…………………IS BACK!
This year will be our 9th consecutive speaker tour! And I am super excited! 
For those of you who are new to Student Stop AIDS Campaign, the annual speaker tour is the highlight of the year. It’s a chance to hear from the voices of young people living with HIV, to learn about their journey, what they’ve overcome and what you can do to improve our international effort to bring an end to AIDS by 2030!
From 16th February until March 6th we will be touring around 16 of our network’s societies putting on evening speaking events to raise awareness and motivate people to take action.
This year we have two amazing speakers who will be sharing their personal stories with you. Here’s some quick bios:
Cristian Sandulescu (28), originally from Romania, studied at UCL. He was diagnosed with HIV two years ago, during a series of tests to find why his physical health had been deteriorating. This news came as a real shock to him and for a while he struggled to make sense of it, and had to cope with fear and feelings of shame and anger. Effective treatment, however, and the support of clinical staff and friends have turned this trying experience into a positive one. Cristian feels that he has gained a new insight and direction into his life that has inspired him to support others who may be facing similar challenges. Now Cristian works as a Patient Rep and a Peer Mentor for Positively UK, providing emotional and practical support to people living with HIV. He advocates to raise awareness, reduce stigma and normalize our perceptions of what it means to be living with HIV.
Juliana Odindo from Kenya (23). Juliana was born with HIV and lost both her parents early on in life. After struggling with her health for many years Juliana as diagnosed with HIV and started ART. With no child-friendly ARVs available Juliana was forced to bite pills in half and faced physical and emotional challenges due to the lack of support services aimed at children and adolescents living with HIV. Motivated by her experience Juliana is now an advocate for paediatric ARV formulations and more suitable health services for younger people she is also a programme assistant at the National Empowerment Network of People living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (Nephak).
See the schedule below and please come along if you can, all are free public events! The details of the tour stops will be being updated almost every day now, so keep checking back to find out more!
York – Monday 16th Feb – 6:30pm – Alcuin East Wing 104, University of York, YO10 5DD
Manchester – Tuesday 17th Feb – 6pm – University Place, Oxford Road, M13 9PL
Leeds – Wednesday 18th Feb – Leeds – 6pm, Worsley Building, Leeds University, LS2 9JT
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Sheffield – 6pm(TBC), Arts Tower Theatre 09, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, S10 2TN
Newcastle – Friday 20th Feb – 6pm – Newcastle University Medical School, Dental Lecture Theatre E, Framlington Place
Edinburgh – Monday 23rd Feb – 6:30pm, Appleton Tower Lecture Theatre 3, 11 Crichton Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9LE
Glasgow – Tuesday 24th Feb – 6:30pm – Boyd Orr Lecture Theatre A, University of Glasgow, G12 8QQ
Dundee – Wednesday 25th Feb – 6pm – Lecture Theatre 2 (LT2) Dalhousie Building, Old Hawkhill, Dundee, DD1 5EN
St. Andrews – Thursday 26th Feb – 7pm – Medical School Seminar Room 1, School of Medicine, University of St Andrews Medical and Biological Sciences Building, KY16 9TFUK
Aberdeen – Friday 27th Feb – 6pm, Suttie Centre Lecture Theatre, Forresterhill Campus, University of Aberdeen, AB25 2ZD
Birmingham – Monday 2nd March – 5:30 pm, Lecture Theatre 4, Medical School, The University of Birmingham, B15 2TT
London parliamentary– Tuesday 3rd March – 1pm
Exeter – Wednesday 4th March – 6:30pm – Amory C417, University of Exeter
Oxford – Thursday 5th March – 6pm, Medical Sciences Teaching Centre, South Park Road
Brighton – Friday 6th March – 12pm – Arts C Lecture Theatre, Sussex Campus,
London (evening) – Friday 6th March – 7pm – V211, SOAS Vernon Square Campus, Penton Rise, WC1X 9EW