SickKids VS

Most big breakthroughs start with a simple question. In the new season of SickKids VS, we take you behind the scenes of remarkable stories wherein each episode researchers ask questions like: Can we heal the brain? How should we talk to kids about dying? And what can doctors do when a child’s disease remains unknown—for years? Join us on the frontlines in the fight for child health. Season 3 start...

In surgery, practice makes perfect. But for surgeons operating on tiny hearts with rare defects, that kind of experience can take decades. So, SickKids cardiac radiologist Dr. Shi-Joon Yoo devised a novel solution to speed things up: 3D-printed hearts. What began in a rented office has since blossomed into a fast-growing program, attracting surgeons from around the world to SickKids for expert-led...

Baby Izaan was in trouble. Despite multiple rounds of chemotherapy, his tumour continued to grow, and time was running out. Izaan’s oncologist, Dr. David Malkin, enrolled him in KiCS: The SickKids Cancer Sequencing Program. The hope? That by analyzing the tumour’s DNA, they could figure out how to stop it. For more information on this episode, visit sickkidsfoundation.com/podcast/cancergenetics. A...

Ryan is severely allergic to peanuts. Like, hives-blossoming, throat-closing, get-me-epinephrine-now kind of allergic. But as part of a clinical trial at SickKids, which could change the course of allergy treatment, he now eats a tiny dose of the stuff every night. That’s because peanuts—the very food that could kill him—might also be the key to protecting him. WARNING: Please do not try this with...

First, Gavriel’s muscles got weaker. Then, he lost the ability to walk. From there, things will only get worse. The cause is Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic disorder with no cure. But that might soon change. Using CRISPR, a state-of-the-art gene-editing tool, SickKids scientists were able to correct the disease-causing mutation in mice. The result? Improved muscle strength and function—and...

For years, SickKids scientist Dr. Jean-Philippe Julien toiled in his lab, harnessing the power of human antibodies to try and neutralize two of the world’s deadliest diseases: HIV/AIDS and malaria. Then, COVID-19 hit, wreaking havoc across the globe. Very quickly, Dr. Julien pivoted, leveraging what he learned to pursue a new mission: making an antibody supermolecule to neutralize SARS-CoV-2, the...

In 1990, 20-year-old rower Heather Cartwright was at the peak of her athletic powers. But as she crossed the finish line during a race that summer, she collapsed and nearly died. The cause? Arrhythmogenic right-ventricle cardiomyopathy, or ARVC—a rare, hereditary disease that can cause sudden cardiac death. Many die not knowing they have it. But thanks to SickKids researchers—and supporters like H...

As a writer for SickKids Foundation, Hannah Bank has interviewed some of the world’s best scientists and researchers. The conversations left her so inspired that she's sharing some of them with you. This is SickKids VS, a podcast about the human side of science and the tumultuous road to discovery. Learn more about how SickKids VS began—and our host Hannah—in this mini episode on the eve of Season...

3D-printed hearts to help surgeons practice. Supermolecules to stop COVID-19. Cures for aggressive, hard-to-treat cancers. And much, much more. Welcome to Season 2 of SickKids VS, beginning April 15. Subscribe now. 

Dr. Upton Allen, Chief of Infectious Diseases at SickKids, on how COVID-19 affects children, why scientists around the world underestimated the threat, and his research to better understand the virus. 

When cardiac arrest strikes, it’s dangerous, even deadly. But what if we could see it coming? What if we could turn patient data into a predictive tool? A SickKids ICU doctor and computer scientist are figuring out a way to do just that—with artificial intelligence. 

In the 1950s, most kids with cystic fibrosis died in childhood. Today, things are a lot different. One SickKids patient, Mac Robertson, isn’t just surviving. He’s thriving. He’s a strong, six-foot teenager. He plays elite baseball. And, some days, he forgets he even has it. So, how’d we get here? And what does SickKids have to do with it?

Ten years ago, paediatric care in Ghana was nearly non-existent. There were few paediatricians, and even fewer paediatric nurses. Because of that, children died—many before their fifth birthday. So, SickKids started a nurse training program. Now, ten years later, the change is unmistakable.

Andi was having 200 seizures a day. It was unbearable—for her and her family. But nothing seemed to help. Until they met Dr. George Ibrahim at SickKids. He wanted to try something radical, a treatment which had never been used on a child in Canada: deep brain stimulation.   

Kids diagnosed with a deadly and aggressive cancer predisposition syndrome had no hope—until now. SickKids Drs. Uri Tabori and Eric Bouffet have discovered a way to treat these patients with drugs that unleash the power of the immune system. It’s called immunotherapy. And it’s the closest thing we’ve found to a cure.

50 kids in Canada are waitlisted for a new heart each year. Of those, 30-35 will get one, while others must keep waiting, some for years. But SickKids surgeon Dr. Osami Honjo thinks he has a solution. A way to expand the donor pool by keeping hearts beating outside the body. He calls it the Heart in a Box.

SickKids has been behind some of the biggest breakthroughs in child health. Today, we turn our sights to the next great challenges: non-stop seizures and hard-to-cure cancers, heart transplants and cystic fibrosis. Welcome to the frontlines. Welcome to SickKids VS.