The Women's Research Initiative on HIV/AIDS (WRI), a program of The Well Project, convened Advancing Meaningful Inclusion of All Women in HIV Research and Clinical Trials on May 12-15, 2022. The meeting sought to address the ways that women are systematically excluded from or under-represented in HIV research and clinical trials and identify solutions to address the underlying issues that perpetuate these inequities. Please click here or below to view the Issue Brief.
Highlights from the meeting include:
- Historically, women have been insufficiently included and involved in HIV research, reflecting a form of paternalism that has sought to “protect” women, particularly those with child-bearing capacity, from potential harms from research. Such exclusion has resulted in limited knowledge about important aspects of women’s experiences of HIV that would inform their active participation in decision-making about their health and well-being.
- Specific populations of women (including women of trans experience, women who use drugs, and women who sell sex, among others) have been particularly marginalized and excluded from HIV research.
- Deficits in HIV research among women impair the overall HIV response; in order to successfully end the HIV epidemic, relevant experiences and circumstances of all affected populations must be understood.
- In many cases, the tools to address these challenges already exist; it is now imperative that necessary changes are implemented by policymakers, researchers, funders, industry, and other stakeholders to ensure the meaningful inclusion and engagement of all women in HIV research. Community engagement will play a fundamental role in these efforts.
Ensuring truly meaningful and equitable engagement of all relevant populations of women in HIV research, and including attention to the biomedical, behavioral, and social aspects of HIV specific to women’s lives, are vital to ending the HIV epidemic. While there have been significant strides made over the last four decades, there is still considerable work to be done. Success in this work requires concerted partnerships among all HIV research stakeholders that center the lives and experiences of diverse populations of women.
To learn more, please see the WRI 2022 Issue Brief: Advancing the Meaningful Inclusion of All Women in HIV Research.
WRI 2022 Meeting Participants
| Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH* University of North Carolina School of Medicine |
Nancie Archin, PhD University of North Carolina |
| Maryana Arsanious, PharmD Janssen |
Judith D. Auerbach, PhD* University of California San Francisco |
| Dawn Averitt* The Well Project and WRI |
Richard Averitt Starchive.io |
| Gina Brown, MD Gilead Sciences |
Danielle Campbell, MPH Community |
| Vignetta Charles, PhD ETR |
Cecilia Chung Transgender Law Center |
| Jenna Conley* The Well Project |
Elizabeth Connick, MD University of Arizona |
| Ciarra Covin The Well Project |
Judith Currier, MD, MSc University of California at Los Angeles |
| Antigone Dempsey, MEd HRSA HIV/AIDS Bureau |
Dazon Dixon Diallo, DHL, MPH SisterLove |
| Karine Dube, DrPh University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health |
Olivia Ford The Well Project |
| Maureen Goodenow, PhD Office of AIDS Research |
Grissel Granados, MSW The Well Project |
| Rowena Johnston, PhD amfAR |
Jennifer Kates, PhD* Kaiser Family Foundation |
| Aryah Lester Transgender Strategy Center |
Judith Levison, MD, MPH Baylor College |
| Kathleen MacQueen, PhD, MPH FHI 360 |
Krista Martel* The Well Project |
| Amaya Perez-Brumer, PhD University of Toronto |
Bridgette Picou, LVN The Well Project |
| Tonia Poteat, PhD, MPH, PA-C University of North Carolina |
Linda Scruggs, MHS, LPC* Ribbon |
| Eileen Scully, MD, PhD Johns Hopkins University |
Susan Sherman, PhD, MPH Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health |
| Vani Vannappagari, MBBS, MPH, PhD ViiV Healthcare |
Fulvia Veronese, PhD* NIAID, NIH (retired) |
| Charles Wira, BS, MS, PhD Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth |
Carmen Zorilla UPR School of Medicine |
*2022 WRI Advisory Board Member
The WRI 2022 convening received sponsorship support or grants from Gilead, Janssen, Merck, and ViiV Healthcare.
