Ontario Sub-Hub
Background
Ontario, home to many major urban centres like Toronto and the largest population of any province, houses approximately 20,000 people living with HIV, about 25% of which identify as women or gender diverse people. In Ontario, specific subsets of women bear a heavier burden of HIV, notably racialized women and those who use injection drugs. This demographic faces additional barriers in accessing and engaging with care due to stigma, gender-based violence, and socioeconomic constraints.
Ontario is home to nearly 20 regional AIDS Service Organizations, all of which are connected to the Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI), a collaborator of the WCHC Hub. Clinically, the Ontario HIV Clinics Network (OCN) is a coalition of HIV clinics throughout Ontario and part of the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN).
Our Team
CO-LEAD
Dr. Mona Loutfy
Dr. Loutfy is a recognized leader in Women's Health, Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and HIV. She is a Professor at the University of Toronto and a Senior Clinician Scientist at Women’s College Hospital, where she founded the Women and HIV Research Program in 2007. Dr. Loutfy was one of the Principal Investigators of CHIWOS and she led the development of the original Canadian HIV Pregnancy Planning Guidelines (CHPPGs) with its third update currently in development. With decades of experience in research program administration, she recently secured a CIHR grant to develop the Women-Centred HIV Care (WCHC) Hub, focused on knowledge mobilization, as well as training and mentoring the next generation of researchers and community leaders. Beyond her academic positions, Dr. Loutfy conducts clinics in Toronto and Prince Albert as an Infectious Diseases Specialist, with a dedicated focus on marginalized populations.
She/They
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CO-LEAD
Angela Underhill
Angela Underhill is a PhD Candidate in the Family Relations and Human Development program at the University of Guelph. She is also the Research Manager of the Women HIV and Health Research Program at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto, Canada and the Trans Women and Gender Diverse People Sub-Hub Coordinator. Angela is an interdisciplinary, feminist scholar and educator who focuses on feminist research approaches to advance social inclusion and equitable care, particularly as it relates to sex, gender, and sexual and reproductive health. Angela believes community-based research is essential to contributing to meaningful, sustainable, and positive change for people.
She/Her
Contact Ontario
Sub-Hub Priorities
Sub-Hub Initiatives
Sub-Hub Land Acknowledgement
The WCHC Ontario Sub-Hub is deeply aware that our activities, and those of our community partners, occur on the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples across Ontario. We are mindful of the 46 treaties and agreements that define this land, now called Ontario. With profound gratitude, we acknowledge the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit peoples who have nurtured and protected these territories since time immemorial. Their enduring contributions continue to bolster and enhance the fabric of our province and its communities.
We also recognize that the coordination of our sub-hub is based at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. This land falls under Treaty 13, signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, and is the ancestral home to many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabe, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. We honor and appreciate these communities for their deep-rooted connection to the land and their lasting legacy