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For immediate release

December 10, 2015

An award that bridges the gap between communities and academiaworking to end AIDS

The Robert Carr Research Award, established in 2014, and its accompanying Memorial Lecture (firstheld in 2012), celebrate Dr Robert Carr’s enduring vision of community organizations, academicresearchers and advocates collaborating to advance human rights-based policies and practicesaimed at ending AIDS.

Robert was passionate about the need for cross-disciplinary research to inform policy and advocacyefforts aimed at ending AIDS, especially in countries where communities disproportionately affectedby HIV face discrimination, social rejection, violence and imprisonment, often by governmentofficials and agencies. On this Human Rights Day in 2015, we continue to honor his legacy andcommitment to translating findings from research collaborations between community and academicpartners into tangible policy development and advocacy efforts, which is the driving force behindthe biannual award. The second of the awards will be announced during the Memorial Lecture at the21 st International AIDS Conference (IAS) in Durban, South Africa in July 2016.

In 2014, an unprecedented research project, Sex Work & Violence: Understanding Factors for Safety and Protection , received the first Research Award at the 20 th International AIDS Conferencein Melbourne, Australia. The collaborative study brought together sex worker communities, sexwork rights advocates, the United Nations, researchers and governments from Indonesia, Myanmar,Nepal and Sri Lanka. Aimed at finding solutions to stop violence against and stigma of sex workers,the study illustrated the value of equitable research partnerships, and the role of the role ofcommunities in gathering and using evidence to inform policymaking. (The study is available here .)

The first Research Award was presented on behalf of the four organizations who had brought it intobeing: ICASO, Human Rights Watch (HRW), the International AIDS Society (IAS) and the Center forPublic Health and Human Rights (CPHHR) at John Hopkins University.

ICASO, HRW, the IAS and the CPHHR are now proud to announce that the Caribbean VulnerableCommunities (CVC) and the Global Forum on MSM and HIV (MSMGF) have joined this partnership.“For many people around the world, Robert’s name remains synonymous with human rights, andsome four and a half years after his sudden death, his legacy as a social justice and HIV activist, andadvocate for vulnerable communities is carried forward by this strengthened partnership,” saidMary Ann Torres, Executive Director of ICASO.

“We are proud to see Robert’s legacy carried forward through the Research Award and MemorialLecture. Robert was a powerful intellectual and an effective activist who modelled for the world thatit is possible to be both.” said George Ayala, Executive Director of the MSMGF.

Ivan Cruickshank from CVC expressed their delight to be associated with this initiative. “Itrepresents in a significant way Robert’s untiring efforts to bridge the divide between communities,especially those who are most often marginalized, and academia. This Lecture and Research Awardis a most fitting tribute to his life and work.”

8/20/2019 An award that bridges the gap between communities and academia working to end AIDS

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