Claudia Stoicescu

Claudia Stoicescu has worked extensively in the fields of HIV/AIDS, addictions, and harm reduction as a frontline service provider, an analyst, and a researcher in Europe, North America, and South East Asia.  Originally from Romania, Claudia immigrated to Toronto in 1996, where she obtained a bachelor of arts (honours) in political science from York University. During her undergraduate studies, Claudia worked to raise the profile of HIV through her leadership in the university's first youth chapter of Dignitas International, a medical organization working to uphold the human rights and dignity of vulnerable groups affected by HIV, and through her community outreach work with the AIDS Committee of Toronto. Claudia obtained a master's of science degree from the University of Oxford's Centre for Evidence-Based Intervention, where she researched predictors of sexual risk behaviour among young people in Kazakhstan.

Most recently, Claudia held various research and advocacy roles with Harm Reduction International, Open Society Foundations, and the European Harm Reduction Network. At Harm Reduction International, Claudia managed Global State of Harm Reduction 2012, the only independent publication to monitor HIV program implementation and coverage for people who inject drugs around the world and a key reference document for civil society organizations and policymakers in the fields of HIV and addiction. At the same time, Claudia was first author of the Beirut Declaration, the official declaration of the 2011 International Harm Reduction Conference. This initiative called for more attention to evidence-based drug policies and HIV prevention programs for people who inject drugs in the lead-up to the 2011 UNAIDS Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS. It was endorsed by an editorial in the Lancet and over 200 organizations worldwide.

Since 2008, Claudia has spent several years working with community organizations on HIV, development, and addiction in Indonesia. In 2013 and 2014, Claudia collaborated with international and Indonesian researchers, policymakers, community organizations, and affected women to plan her research on factors influencing HIV risk among drug-injecting Indonesian women. Aside from her engagement in HIV and addiction work, Claudia has published in independent media in Canada and the United Kingdom, and is passionate about poetry and photography.