.