Who We Are

Dr. Kathleen Deering (Co-Principal Investigator) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Social Medicine, at the University of British Columbia.

In additional to being the Co-Principal Investigator on Drive for Change, Dr. Deering is a Principal Investigator on the Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS: Women’s Longitudinal Needs Assessment (SHAWNA), a longitudinal community-based open cohort of women living with HIV who live and/or access care in Metro Vancouver. She is also a Co-Principal Investigator on the Food and Beverage Sector Worker Study (FABS), a two-year study that examines the effect of COVID-19 policies on violence, bullying and harassment in the food and beverage service sector in British Columbia.

Patience Magagula (Co-Principal Investigator & Community Lead) is the Executive Director and Co-founder of Afro-Canadian Positive Network of BC Society (ACPNet). Patience is a woman of lived experience with a passion for improving the lives of refugees and immigrants living with HIV/AIDS. She is a well-known health educator and social services provider and she serves on the boards of local, national and global HIV organizations. Prior to this study, Patience participated as a peer research associate and co-investigator on multiple community-based research studies exploring the experiences of African, Caribbean and Black women, im/migrants and older adults living with HIV.