Building Connections

Welcome | Biindigen | Bonjour to the 2020 Building Connections HIV Conference!?

This year Building Connections will be held - October 21st over zoom. Building Connections will invite Service Providers, and People Affected by HIV/AIDS and People at Risk from Northeastern Ontario to attend. This mini-conference is designed to enhance the quality of counseling, education and meet the needs of the community in Northeastern Ontario.

Building Connections 2020 Speakers

Linda Barkman, Elder--

Brenda Kirkbride

Registered Nurse, HAVEN (HIV AIDS Extended Network)

Presenting: Changes to HIV Treatment

Brenda has been a nurse for 31 years. For the past 19 years, she has worked in the HAVEN Program located at Health Sciences North (Sudbury). The HAVEN Program is the only outpatient HIV clinic in Northeastern Ontario, serving a large geographical area. Brenda is an AIDS Certified Registered Nurse (ACRN). She is fluently bilingual and has done many presentations in French and English. A strong advocate for her patients, Brenda is committed to dispelling myths surrounding HIV and addressing the stigma and discrimination it brings.

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Abigail Kroch

Director, Applied Epidemiology Unit, Ontario HIV Treatment Network

Presenting: HIV Epidemiology in Northern Ontario

Abigail Kroch is applied epidemiologist with experience in academic, government and non-profit settings. Her work focuses on translating epidemiological data for use in program planning, policy making and to support community engagement. At the OHTN, she uses provincial data sources to describe the HIV epidemic in Ontario, and develops KTE products directed at government, community, and clinical stakeholders. She supports the planning, implementation and evaluation of programs and interventions to improve the provincial HIV prevention, engagement and care cascade.

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Ryan Peck

Executive Director/Lawyer, HALCO (HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario)

Presenting: HIV and the Law 2020

Ryan Peck graduated from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Law in 2000. Since 2007, he has been Executive Director of the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO), where he was previously both an articling student and a staff lawyer. Ryan has worked as a staff lawyer at the Advocacy Centre for the Elderly, and in the Tenant Duty Counsel Program at the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario. He has also served as criminal duty counsel at Toronto’s Old City Hall. Ryan is a member of the Ontario Advisory Committee on HIV/AIDS (which provides advice on HIV-related issues to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care), chair of the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure, and a recipient of the 2016 Legal Aid Ontario Sidney B. Linden Award.

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PHA Roundtable Breakout