ALUMNI NEWS Class Notes


Carmen Logie was invited to the “Translating Research Into Action: Reducing HIV Stigma to Optimize HIV Outcomes” meeting at the White House in March.


Solution Seeker Alumna travels the world to research HIV stigma C


armen Logie (MSW03) smashes the stereotype of the cloistered


academic. An assistant professor at the University


of Toronto School of Social Work and an adjunct scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute there, she’s traveled across Canada and to Canada, India, Tailand, Jamaica, Swaziland and Lesotho, collaborating with local populations to research the effects of HIV stigma and their policy implications. “We don’t just parachute in,” says Logie.


“Community-based research means you actually work with the community.” Jamaica AIDS Support for Life, one of


the organizations Logie works with, “took some of our qualitative findings from LGBT youth, presented them in a proposal to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and got their own funding to do more research focusing on transgender people in Jamaica,” she says. “You procure information, it’s taken up by


36 | SUMMER 2016 | EASTERN MAGAZINE


a local agency, then they use it to get more funding and provide more services. Te work actually matters.” “Actually mattering” is what matters to


Logie. For example, the transgender data collected by her and her Jamaican colleagues show high rates of police violence against that population. “We’re hoping we can show these human


rights violations are associated with high rates of HIV,” she says. “If the country is serious about stopping HIV, they need to promote human rights. Documenting the scope of the problem is useful when you’re trying to change policy and programs and, eventually, legal situations.” Logie’s approach fit perfectly with that of


Eastern’s school of social work. “We don’t have to have schools that are quote-unquote research and schools that are quote-unquote practice,” she says. “Ideally, we have both, and I think Eastern is one of those. “I liked that you have to have two years


work experience to get into the EMU program,” she adds. “It’s nice to go to a program where everybody else has already been working. I also like that you do a research project. I actually published mine, with the help of two professors, which is really rare for a master’s program. So you do research and, at the same time, you do all these things for real. Tat’s rare, too. It helped me get into my PhD program.” What keeps her going? “Te people that


I work with all over the world,” Logie says. “Whenever I get tired, I go and read the transcripts of our interviews, and I see all this information people gave us about their lives and their experiences so we could try to make the situation better. “I just got an inquiry about working with


people who have been trafficked. I love it when people bring me a problem, so we can work together and see what the solution is.” —Jeff Mortimer


PHOTO BY BERNARD WEIL/TORONTO STAR VIA GETTY IMAGES


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