In tough economic times, one of the biggest challenges for governments and donors is to find the money to capitalize on scientific breakthroughs in the fight against HIV/AIDS. On Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, people globally will contemplate the weight of this challenge, 24 years after the World Health Organization (WHO) first conceived of the day. Several SFU researchers are available to comment on a variety of angles shaping this challenge.

Naveed Gulzar, a postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology working with SFU molecular biologist Jamie Scott on an HIV/AIDS vaccine, can talk about the HIV epidemic in Saskatchewan. Gulzar and Scott believe Saskatchwan’s battle with the disease should be the prime focus of World AIDS Day in Canada. “People with HIV/AIDS are dying twice as fast as their counterparts elsewhere in Canada,” says Gulzar. “Saskatchewan has become the province with the highest HIV infection rate in Canada. It’s a really scary situation.” Gulzar will give a talk from 10 to 11:00 a.m. at SFU’s World AIDS event on Dec. 1.

Naveed Gulzar, 778.782.5656, ngulzar@sfu.ca

Mark Brockman, an SFU associate professor of molecular biology and biochemistry and Canada Research Chair, believes that preventative strategies are key to ending HIV/AIDS as an epidemic. “The most recent data indicate that new HIV infections and mortality from AIDS continue to rise in hard-to-reach populations, including in Canada. Yet, they are declining in the most affected areas of the world, such as in southern Africa,” says Brockman.

Mark Brockman, 778.782.3341, mark_brockman@sfu.ca

Malcolm Steinberg, a clinical assistant professor, director public health practice, SFU Faculty of Health Sciences, stresses the need to balance population-wide strategies for fighting HIV/AIDS with those targeting marginalized populations. “Focusing on population-wide strategies can deepen health inequities by increasing the inaccessibility of treatments to marginalized populations,” says Steinberg.

Malcolm Steinberg, 604.916.3159, malcolm_steinberg@sfu.ca

Ralph Pantophlet, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, is investigating antibody responses to HIV and other viruses. “There has been a significant boom in research focused on neutralizing antibodies, in high profile publications in the last year,” observes Pantophlet. “Researchers in this arena believe antibody neutralization will result in more than just incremental steps towards an HIV vaccine.”

Ralph Pantophlet, 778.782.8648, rpantophlet@sfu.ca

Cari Miller, an assistant professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences, studies HIV/AIDS transmission, prevention and treatment in Aboriginal people, at-risk youth and populations dealing with addiction, violence and gender discrimination. She can talk about her involvement in projects as far afield as Soweto, South Africa.

Cari Miller, 778.782.8652, cari_miller@sfu.ca

Jennifer Marchbank, an associate professor in the Department of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies and director of the Explorations in Arts and Social Sciences program, can talk about how discrimination and violence drive HIV/AIDS transmission. “As a result of rape, HIV/AIDS is a weapon that continues to violate long after a single act. More than 66 per cent of Rwandan women survivors of genocide surveyed had AIDS,” says Marchband, a co-host of Red Shoes, Green Belts and White Ribbons.

Jennifer Marchbank, 604.996.6195 (cell), 778.782.7607, jmarchba@sfu.ca