Aslam H. Anis. PhD, FCAHS National Director, Professor, University of British Columbia

CTN’S MISSION STATEMENT The CTN is a Canada-wide partnership of researchers, caregivers, governments, health advocates, the innovative pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, and people living with HIV who are committed to developing treatments, preventions and a cure for HIV and related health conditions, through the conduct of scientifically sound and ethical trials. The CTN is committed to maximizing the impact of research and ultimately improving the health of Canadians by applying knowledge gained through research at home and abroad into applications and practice. CTN DUAL ROLE CTN as a service provider offering investigators centralized services necessary to conduct high quality and ethical clinical research CTN as a facilitator Manage the development of research ideas and concepts based on community needs Training and development programs Strategic Priority Ensure the CTN is a high-performance, service oriented and accountable organization that supports researchers and high-quality science

Funding Established in 1990 as a cornerstone of the Canadian federal AIDS Strategy The CTN is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) The CTN is jointly sponsored by the University of British Columbia and St. Paul’s Hospital (Providence Health Care) in Vancouver Recently renewed by CIHR in 2014 until 2019 which marks 29 years of uninterrupted funding

CTN in Numbers 9,000 Canadians enrolled in 150+ CTN trials 300 + trials reviewed; > 150 + trials implemented Currently, supporting 60 studies (start-up, enrolling, ongoing, reporting) 40 + sites in Canada Contributed to the advances in HAART > 29 years of uninterrupted grant renewals from CIHR 79 postdoctoral fellows funded Been in existence for over 20 years Success st 11,000 enrolled in compassionate access ory for CIHR funding programs

CTN Sites

RESEARCH CORE TEAMS Responsible for: Encouraging participation and idea/concept generation from investigators Managing the flow of concepts through development to protocols Supervision of ongoing study Directing CTN research through the identification of new medical/scientific needs and emerging trends Clinical Management Science Issues of patient care at various stages: from diagnosis to initiation of ART, needs after ART including toxicity and clinical management, and determinants of efficacy related to ART Co-morbidities and issues related to HIV and aging Co-infections and Concurrent Diseases Care of emerging co-infections such as HCV and HPV, as well as concurrent diseases like syphilis Prevention and Vulnerable Populations Identifying the needs of vulnerable/at risk HIV positive individuals and engaging them in health care Vaccines and Immunotherapies Immunotherapies, prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines Research Cores Responsible for: Encouraging participation and idea/concept generation from investigators Managing the flow of concepts through development to protocols Supervision of ongoing study Directing CTN research through the identification of new medical/scientific needs and emerging trends More studies are expected on HIV and aging, hepatitis C co-infection and other concurrent diseases, prevention studies and vaccines and immunotherapies

CTN STANDING COMMITTEES External Advisory Committee (EAC) Steering Committee (SC) Scientific Review Committee (SRC) Community Advisory Committee (CAC) Data Safety Monitoring Committee (DSMC) Standing CTN review committees remove the necessity to recreate review committees for every trial. The Scientific Review Committee (SRC) ensures the highest standard of scientific review by relevant experts in the field, including both clinicians and methodologists. Similarly, the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) has developed guidelines for the consent process and reviews this aspect for every protocol. Both the SRC and CAC include postdoctoral fellows so they can learn the review process and be better prepared to submit their own future protocols. The Data Safety Monitoring Committee is available for all intervention trials.

CTN International Connections Map

Collaborations Research Partners National Partners ANRS, US NIAID/NIH, CANFAR Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS), Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal, Medical Research Council, Kirby Institute, Women’s Health Research Institute CHVI Research and Development Alliance Coordinating Office, CIHR Centre for REACH in HIV/AIDS, , CanCure, CANOC, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Quebec Argos Therapeutics, GSK, Merck Canada, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals (Now a part of Pfizer), Gilead, Abbvie, BMS, Sanofi Pasteur, ViiV Healthcare National Partners Canadian AIDS Society Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (also knowledge user on grant) Canadian Association for HIV Research Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network CATIE (also knowledge user on grant) Canadian Treatment Action Council Canadian Working Group on HIV and Rehabilitation (CWGHR) Interagency Coalition on AIDS and Development (ICAD) A few research partners Full list on CTN website

Workshop Plan CTN International Fellowship Awards Program, Jacquie Sas Introduction to PMTC, Dr. Frederick Morfaw and Dr. Jason Brophy Best Practices in PMTC, Dr. Amy Slogrove Core Competencies: Posing a research question, Dr. Joel Singer Core Competencies: Choosing a study design, Dr. Jackson Mukonzo Core Competencies: Sample size: Why and how? Dr. Lawrence Mbuagbaw Closing remarks by The Honourable Dr. Jane Philpott, Minister of Health, Canada The workshop objectives are: to inform you of who we are and what the CTN Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards Program is and then to invite you to meet our international and national fellows working on the field of Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission.