IRMA LAC

Meet a Friendly
Rectal Microbicide Advocate

 

Gail Broder
Seattle, USA

Originally from Detroit, Gail now calls Seattle home. She works as a community education project manager with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN). She provides support, technical assistance, and training for community educators and recruiters who work at US clinical trial sites that are part of HVTN. Gail also provides support for the sites' Community Advisory Boards (CABs), and helps to ensure that there is community involvement in every aspect of the HVTN's operations. She was initially brought to IRMA through her connections with IRMA chairs Jim Pickett and Marc-Andre LeBlanc and has kept up to date with the Global Campaign for Microbicides for years now. Having made many friends with GCM staff, she has also been privileged to co-present with them on several occasions.

Gail believes that ALL biomedical prevention technologies are important. One of the lessons she has learned from microbicide advocates is that a cue has to be taken from the family planning folks. “When women are given a variety of options for birth control, they are more likely to find an option that meets their needs, whether that need deals with cost, ease of use, access to the product, etc. Similarly, HIV researchers need to be seeking as many different prevention strategies as possible to meet the needs of the widest range of people around the world.” When Gail is working in vaccine research, she says that she knows finding a vaccine is still a long term goal. In the shorter term, however, she hopes that finding an effective microbicide will give people another tool to keep themselves safe and fight against HIV.

When educating others, Gail always points out the importance of having many tools that can be used before the point of transmission, during the risk behavior when transmission may occur, and after transmission. Rectal or vaginal microbicides could be used before exposure, but in closer proximity when one is having sex. She often uses an idea learned at a conference several years ago: ABC is a nice place to start, but we also need CNN and MTV! (Condom distribution, Needle exchange, Negotiation of safer behaviors, and Microbicide research, Treatment research, Vaccine research). This helps people to think about "combination prevention", which is comparable to "combination therapy" for people already infected.

Gail’s first degree was music, so it’s no surprise that in her free time she sings in a semi-professional choir and for her synagogue. She is active in the Jewish community, especially around social justice issues. She is an avid reader, and you can often find her curled up with a good book and glass of wine.
[Posted October 2008]

 

Gus Cairns
London, England

With a degree from Oxford University, Gus Cairns has an intriguing story and quite a commitment to individuals living with HIV. Having been diagnosed with HIV himself more than twenty years ago, he reached his lowest-ever CD4 count of 10 in 1997. “Soon, I will have spent more time recovering from AIDS than dying of it,” he says.

His pre-AIDS career shows a varied life path, as he worked as a musician, barman, male escort, and a social worker who helped set up the UK’s first-ever Safe House for young runaways. As he watched his friends die from AIDS around him, he became an invested volunteer at the UK Coalition of People Living with HIV and AIDS in 1998 and then went on to become the editor of Positive Nation, the UK’s magazine for people with HIV. As an accredited psychotherapist, Gus divides his time between his growing practice and his role as a writer, editor, and advocate for HIV/AIDS issues. While he maintains that he is not the most vocal advocate, his passion lies in writing to support his more vocal colleagues. His work has focused on reshaping HIV prevention for MSM and people living with HIV.

Gus’s interest in new prevention technologies, specifically rectal microbicides, stems from a personal issue, as his partner is HIV negative. “I’m interested in them [rectal microbicides] because anyone who is HIV positive and has sex should be. They could potentially lift off the shoulder of positive people a huge burden of guilt, stigma, and responsibility,” he states. While Gus is unsure about how effective microbicides may be, he still feels it would be important to have it as an extra layer of safety in sex that is both easy and fun to use. He appreciates efforts towards microbicide research and funding because it involves an inherent de-stigmatization of anal sex and pleasure between all sexes around the world.

When he’s not sitting behind his computer writing or serving on various British committees targeting HIV, Gus travels extensively, taking an interest in MSM issues in other parts of the world. He is also a singer in London's gay chamber choir Diversity.
[Posted October 2008]

 

Anna Forbes
Kensington, Maryland, USA

Originally from central Illinois, Anna Forbes currently resides in Maryland while working in Washington D.C. She is the Deputy Director of the Global Campaign for Microbicides. She became involved with IRMA after talking to Jim Pickett and David Munar back in 2003 about the need to pick up and expand on an online rectal microbicides advocacy effort she had originally started in 2000. The duo offered to take it on, and that effort grew into what is now IRMA.

Rectal microbicides are a very important priority among new HIV prevention technologies because, as she puts it, “Everyone needs and deserves a way to protect themselves from HIV.” Via SafeGuards in Philadephia, Anna initiated the first incarnation of lifelube.com. She made her debut national presentation about rectal microbicides at the Second Gay Men’s Health Summit in Boulder, Colorado.

In 2002, Forbes published her first national U.S. article on the need for rectal microbicides. The same year, she gave an international workshop on the same subject at the UK CHAPS conference, leading to the publication of her first international article. After such impressive successes, Forbes has steadily written, spoke, presented, and organized around rectal micobicide advocacy ever since.

Anna’s hard work is paving the way for the future of rectal microbicides. So dedicated is she to her advocacy work that when asked what she does in her free time, she could only respond, “What free time?”
[Posted October 2008]

 

Dr. Ian McGowan
Liverpool, England

Ian is originally from England, but currently lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is presently a professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Ian’s research at the school, in conjunction with the Microbicide Trials Network, focuses on the development of rectal microbicides, so it was natural for him to get involved with IRMA and serve as a member of the IRMA Steering Committee. He is, in fact, one of the leading scientists in the world working to advance the development of safe, effective and acceptable rectal microbicides.

He believes that rectal microbicides are an important priority among new HIV prevention technologies because we live in an era that lacks a safe and effective HIV vaccine. “We need to broaden the range of prevention options, especially for individuals who are currently practicing unprotected anal intercourse.” As a physician-scientist, Ian’s job not only focuses on trying to develop a rectal microbicide, but also to spread information on rectal microbicides through lectures, article reviews, and scientific papers.

In his spare time, Ian enjoys spending time with his partner Ross (Cranston - see his bio in the Advocate Archive) and his two dogs, Harry and Walter. He also looks forwards to vacationing at his house in Spain.
[Posted October 2008]

 

Arwa Meijer
Brussels, Belgium

Arwa Meijer, an international microbicide advocate, is quite international herself! Half Dutch and half Bolivian, Meijer is currently based in Belgium. At present, she is the European Programme Associate at the Global Campaign for Microbicides based in Brussels. From the start, the Global Campaign has been extraordinarily active in rectal microbicide advocacy and in helping to catalyze the creation and progression of IRMA. The Campaign has truly inspired her and provided her valuable insight as to how to become a rectal microbicide advocate.

Meijer is a firm believer that with more HIV prevention options, more people will have something to choose from that better fits their specific needs. “Everybody is different, everybody has different practices, different sexual tendencies. It doesn’t matter who you are, it’s what you do.” Rectal microbicides are even more important knowing that anal intercourse is a daily practice in many people’s lives in certain cultures. Because science has shown that HIV transmission via unprotected anal sex is more likely compared to unprotected vaginal sex, Meijer agrees that there is an urgent need for research and development of rectal microbicides. She also believes that once a vaginal microbicides are on the market, the reality will be that both men and women will likely be using it rectally despite labels indicating that it is not for rectal use. Therefore, she thinks it is important to not only examine the rectal safety of current vaginal microbicides but also to look into their efficacy in working as potential rectal microbicides.

Meijer’s first real contact with rectal microbicides came at the Microbicides 2006 conference in Capetown where she was active in recruiting more advocates for IRMA. At the Microbicides 2008 conference, she helped organize a reception for the launch of “Less Silence, More Science”. At the AIDS 2008 Conference in Mexico City, she worked at a booth promoting partnership in HIV prevention research to raise awareness and education of rectal microbicides. Meijer has also helped create a free online course, titled The Essentials Microbicides Course, in which she designed a module focusing on rectalmicrobicides. She encourages her fellow microbicide advocates and others to learn more about the research and development of rectal microbicides by taking that module.

When she is not traveling around the world and advocating her heart out, Arwa enjoys going to the cinema, salsa dancing, and organizing dinners with her friends.
[Posted October 2008]

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