HIVAN RESEARCHER
ELECTED TO MRC VACCINE RESEARCH CAB
In March, Nicola Stanley, of HIVAN's Networking
and Research team, was elected as Treasurer of
the Community Advisory Board of the MRC's HIV
Vaccine Research Unit.
Nicola joined HIVAN's multi-disciplinary team
after five years in the field of land reform,
where she gained extensive experience in participative
research, project co-ordination and management.
These skills relate directly to her current role
on the eNtshongweni Land Reform project, which
links HIVAN, the Department of Land Affairs and
the Human Sciences Research Council with various
NGO and government stakeholders.
Through her association with LifeLine, Nicola
has been involved in HIV/AIDS counselling, and
she has a strong background in lecturing, tutoring
and small group facilitation. She did her Master's
thesis on the transformation of labour relations
in the public sector (SAPS).
Nicola's role in HIVAN is to facilitate interaction
between local researchers, practitioners and policy-makers
within and across public, private, NGO and CBO
sectors engaged in the HIV/AIDS epidemic. She
is also working on the South African component
of an international research project, examining
the cost-effectiveness of HIV/AIDS prevention
strategies in five different countries.
"This new link with the MRC Vaccine Research
Unit is very valuable for both HIVAN and the communities
it serves," says Nicola. "The Community
Advisory Board will assist in guiding the formulation
of procedures and ethics policy in this cutting-edge
area of academic research. This covers fifteen
research projects based in various different countries
attached to the global HIV Vaccine Trials Network
(HVTN)."
Nicola says that the MRC's Vaccine Research Unit
CAB will play a vital role in strengthening critical
links with CBOs and community residents by liaising
with other national and international CAB members,
and through education and mobilisation programmes
for community-preparedness. HIVAN will showcase
ongoing research being conducted by this Unit
at joint seminars and in future issues of Sondela.
Other newly elected members of the executive
hail from:
• The Durban Gay and Lesbian Community
Health Care Centre (Chairperson)
• Acting HIV/AIDS Programme Co-ordinator,
Mangosuthu Technikon (Deputy-Chairperson)
• UND Campus Law Clinic (Secretary)
• SANCO and NETCOM (additional members)
To contact Nicola:
Tel: (031) 268 5815
Fax: (031) 209 8883
Email: nicolas@hivan.org.za
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