Behind the Breakthrough

UHN’s Dr. Gelareh Zadeh sits down to talk about her pioneering research of meningiomas – or skull based tumors, and her discovery of the biology – or makeup – of these meningiomas. She also speaks to her amazing career journey, starting with her family's decision to escape their homeland in Iran following the Iranian Revolution, landing in Winnipeg on a cold Boxing Day in 1988. From their she trac...

Dr. Howard Abrams leads a team that is pioneering an innovative solution to the gap in housing for older adults, along with providing health supports so that they can age at home with dignity. It’s called NORC – short for Naturally Occurring Retirement Community. What is a NORC? Everything from a co-op to a condo to an apartment building where older people make up the majority of residents. “Most...

In the latest episode of UHN podcast Behind the Breakthrough we feature KITE researcher Dr. Tatyana Mollayeva, who talks about her pioneering research on sleep disruption and its impact on patients with neurological disease and brain injury. Her research, for example, reveals a connection between a patient’s ability to recover from mild traumatic brain injury and sleep disruption, and, she’s been...

Dr. Laurie Ailles is an award winning senior scientist at UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Center whose pioneering research revealed the origins of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Her discovery is now paving the way towards more accurate and individualized prognoses that better inform potential treatments and improve outcomes for patients with the disease. Dr. Ailles’ also speaks to her caree...

The human microbiome consists of viruses, fungi, bacteria - even parasites and protozoa - that live on and in our bodies. And today the microbiome is having a ‘scientific moment’. Researchers are testing its uses to improve health, and, as a therapeutic agent to treat everything from bloodstream infection to the ill effects of cancer treatment. In this episode of UHN's ‘Behind the Breakthrough’ le...

In this episode, we interview Dr. Cristina Nostro, a Senior Scientist at the McEwen Stem Cell Institute at UHN, on her developments in curing type one diabetes through the use of stem cells. She dives into the uptake of islet transplantation as a treatment option, along with the different methods and technological advancements to improve the life of people living with this autoimmune disease. 

The podcast "Behind the Breakthrough" features Dr. Hance Clarke, an anesthesiologist and director of pain services at Toronto's University Health Network, discussing the challenges of managing pain after surgery. Dive into the consequences of the lack of a protocol and the scope and scale of addiction in Canada as a result of post-surgery pain. Dr. Clarke discusses the need for a balance between p...

On this episode of Behind the Breakthrough, Dr. Mamatha Bhat shares how she and her team of UHN researchers are leveraging artificial intelligence to help predict complications resulting in long-term outcomes for liver transplant patients. This novel, world-first approach has the ability to determine the personalized predictors of outcome for each patient – for example, increased risk of cancer, h...

Season 5 launches with an interview with pioneering social medicine advocate Dr. Boozary, who speaks to how UHN is tackling one of the biggest challenges to health for those who are marginalized – homelessness. Dr. Boozary and UHN helped create an ambitious hospital-first in Canada – the construction of a supportive housing site in Parkdale, Toronto. In this wide-ranging and thoughtful interview D...

Season 5 is just around the corner, coming Fall 2023. Until then check-out our friends at UHN's Krembil Brain Institute as they launch season two of Your Complex Brain!  Well, it’s no surprise. Since last season, our brains haven’t gotten any less complex! But that just means there are even more stories to share about the mysteries, myths and science behind how our brains work, and what keeps our...

Renowned UHN surgeon scientist Dr Shaf Keshavjee sits down with Behind the Breakthrough podcast Host Christian Cote’ and takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes journey of his ground breaking medical discoveries – two of which have had a profound impact on lung transplant around the world. For his Master’s thesis in the late 1980’s he developed a lung preservation solution – LDP – which is now the...

Restoring vision for the visually impaired has been a dream of scientists and clinicians for centuries. Neurodegenerative eye diseases like glaucoma or age-related macular degeneration affect visual information processing.  But the visual system in humans is smart–it can compensate for a loss in connectivity caused by disease. The potential for virtual reality cognitive retraining may improve the...

Pancreatic cancer is an aggressive disease with poor survival rates. Huge contributors to this dire outcome are the fact it is typically diagnosed at an advanced stage, has limited treatments, and no cure. This is what makes the discovery of Dr. Rama Khokha and her lab so profound. In this episode of Behind the Breakthrough podcast the senior scientist at UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre walk...

Dr. Lorraine Kalia’s research looks at testing different compounds in C. Elegans and how it can lead to a better understanding of Parkinson’s disease and new therapeutic targets. The best part: some of these compounds are already approved for use in humans. Through Dr. Kalia’s research we may be able to repurpose these compounds for the neurodegenerative condition.

In this episode of Behind the Breakthrough, Dr. Eleanor Fish dives into her groundbreaking research of treating viruses by harnessing a naturally occurring antiviral protein in our body called Interferons. Dr. Fish, an Emerita Scientist at Toronto General Hospital Research Institute, is a world leading immunology researcher and a passionate about the importance of Interferons in fighting pandemics...

Dr Jonathan Irish was on a path to competing for Canada at the Olympics in the sport of canoeing before he decided helping patients conquer cancer was his chosen path. He reflects on his years as a pioneering researcher and head and neck surgeon, and explains how AI helps surgeons get better results. But, he emphasizes, nothing will ever replace the surgeon.    

Each year over 20,000 Canadians are sustain a traumatic brain injury, which affects an individuals personality, well-being and those around them. In this episode of Behind the Breakthrough, we sit down with Dr. Carmela Tartaglia at UHN's Krembil Brain Institute to discuss her research. The goal: to better understand concussion, their effects and eventually develop diagnostic tools for conditions l...

Being in lockdown is hard. The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that. But for long-term care (LTC) homes – where resources were limited, and public health measures failed to take into account the needs of patients with dementia – lockdown was even harder.   This is what prompted Dr. Andrea Iaboni , a geriatric psychiatrist and clinical researcher at UHN’s Toronto Rehab and Medical Lead of the Specializ...

In this episode of Behind the Breakthrough Dr. Gordon Keller talks about his staggering legacy of advancing the field of regenerative medicine, including his lab’s world-first discovery of the hemangioblast. The hemangioblast is the precursor cell that goes on to form blood vessels and other blood cells in the body. That 1997 discovery led to the next step in Dr. Keller's research – successfully ‘...

We all have a pain system that sets off alarm bells when something is wrong. But what happens when those bells won’t stop ringing? How do you treat a malfunctioning pain system – also known as chronic pain – without automatically resorting to opioids? These are the questions that Dr. Andrea Furlan has dedicated her career to answering since her early days of medical school in São Paulo, Brazil. Dr...

We're thrilled to be producing season four for you! But until then check out our friend's at UHN's Krembil Brain Institute and their podcast, Your Complex Brain.    Explore the myths, mysteries, and medical breakthroughs of the most complex and powerful organ in your body – your brain. Weaving together expert interviews with heartfelt, inspiring snapshots of the patients and family members in the...

In Episode 2 of “UHN Oral History Project” we sit down to chat with Dr. Alan Hudson a renowned neurosurgeon, researcher, and teacher who was President and CEO of UHN starting in 1991 until 2000 when he retired. Dr. Hudson's legacy includes the integration of hospitals that created the University Health Network.  The "UHN Special History Project" features in depth conversations with former leaders...

The “UHN Oral History Project”  launches with an in-depth conversation with Dr. Bernie Langer, an exceptional surgeon and visionary leader whose career at Toronto General Hospital spanned almost 40 years until his retirement in 2002. The "UHN Oral History Project" is a special series featuring interviews with former leaders of the University Health Network in Toronto, Canada's largest research and...

Award winning UHN researcher Dr. Angela Cheung reveals how she decided to pivot her more than two decades of research on Osteoporosis to the study of long haul Covid. Along with UHN colleague Dr. Margaret Herridge and a team of researchers across Canada Dr. Cheung has discovered over 100 symptoms for long Covid, that it affects women more than men, but men get more acute symptoms. Dr. Cheung fores...

Imagine that we could rescue forgotten memories. With Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) that may be possible. Originally hypothesized as a treatment for obesity, Dr. Lozano discusses how we use electrodes to upregulate or down regulate the electrical activity in the brain to elicit memories. In a way the hope is that we can use electricity to restore normal brain activity.