Good morning WISDOM Members,

Please see invitation below and attached sent on behalf of Dr. Zulma Rueda and Dr. Lauren MacKenzie from the department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

The Women-Centred HIV Care (WCHC) Hub is a collaborative, virtual network of people living with HIV as well as researchers, healthcare providers, community-based organizations, and other health advocates working to optimize the health of women and gender diverse people living with HIV in Canada. The WCHC Hub aims to create a formalized network that will connect women nationally to improve and expand our ability to respond to the unique needs of women and gender-diverse people with HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs).

Women and gender-diverse people are not only more biologically susceptible to HIV but are also disproportionately affected by social factors such as poverty, violence, marginalization, and gender inequality. The WCHC Hub recognizes the challenges facing these populations, as well as the complexity of the factors involved, and acts to close these gaps in HIV care.

The WCHC Hub is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE) as one of the National Women's Health Research Initiative's (NWHRI) Women's Health Hubshttps://cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/53838.html.

Join the WCHC Hub in celebrating the official launch of the Manitoba Sub-Hubhttps://www.wchchub.ca/manitoba! The launch of this sub-hub marks an exciting opportunity for local change in the sector of women, HIV, and health. It will aim to address the unique needs and factors associated with the social and health context in Manitoba towards promoting women-centred HIV care across the province, and beyond. The WCHC Manitoba Hub is led by the University of Manitoba and the AllTogether4IDEAS research team, in partnership with the Manitoba HIV Program and other community-based organizations.

The WCHC Hub is excited to announce the official launch of the Manitoba Sub-Hub! Join us in celebrating the launch through a hybrid event on February 20th.

Time: 9:00am - 2:00pm (CDT)

Location: Hybrid! You are welcome to join us PHYSICALLY at the University of Manitoba's Joe Doupe Concourse or VIRTUALLY by registering below to join us through Zoom.

Register Now! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6eHUd8QGPDe9Bv2AcMaOSD-4aF6Liq2Dt...

What to expect:

* Presentations by Dr. Mona Loutfy, Dr. Lauren MacKenzie, and Dr. Zulma Rueda * Community panel featuring women sharing lived experiences with HIV * A career panel with women experts in their field at different career stages * Networking opportunities to connect with peers and leaders

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Wynne Haaksma (she/her) Administrative Support wisdommb@umanitoba.camailto:wisdommb@umanitoba.ca Women in Science; Development, Outreach & Mentoringhttps://wisdommb.ca/ [A black background with grey text Description automatically generated]

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