CBC | A pioneer in the fight against HIV/AIDS, star Quebec researcher turns to quest for COVID-19 immunity
When Catherine Hankins first arrived in Montreal in 1986, she never expected she'd get into a spat with the provincial health minister. But eight months into a job in Montreal's public health department she made headlines for doing just that. The Alberta-born community medicine specialist had moved to Montreal just as a mysterious and little-understood new disease was terrorizing the gay community. With so little public awareness about HIV/AIDS, and how it was spread, Hankins was asked to prepare a $60,000 public health campaign on the importance of safe sex practices and condom use.
Since she was named to the COVID-19 immunity task force last month, Hankins has been meeting with the other members via video conference from her home near Sutton, Québec. She explained that the first step for the task force is to get an antibody test approved and standardized across the country. That will allow scientists to determine whether a person has already been exposed to the virus. The second step will be figuring out what, exactly, that exposure means for people. It is not yet known whether a person can be reinfected with the virus or how long an immunity would last.
