Leigh McClarty, BSc (Hons), MSc, PhD

Research summary

Dr. Leigh McClarty's research focuses on optimizing public health programming for HIV and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections using a Program Science approach. Her work aims to develop innovative methods for integrating research and learning into programs, generating contextualized knowledge to improve program outcomes at the population level. Dr. McClarty’s research spans Manitoba, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ukraine.

Dr. McClarty leads a global Program Science Initiative focused on optimizing health services for priority and criminalized groups who face inequities in access to care. She is particularly interested in building long-term partnerships between transdisciplinary researchers and stakeholders, including community organizations, program implementers, funders, and governments, to support the operationalization of the Program Science approach across various public health areas.

Keywords

• Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI)
• Key and criminalized populations
• Program Science

Dr. Leigh McClarty is an assistant professor in the College of Community and Global Health within the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, as well as the Institute for Global Public Health (IGPH). She works both locally in Manitoba and globally in Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, and Ukraine.

Her doctoral research focused on characterizing HIV care in Manitoba, with an emphasis on equity in outcomes, service delivery, and uptake. Dr. McClarty established the first prospective cohort of people living with HIV in Manitoba and developed a comprehensive HIV care cascade model for the province.

As a graduate trainee, she was awarded several academic scholarships, including the CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships, the University of Manitoba’s Sir Gordon Wu Graduate Student Scholarship, and the CIHR Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement. She is also a graduate of the CIHR International Infectious Disease and Global Health Training Program, which provided hands-on, shared learning experiences with peers from academic and research institutions in Canada, Colombia, India, and Kenya.

Dr. McClarty’s postdoctoral work with IGPH focused on optimizing programming for criminalized populations in sub-Saharan Africa, who face disproportionate risks for HIV and STBBI acquisition, as well as inequities in service coverage along the prevention and care cascades.

She has been involved in research with the Manitoba HIV Program since 2011 and currently serves as president of the Board of Directors for Nine Circles Community Health Centre, which provides low-barrier, culturally safe prevention and comprehensive care services for priority groups in Winnipeg.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy in Community Health Sciences (PhD), University of Manitoba (2020)

Master of Science in Community Health Sciences (MSc), University of Manitoba (2013)

Bachelor of Science with Honors in Microbiology (BSc), University of Manitoba (2010)

Awards

2021

• Canadian Association for HIV Research (CAHR) Epidemiology and Public Health New Investigator Award

2018

• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement

2014

• University of Manitoba Sir Gordon Wu Graduate Student Scholarship
• CIHR Doctoral Award – Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship