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

2. 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

3. 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

4. CTN in Numbers 9,000 Canadians enrolled in 150+ CTN trials
300 + trials reviewed; > 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

5. CTN Sites

6. 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

7. 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.

8. CTN International Connections Map

9. 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

10. 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.