Who we are
SPOT’s research team is responsible for heading up both the scientific and the organizational dimensions of the project. This includes overseeing the project’s scientific activities, supervising research assistants, and overseeing the development of the project across the different settings (community, medical, and institutional) where it is being undertaken.
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Principal Investigators
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Mark A. Wainberg
is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine and in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University. He is also director of the McGill AIDS Centre, which he founded in 1984 and is located at the Lady Davis Institute of the Jewish General Hospital. An internationally recognized researcher and activist, he is past-president of the International AIDS Society, a member of numerous committees, and for the past five years has been chair of the Conseil scientifique de l’Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le SIDA (ANRS) in France. Mark Wainberg oversees SPOT’s virological research activities, including blood sample analysis for the detection of transmitted drug-resistant strains of HIV.
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Joanne Otis
is a professor in the Department of Sexology at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) and holds the Canada Research Chair in Health Education (CReCES). She is well known for her research in the areas of HIV prevention and health education, notably as Co-Principal Investigator for the Omega Cohort, a study that examined the psychosocial determinants of HIV infection among gay and bisexual men in Montréal. Joanne Otis oversees SPOT’s psychosocial research activities as well as activities related to the evaluation of the project. Her responsibilities include design and development of questionnaires and HIV testing interventions. She is also responsible for assessing the project’s implementation in the community.
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Robert Rousseau
is executive director of RÉZO, an organization for gay and bisexual men in Montreal focused on health promotion and the prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs). He also a trainer for the national training program on STIs run by the l'Institut national de santé publique du Québec. He has been involved in the establishment of number of research partnerships and sits on numerous committees in Quebec and Canada that focus on improving access to health services for men who have sex with men. At SPOT, he is a co-principal community investigator responsible for overseeing the project’s implementation in the community.
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Co-investigators
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Martin Blais
is a professor in the Department of Sexology at UQAM. There are three main dimensions to his research: transformations in sexuality and intimacy within contemporary society; sexual scenarios among men who have sex with men and determinants of HIV infection; and sexual and relationship trajectories among troubled and street-involved youth. His professional activities have included collaboration on the design of Phénix, a sexual health promotion program for men who have sex with men. At SPOT, he is collaborating on the project’s psychosocial research activities as well as on project evaluation, questionnaire design, and data analysis
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Bluma Brenner
is a professor in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University. She is affiliated with the McGill AIDS Centre at the Lady Davis Institute, is co-director of the national program on HIV genotyping for resistance to antiretroviral drugs, and an executive member of the Réseau SIDA et maladies infectieuses du Fonds de la Recherche en Santé du Québec. Her research studies have used genetic analysis to better understand the dynamics of HIV transmission. At SPOT, her responsibilities include supervision of blood sample analysis in relation to the surveillance of drug resistance and transmission clustering. She is also working on the design of a test for the “window period” of HIV-1 infection that can be used prior to the detection of antibodies in the blood.
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Joseph Cox
is a medical examiner with the department of public healthat the Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal. He is also an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at McGill University. His research interests include the use of different methodologies in order to identify problems and solutions related to reducing the transmission of infectious diseases within vulnerable populations. He is co-principal investigator for the ARGUS study that is looking at STI, hepatitis, and HIV infection and high-risk behaviour among men who have sex with men in Quebec. At SPOT, he is collaborating on the analysis of risk factors associated with HIV infection.
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Gilbert Émond
is a professor in the Department of Applied Human Sciences at Concordia University where he teaches human systems intervention. His research interests include homophobia among youth and the prevention of HIV/AIDS in the gay community. He has undertaken several research projects dealing with the sexual experiences of gay men in Montreal and the adoption of safer sex practices. He participated in the set up of the Omega Cohort and is actively involved in the gay community as a member of GRIS-Montréal. At SPOT, he is collaborating on aspects related to communications including the promotion of the project and recruitment of participants.
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Ghayas Fadel
is the coordinator of provincial networking and knowledge-transfer activities related to prevention and health promotion within communities affected by HIV/AIDS at the Coalition des organismes communautaires québécois de lutte contre le sida (COCQ-sida). Currently completing his M.A. in sexology at UQAM, his work focuses on the prevention of HIV and other STIs among men who have sex with men. He is particularly interested in risk perception and the notion of responsibility within sexual relations. At SPOT, his roles include linking the project to other community-based research activities at COCQ-sida, and collaborating on the development of the project’s questionnaires and promotional materials.
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Gaston Godin
Is a professor of nursing at Laval University and holds the Canada Research Chair on Health and Behaviour. He serves as a consultant for SPOT, providing expertise in relation to the scientific aspects of the project as well as its evaluation.
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Thomas Haig
works in research and development at RÉZO and is an instructor at Concordia University where he teaches two interdisciplinary courses dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. His research interests include outreach work and the role of interpersonal communication within health promotion activities. He is involved in the development and implementation of the project’s promotion and recruitment strategies, analysis of project implementation, and knowledge-transfer activities at RÉZO related to the project.
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Gilles Lambert
is a medical examiner at the l’Institut national de santé publique du Québec and at the public health department of the l’Agence de la santé et des services sociaux de Montréal. His professional activities include epidemiological research and surveillance in relation to sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections. He is co-principal investigator for the ARGUS study that is looking at STI, hepatitis, and HIV infection and high-risk behaviour among men who have sex with men in Quebec. At SPOT, he is involved in questionnaire design as well as in the analysis of testing kits and the risk factors associated with newly detected infections.
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Michel Roger
is a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Montreal. He is also microbiology and infectious-disease specialist at CHUM’s Notre-Dame Hospital, and is co-director of the national program on HIV genotyping for resistance to antiretroviral drugs. He is a senior research fellow at FRSQ and his research interests include immunogenetic factors related to HIV and the development of new types of HIV testing. At SPOT, his responsibilities include supervision of blood sample analysis in relation to testing for and confirming HIV infection.
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Coordination
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Claire Thiboutot
is a research professional and SPOT’s coordinator. She has worked in the field of HIV/AIDS for over 15 years and was the founder and executive director of Stella, an HIV prevention organization by and for female sex workers in Montreal. She has also worked for Médecins du Monde Canada in Vietnam, where she coordinated an HIV prevention program for female sex workers and people who use injection drugs. Her role at SPOT involves coordinating the project’s various scientific, research, and intervention activities.
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Staff
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Marc-André Primeau
holds a B.A. in sexology from UQAM and works as a research assistant for the Canada Research Chair in Health Education (CReCES). His professional activities have included participating in the design and evaluation of Phénix, a sexual health promotion program for men who have sex with men. He is one of SPOT’s community health workers.
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Fabiano Santos
holds a B.A. in pharmaceutical sciences from the Universidade Estadual Da Paraiba in Brazil. He is a technical instructor in pharmacology and pharmachemistry and is currently undertaking his doctorate in pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Montreal. He is particularly interested in issues related to community health promotion and the prevention of HIV and other STIs. He is one of SPOT’s community health workers.
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Bruno Cournoyer
received his diploma in nursing from the CÉGEP de Limoulou in Quebec City and is currently completing a certificate in clinical care at the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (l’UQAT). For the past 25 years, he has worked as a nurse in a number of hospitals across Québec as well as in France. From 2005 to 2009, he provided follow-up care for people living with HIV/AIDS and with hepatitis C through the Unité hospitalière de recherche, d'enseignement et de soins sur le sida (UHRESS) at Royal Victoria Hospital. His interests include access to HIV and STI testing. He works as a community nurse at SPOT.
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Research Assistants
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Patrick Charette-Dionne
is currently completing an interdisciplinary M.A. at Concordia. His interests include sexuality, reflexivity in relation to risk, the socio-political dimensions of subjectivity, and the paradoxes that characterize HIV prevention. He has been involved in HIV prevention work at several Montreal organizations including RÉZO, la Coalition jeunesse de lutte contre l’homophobie, and the ARGUS study. He is also a member of the teaching team for Concordia’s interdisciplinary course on HIV/AIDS. His M.A. thesis deals with HIV prevention discourses among men who have sex with men. At SPOT, he is involved in the development of the project’s communications activities.
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Ludivine Veillette-Bourbeau
holds a B.A. in sexology, is currently completing an M.A. in community health at the University of Montreal, and works as a research assistant for the Canada Research Chair in Health Education (CReCES). Her interests include sexual health promotion and the prevention of HIV and other STIs among gay and bisexual men. She will be undertaking certain aspects of SPOT’s evaluation as part of her M.A. thesis, with a particular interest in how community health workers can integrate what is learned from the project into their ongoing activities.
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