Behind the Breakthrough

WINNER 2022 Canadian Podcast Award: 'Outstanding Science Series'

A podcast about the people behind world-leading research at UHN

Behind the Breakthrough enters its fourth season of showcasing groundbreaking medical research and people behind it at UHN. This season features an all-star cast of award winning scientists, including Scientist Emerita Dr. Eleanor Fish whose research into a naturally occurring protein in our bodies called interferons shows they are a highly effective therapeutic for the treatment of viruses, and Dr. Shaf Keshavjee and the story of how he invented a perfusion machine that can sustain and repair damaged lungs outside the body, making them healthy for transplantation.

Listeners will hear world-renowned stem cell scientist Dr. Gordon Keller reveal how his early years growing up on a mixed farm in rural Saskatchewan and returning to help his parents with the fall harvest throughout his undergrad years helped shape his work ethic in the lab. Dr. Lorraine Kalia trained for years with Canada's National Ballet School and rose to the corps de ballet of the National Ballet of Portugal before pivoting her career to the pursuit of an early intervention treatment for Parkinson's disease. And Dr Jonathan Irish speaks to how he was a five-time provincial canoeing champion on a path to competing for Canada at the Olympic Games when he decided helping patients conquer cancer was to be his chosen path.

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Episode 10 – Dr. Shaf Keshavjee takes us behind the breakthrough of his lung transplant discoveries

Air Date: December 14, 2022 | Length: 59:06 | Download the transcript

UHN surgeon scientist Dr Shaf Keshavjee sits down with Behind the Breakthrough host Christian Coté and takes us on a behind-the-scenes journey of his groundbreaking 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 standard for lung preservation worldwide. Twenty years later he followed that up with the invention of a lung perfusion machine that preserves and treats damaged donor lungs outside the body – or ex vivo. The Toronto Ex Vivo Lung Perfusion System has doubled the number of lungs available for transplant and is now in use around the world. Today the system is being tested to treat other damaged organs including the liver, kidney, and heart. In this wide-ranging and revealing conversation, Dr. Keshavjee speaks to the importance of mentorship, the qualities necessary to be a successful scientist, and, the importance of scientists learning about patenting and commercializing their work. Dr. Keshavjee also talks about a big personal motivation in his career trajectory - the inspiration he derives from his parents sacrifice. When he was just 12 years old they sold their dream house and quit their jobs in Nairobi, Kenya to move to Canada and start over in the hopes of giving their son and daughter better educational and life opportunities. Don't miss this compelling episode featuring an up-close conversation with Dr. Shaf Keshavjee.

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Episode 9 – Dr. Michael Reber and pioneering the use of virtual reality devices to restore vision
Air Date: December 7, 2022 | Length: 41:54

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Episode 8 – Dr. Rama Khokha on her breakthrough to map the biology of pancreatic cancer
Air Date: November 30, 2022 | Length: 34:50

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Episode 7 – Dr. Lorraine Kalia and a promising new treatment for Parkinson's Disease
Air Date: November 23, 2022 | Length: 41:54

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Episode 6 – Dr. Eleanor Fish on therapeutic benefit of interferons against viruses
Air Date: November 16, 2022 | Length: 31:49

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Episode 5 – Dr. Jonathan Irish and augmented reality in cancer surgery
Air Date: November 9, 2022 | Length: 46:54

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Episode 4 – Dr. Carmela Tartaglia and pioneering a diagnosis for CTE
Air Date: November 2, 2022 | Length: 43:57

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Episode 3 – Dr. Andrea Iaboni and a new toolkit for LTC to help care of residents during an outbreak
Air Date: October 26, 2022 | Length: 33:56

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Episode 2 – Dr. Gordon Keller on his groundbreaking research to advance stem cell-based therapies
Air Date: October 19, 2022 | Length: 43:23

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Episode 1 – Dr. Andrea Furlan on groundbreaking new treatments for chronic pain
Air Date: October 12, 2022 | Length: 1:01:41

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Episode Information: Seasons 1 to 3

Episode 10 – Dr. Angela Cheung pioneers research on the symptoms and treatment for long-hauler COVID patients
Air Date: December 14, 2021 | Length: 40:56

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Episode 9 – Dr. Andres Lozano on investigating DBS to treat Alzheimer's disease
Air Date: December 7, 2021 | Length: 38:35

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Episode 8 – Dr. Babak Taati on pioneering the use of computer vision to help seniors live safer, healthier lives
Air Date: November 30, 2021 | Length: 34:36

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Episode 7 – The 'Biomarker Hunter' – searching for the genetic and immune system abnormalities that lead to systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases
Air Date: November 23, 2021 | Length: 37:58

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Episode 6 – Dr. Gang Zheng on harnessing the promise of nanotechnology for the detection and treatment of cancer
Air Date: November 16, 2021 | Length: 52:10

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Episode 5 – Dr. Jordan Feld on shifting from discovering a pill that cures Hepatitis C to investigating a treatment for mild COVID
Air Date: November 9, 2021 | Length: 53:10

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Episode 4 – Dr. Catherine O'Brien on the world-first discovery that colorectal cancer cells hibernate like bears to evade chemotherapy
Air Date: November 2, 2021 | Length: 44:44

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Episode 3 – Dr. Deepali Kumar on world-first discovery that third COVID-19 vaccine dose significantly boosts protection for transplant patients
Air Date: October 26, 2021 | Length: 28:05

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Episode 2 – Dr. Beate Sander on the economics of infectious diseases and guiding public health policy during the COVID-19 pandemic
Air Date: October 19, 2021 | Length: 47:21

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Episode 1 – UHN's world leading COVID-19 research; the triumph of basic science in creating the vaccine; and when will the pandemic end?
Air Date: October 12, 2021 | Length: 54:52

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Episode 10 – Dr. John Dick on his famous discovery of cancer stem cells, and the puzzle of research
Air Date: November 26, 2020 | Length: 1:15:06

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Episode 9 — Dr. Mansoor Husain on a breakthrough drug for diabetes and heart disease
Air Date: | Length:

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Episode 8 – Dr. Alex Mihailidis on helping us live at home longer
Air Date: November 19, 2020 | Length: 45:02

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Episode 7 – Dr. Ralph DaCosta on a better way to visualize cancer and his serendipitous invention
Air Date: November 17, 2020 | Length: 41:48

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Episode 6 – Dr. Sonya MacParland on developing the world's first map of the liver
Air Date: November 12, 2020 | Length: 42:52

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Episode 5 – Dr. Heather Baltzer on pioneering hand trauma treatment
Air Date: November 10, 2020 | Length: 31:26

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Episode 4 – Dr. Pamela Ohashi on treating cancer with immunotherapy
Air Date: November 5, 2020 | Length: 28:05

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Episode 3 – Dr. Taufik Valiante invents computer chip designed to monitor and stop epileptic seizures
Air Date: November 3, 2020 | Length: 52:27

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Episode 2 – Turning stem cells into pacemaker cells, with Dr. Stephanie Protze
Air Date: October 29, 2019 | Length: 30:27

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Episode 1 – Dr. Brad Wouters on leadership during the pandemic, COVID-19 research, and anti-vaxxers
Air Date: October 27, 2020 | Length: 46:35

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Episode 11 – Beating back Alzheimer's, one poem at a time, with Dr. Donald Weaver
Air Date: December 17, 2019 | Length: 37:14

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Episode 10 — Using computers to understand cancer with Dr. Michael Hoffman
Air Date: December 10, 2019 | Length: 31:00

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Episode 9 — Pioneering research by UHN's Dr. Kristin Musselman is designed to get spinal cord injured patients mobile
Air Date: December 3, 2019 | Length: 30:22

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Episode 8 — Reversing blindness and the serendipity of science, with Dr. Valerie Wallace
Air Date: November 26, 2019 | Length: 35:04

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Episode 7 – Repairing broken hearts with stem cells, with Dr. Michael Laflamme
Air Date: November 19, 2019 | Length: 28:22

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Episode 6 – Overcoming 'imposter syndrome' and helping the elderly live well, with Dr. Jennifer Campos
Air Date: November 12, 2019 | Length: 40:02

Learn more about Dr. Campos & listen to the episode