Research summary
Interventions that test therapeutic prevention technologies offer promising solutions to some of the world’s most pressing health challenges, such as HIV and COVID-19. But the way these interventions are developed, tested and introduced can produce and exacerbate inequity and injustice experienced by the marginalized communities they target. This fuels a lack of trust in intervention science and contributes to treatment hesitancy, often among those who could benefit from these interventions the most.
Dr. Amaya Perez-Brumer, Canada Research Chair in Global Health Intervention Justice, is studying the way global infectious disease prevention interventions and clinical trials are executed and their impact on marginalized communities. She and her research team are identifying socio-political and technical factors that undermine equity and justice in how global prevention interventions are designed and implemented, and advancing methods and policy to promote trustworthiness. They are also creating a global network to support justice-driven global health practice.