"This virus is going to be here for a very, very long time – forever perhaps."
That is the sobering conclusion of Dr. Brad Wouters on the life cycle of the coronavirus in a special edition episode of UHN's two-time Canadian Podcast Awards nominated podcast "Behind the Breakthrough."
UHN's Executive Vice President of Science and Research kicks off Season 3 on Oct. 12 in a provocative and wide-ranging conversation with podcast host Christian Cote' about the pandemic, and the leading edge COVID-19 investigations being driven by UHN Researchers into new treatments and discoveries.
They discuss the COVID ATTACC trial co-led by Dr. Ewan Goligher, a critical care physician at UHN, which recently published trial results showing heparin prevents deadly blood clots in COVID patients with mild symptoms.
The episode also covers the world-first discovery by clinician investigator Dr. Deepali Kumar and her team at UHN's Ajmera Family Transplant Centre and the Toronto General Hospital Research Institute (TGHRI) that a third dose of the COVID vaccine dramatically improves protection against the virus for immune-compromised transplant patients.
And there's the vital work of scientist Dr. Beate Sander and her TGHRI team, which has been vital to guiding Ontario public health policy throughout the pandemic with their modelling predictions on everything from masking supply to ICU capacity in the province.
Dr. Wouters also speaks to the decades of crucial basic science research that helped develop the COVID-19 vaccines in record time, and, shares what it was like on the morning of Dec. 14, 2020 to share in the historic moment of the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Canada to be administered to a healthcare worker.
"It was very exciting, I do remember that day very clearly," recalls Dr. Wouters, "We've all been really stunned by how great these vaccines are, and how effective they are, and it is a triumph of science, and I think perhaps one of the greatest examples of the importance of investing in science."
