Dr. Thomas Kerr is the co-director of the Addiction and Urban Health
Research Initiative at the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in
HIV/AIDS, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at the
University of British Columbia (Division of AIDS), as well as a
Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar. In his role at
the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, Dr. Kerr is a
principal investigator of several large cohort studies involving
people who inject drugs and individuals living with HIV/AIDS,
including the Vancouver Injection Drug Users Study (VIDUS). Dr.
Kerr’s primary research interests are HIV/AIDS, injection drug use,
health policy and service evaluation, and community-based research
methods. A key focus of Dr. Kerr’s work has been the scientific
evaluation of Insite, North America’s first safer injecting
facility, and his research in this area has contributed significantly
to academic, public, and government discussion, both nationally and
internationally. Dr. Kerr has published more than 335 scientific
papers in international peer-reviewed journals and has received
numerous local and national awards for his contributions to public
health, human rights, and the fight against HIV/AIDS. In 2007, Dr.
Kerr received the National Knowledge Translation Award from the
Canadian Institutes of Health Research for his efforts to promote
scientific discussion on the topic of illicit drug policy. In 2010,
Dr. Kerr was the co-recipient of the inaugural Population and Public
Health Research Milestones Initiative award for his outstanding
contribution to developing Canada’s research base for harm reduction
and health equity approaches to HIV prevention and control. In 2011,
Dr. Kerr was co-recipient of the Alfred R. Lindesmith Award for
Achievement in the Field of Scholarship which recognizes scholars
whose personal courage and quality of published research constitute a
source of inspiration in drug policy scholarship. Most recently Dr.
Kerr was recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
from the Governor General of Canada.
