David LessardDavid Lessard, PhD in social anthropology, was awarded an Interdisciplinary Health Research Awards by the Health Research Foundation to work on his postdoctoral thesis, which consists of initiating and analysing a patient engagement intervention in the I-Score Study.

The I-Score Study consists of the development of an HIV-specific patient-reported outcome measure to be integrated into HIV clinical practice to identify patients’ barriers to adherence, improve their situation, and generate more patient-centered care. The objective of the patient engagement intervention is to meaningfully involve patients as active and respected participants in research decision-making processes and knowledge translation, recognizing the importance of their personal experience, opinions, concerns, and expectations, in order to generate a useful and relevant patient-reported outcome measure. David’s analysis of the process will generate important knowledge on how patient engagement can be achieved, and on how patient perspective is addressed by different stakeholders.This award will support a research project nourished by David Lessard’s diverse expertise in anthropology and HIV prevention, where researchers, patients and care providers collaborate and share knowledge.

Congratulations David!

April 15, 2015