A York University-led research team has secured $872,400 in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to expand equitable, trauma-informed HIV prevention and treatment for women in Ontario.
The five-year project will examine how nurse practitioners and registered nurses can deliver low-barrier, community-driven services for groups that experience gaps in access to health care.
The project is led by Mia Biondi at York's School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, with co-principal applicants Karen Campbell (York University), Molly Bannerman (Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative), Grace Chiutsi (AIDS Committee of Toronto) and Guillaume Fontaine (McGill University). The team also includes co-investigators from York and partner institutions, including School of Nursing Faculty Roya Haghiri-Vijeh, Catriona Buick, Ramesh Venkatesa Perumal; and School of Nursing graduate students Tamara Barnett and Michelle Hermans. The team received guidance from external partners, including service provider and community advisory boards, with members such as Elene Lam, from the School of Social Work.
The research builds on Phase I funding of $100,000 awarded in 2024 through CIHR's Community-Based Research program and responds to a documented rise in HIV infections among women in Canada. The award funds projects grounded in lived experience and community partnership.
Biondi says cis and trans women, in particular, experience systemic and social inequities that limit access to HIV information, counselling, prevention and treatment. These inequities are intensified for women who are racialized, use drugs, have migrated, are criminalized, participate in sex work or identify as 2SLGBTQIA+.
The inform the direction of the project, the team held focus groups in spring and summer of 2025 with women affected by HIV and those who may benefit from prevention medication; service organizations and their leadership; nurse practitioners and registered nurses; and policy-makers. Guided by its advisory boards, the team gathered input on facilitators and barriers to care, as well as supports for women-centred models and what training and collaboration are needed.
Participants also helped identify priorities that will inform the project's next steps.
"Drawing from these findings, we have outlined a five-year plan that includes further consultation, co-design of care models, pilot implementation and evaluation in communities where it is most needed," explains Biondi. "The goal is to strengthen access to HIV prevention and treatment by supporting women-led, women-centred, nurse-facilitated, low-threshold models that can be delivered in community settings."
The proposal will work to develop a scalable, sustainable provincial implementation plan, where women in the community are leading the initiatives, she notes.
The project, says Biondi, is rooted in strong community-led integrated knowledge translation as well as justice, equity, diversity, decolonizing and inclusion plans. It also outlines training and capacity-building for women in the community, nurse practitioners and registered nurses, HIV sector service providers and graduate students.
This story was originally featured in YFile, York University's community newsletter.
