Involving key populations and underrepresented communities in HIV cure research

PhD candidate with research focuses on promoting the inclusion of marginalised communities in HIV cure–related research. A pharmacist with 12 years of experience in prevention and safer sex education.

PhD candidate with research focuses on promoting the inclusion of marginalised communities in HIV cure–related research. A pharmacist with 12 years of experience in prevention and safer sex education.

Shari Margolese is a Canadian advocate, researcher, writer, speaker, and long-term HIV survivor who has lived with HIV for more than 33 years. For over three decades, she has advanced meaningful community engagement in HIV research, helping ensure that the voices and lived experiences of people living with HIV shape research priorities, study design, knowledge translation, and implementation.

Shari serves as Chair of the Canadian HIV Cure Enterprise (CanCURE) Community Advisory Board and Principal Knowledge User for CanCURE, working with biomedical, translational, clinical, and community-based researchers, clinicians, trainees, and community members to strengthen partnerships between science and the communities it serves. She has helped develop innovative engagement initiatives, including the Science Buddy Program, community readiness activities, and national, women-focused, treatment access, and population-specific conversations on HIV cure research.

CanCURE In 2025, Shari received the Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Red Ribbon Award for outstanding contributions to HIV community engagement and research. She is also a recipient of the King Charles III Coronation Medal and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal for leadership and service to the HIV community.

Through collaboration, mentorship, and advocacy, Shari continues working toward a future where scientific innovation and community leadership advance together, with people living with HIV as partners in shaping the future of HIV cure research.

Dr. Elise Tirza Ohene-Kyei is a physician, public health advocate, and storyteller whose journey spans the healthcare landscapes of Ghana, the United States, and the wider global stage.

She earned her medical degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, where she discovered a love for research and a lifelong commitment to advancing health, especially for vulnerable populations such as women, children, and youth. After practicing medicine in Ghana for a few years, she moved to the U.S. to pursue a Master of Public Health Education at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, focusing on Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Child and Adolescent health, and Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health.

Dr. Ohene-Kyei is also a co-founder of the Poka Health app, a menstrual health app created by African women for African women. As Chief Medical Officer, she applies her clinical expertise and research insight to bridge medical science with culturally grounded solutions, expanding health education and improving care access for women across the continent.

Beyond medicine, Dr. Ohene-Kyei is a writer at heart. She runs an award-winning blog, Letters from this Heart, using fiction to explore unspoken social and personal issues. In 2019, she self-published her debut novel, Perspectives. She is currently an Adolescent Medicine Fellow at the John’s Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Adaobi Lisa Olisa currently serves as the Nigeria Project Lead at Root to Rise, a global health nonprofit organization working to ensure lifesaving health innovations reach the communities that need them the most. She is a global health advocate and youth leader with expertise in HIV prevention, gender-responsive policy, and research translation.

She previously co-led the global youth engagement strategy for the USAID-funded MOSAIC project, supporting work across 10 African countries and contributing to national efforts to expand access to the new biomedical HIV prevention tools, including long-acting cabotegravir for PrEP.

Her global leadership includes roles as a member of the Civil Society Advisory Group for the UNAIDS NGO Delegation’s 57th PCB Thematic Segment on long-acting antiretrovirals, CROI Community Educator Scholar, IAS Vaccine and Cure Advocacy Fellow, and member of AVAC’s Clinical Trial Design Academy. She is a passionate champion for youth-led innovation, helping reimagine intergenerational collaboration in global health.