Two CHUM Research Centre researchers, Dr. Valérie Martel-Laferrière and Sarah Larney, will receive $2M over five years, through a team grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) as part of the Embracing Diversity to Achieve Precision & Health Equity program.

Their project aims to better understand and meet the needs of women who use drugs, especially in the context of health care and prevention of sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI).

This vulnerable group is often absent from research projects, and faces increased stigma and financial precarity, in addition to being at a higher risk of experiencing domestic violence. Despite these challenges, they are capable of great resilience and adaptability.

A participatory project

With their project Foregrounding the voices of women to better meet their needs, Dr. Valérie Martel-Laferrière and Sarah Larney will apply the participatory approach, collaborating with women with lived experiences with drug use to develop strategies aiming to increase this community’s involvement in research.

They will also assemble a cohort of 400 women who use drugs. Participants’ involvement will include regularly completing questionnaires, medical evaluations and STBBI testing. A sub-group of women will take part in the qualitative portion of this study, which will provide a deeper understanding of the challenges.

This data and its analysis will allow the research team to better understand these women’s realities and, ultimately, to adapt services to better meet their needs.

“As an infectious disease specialist, I cannot solve all the problems that people who use drugs face. But if I can make it easier for them to access quality care that

actually meets their needs, I will consider my research program a success,” says Dr. Martel-Laferrière.

Only 18 other research teams in Canada received funding from the CIHR, who invested a total of over $38 million. In addition to funding these 18 teams the remaining funds will also be used to establish a centre for knowledge mobilization.

To learn more about this project, visit the CIHR website.