Sustaining the Momentum of the CIHR Centre for REACH in HIV/AIDS

The CIHR Centre for Research Evidence into Action for Community Health in HIV/AIDS (REACH) is a collaborative, national partnership of over 200 researchers, clinicians, policy makers and people living with HIV. REACH is funded through a 5-year CIHR strategic initiative and has been operating for nearly 3 years. In addition to frequent telephone and web-based contacts, our membership meets face to face annually. This "REACH100" Meeting provides opportunities for research team building and research project planning, networking, and capacity building. As REACH enters its fourth year, we aim to use this annual meeting to engage the Centre's membership in developing a strategy to sustain the Centre, enhance its capacity to provide research infrastructure support, and maximize its impact. The specific objectives of the proposed meeting are to: 1) Engage Centre members to identify strategic and impact-focused research and KTE priorities for Year 4 and 5 of REACH. 2) Develop a strategic plan for the sustainability of REACH for another 5 years. 3) Build Centre capacity to support the utilization of our on-line collaborative platform which is an important and sustainable tool for continued national collaboration. To achieve these objectives, we are planning two days dedicated to the sustainability of and strategic planning for REACH. In addition, this REACH100 meeting will be enhanced to include: a skilled facilitator to lead our discussions on sustaining the work of the Centre for REACH; a keynote speaker to share experiences of building and sustaining a multi-regional collaborative research centre that has successfully built research capacity and influenced tangible changes in programs and policies; and technical capacity building to maximize members' utilization of our on-line collaborative platform, a critical tool to enhance communication and collaboration across the Centre and to sustain the Centre beyond our initial funding cycle.