Dear Engage Montreal participants,
We are notifying you of a change in one of the Engage substudies, Engage-HPV. As a participant in Engage, you were given the opportunity to consent to participating in Engage-HPV. If you opted in to participating in this substudy, you provided consent and additional specimens including an oral specimen that was collected using mouthwash and an anal specimen collected using a swab. These specimens were sent to the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) for human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. As HPV testing is not approved for diagnostic purposes, no individual results were provided but results on the Engage study can be found here https://www.engage-men.ca/our-work/articles/.
The lab your specimens were stored in at CHUM is closing due to the director’s retirement. In order to minimize risks due to transport and maintain the integrity of your specimens, we have made arrangements to transfer and store the specimens at the Research Institute McGill University Health Centre. They will be stored at the lab of Dr. Shuk On Annie Leung, an experienced HPV researcher, and co-Investigator on the Engage-HPV substudy. We will maintain the same privacy restrictions, the specimens will remain anonymous and lab staff will not have access to Engage participant information. Please note that you do not need to do anything if you would like for your specimens to remain in the study. If you would like more information, or to opt out of the Engage-HPV substudy, please contact Engage-HPV study coordinator Anna Yeung at anna.yeung@unityhealth.to or at 416-864-6060 x 77445.
William Pardoe
May 06th, 2025