A UWindsor sociology professor is being honoured this Saturday night for his legacy of accomplishments in the battle against AIDS.
Barry Adam, who is also the senior scientist and director of prevention research at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, will receive a community partner award from the Ontario AIDS Network and will be added to the 
organization’s honour roll at the Intercontinental Hotel in Toronto.
“It’s great,” Dr. Adam said of receiving the award. “I’ve been working with community organizations for a long time. It’s a fundamental part of my research, so to be acknowledged like this is really nice.”
A professor at UWindsor since 1976, Adam has been researching HIV and AIDS since it first started appearing in the early 1980s. He was a founding member of the AIDS Committee of Windsor in 1985 and had a long track record of community work before turning it into a scholarly pursuit.
According to a letter written to nominate Adam for the award, he was an early leader within the Ontario HIV research community, forming community-based research partnerships based on what are now considered fundamental principles of that style of research in Canada.
Results from his studies have contributed to a number of new campaigns launched by the Gay Men’s Sexual Health Alliance and AIDS Committee of Toronto to renew HIV prevention strategies and have been presented at the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, the Canadian Association for HIV Research and international AIDS conferences.
Throughout his career, Adam has been a contributor on about $10 million worth of HIV-funded research, and has received funding from Canadian Institutes for Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, the Ontario HIV Treatment Network and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
“Barry continues to dedicate his research to ensure optimal quality of life for people living with HIV,” the letter says. “He is remarkably generous with his skills and knowledge, always willing to share what he knows to advance the field.”