Activism

HIV treatment activism

Liz Barr has been involved in HIV-related activism for over a decade, primarily on issues of access, equity, and treatment. This includes acting as a community representative to the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG), where she served two terms on the Community Scientific Subcommittee. In her first term, Dr. Barr was the community representative to the Network’s Scientific Agenda Steering Committee and Executive Committee. In her second term, Dr. Barr chaired that group and led efforts to increase women’s enrollment. That effort — Team Women — includes productive collaborations between community advocates, researchers, and network staff.

Dr. Barr also served two terms as co-chair of the the Women’s HIV Research Collaborative, a group committed to representing women’s interests and increasing women’s participation in clinical research. She was primary author on this group’s first white paper, which looked at gendered violence and HIV acquisition. Dr. Barr helped organize webinars on women and girls’ participation in HIV research and HIV cure and what it means for women (Oct. and Nov. 2016).

Finally, Dr. Barr is a proud member of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC)‘s Drug Development Subcommittee. The Drug Development Subcommittee facilitates communication and sets agenda items between HIV/AIDS treatment activists and industry (including pharmaceutical companies).

Community HIV Cure Workshop, March 2019

Activism

HIV treatment activism

Community HIV Cure Workshop March 2019

Reproductive justice

Reproductive justice and health equity are cornerstones of Dr. Barr’s activism and research. Creating systems of health equity requires eliminating health disparities, promoting equity in access to treatments and preventive medicines, and providing the support/resources for people to make informed decisions about their own health and that of their families and communities.

Reproductive justice is key component of health justice. SisterSong–an Atlanta-based, woman of color-led organization leading the fight for reproductive justice–defines the term as “the human right to maintain personal bodily autonomy, have children, not have children, and parent the children we have in safe and sustainable communities” (link).

Dr. Barr has volunteered as an abortion doula with Baltimore Doula Project since 2018. Baltimore Doula Project is a volunteer-run organization that is addressing gaps in pregnancy and postpartum support networks by providing accessible, trauma-informed doula services to pregnant and parenting individuals in the Baltimore area.

In addition to her work with HIV and reproductive justice, Dr. Barr is a longtime lover of subversive print media (zines, prints, artisanal books, etc.). In 2013, she shared this passion with the community through a Public Humanities Exchange grant. With this grant, she lead a semester-long zine project with at a local high school. This project culminated in a student-produced zine and a student-led zine workshop at the Madison Public Library.

Dr. Barr also helped organize Madison Print and Resist in 2013 and 2014, a day-long celebration of subversively creative print media. This organization believes in the importance of preserving printed material in a digital age, and celebrate all forms of creative print matter. In 2013 and 2014, the organization was responsible for bringing together over 30 exhibitors from all across the Midwest and Canada for the event. There were several interactive workshops where attendees could experience things like a moveable type letterpress and making a handmade journal.