Coming Fall 2022
On November 16, six teams will compete for two research prizes: The Odette Award for Health System Innovation and The Keenan Award for Medical Discovery.
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Each team will pitch to celebrity judges who, along with our panel of jurors, will vote for the winners. At stake? Half a million dollars of funding. And once again, you, the audience, will get to choose your favourite team for The Canada Life People's Choice Award.
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Register to get insider updates before the show.
Transforming Scientific discoveries in novel therapies, better diagnostics, vaccines, or medical devices that will improve patients’ lives.
Keenan Award For Medical Discovery
Odette Award For Health System Innovation
Improving our health care system by increasing effectiveness, efficiency, equitability or sustainability.
The Awards
Thank You To Our 2022 Sponsors
People’s Choice Award Sponsor
Top Prize Sponsors
Juror Filming Experience Sponsor
Registration Sponsor
Reception Sponsor
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Corporate Jurors
Where They Are Now Sponsor
Team Biographies
Registration Sponsor
Keith Adamson
Lloyd & Marie Barbara
John Barford
Win Bear
Susie Belton
Stuart Berkowitz
Birch Hill Equity Partners
Peter Bolt
Jill Burgin
Tony Cesta
Jessica Clark Barrow
Aly Damji
Scott Davidson
Dhruv Works
Andrea Dudgeon
Senator The Honourable Nicole Eaton, PC
Ellen Gaffney
Brenda Gervais
Jim Gervais
Ali Ghiassi
Tim Griffin
Richard Harvey
Scott Harvey
Marg Harvey
Jake Herman
Tim Hill
John Hunkin & Susan Crocker
INFOR Financial Inc.
Colleen Johnston
Cynthia Kassabian
Barbara Keenan
Elaine Kierans
Katy Livingstone
Riana Longo
Nick Macrae
John Manning
Joe Mazzocco
James McPhedran
Lisa Melchior
Pat Meneley
Alayne & Ron Metrick
Robert Millar
Andrew Mitchell
Andrew Mullen
Mary Mullen
Rayla Myhal
Joe Nelligan
Lou Odette
Diane Perry
The Honourable David Peterson
Antonio Rodrigues
Elaine Rovinescu
Anand Shah
Christina Sharma
David Simmonds
Harcharan (Harry) Singh
Kate Stevenson
Daniel Sullivan
Frank Techar
Kristine Thompson
Richard Thorpe
Daniel Throop
Dr. Alissia Valentinis
Savita Verma
Peter & Louise Walter
Lindsay Williams, Stryker Canada
Jane Wilson
Georgia Woods
2022 Jurors
Team Award Sponsors
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Special Thanks To
Gillian Riley
Gillian Riley is Executive Vice President, President & CEO, Tangerine Bank. She has solidified its position as Canada’s leading digital bank by delivering an award-winning client experience through simple and innovative banking solutions. She’s moved the dial on gender parity at Tangerine with an increase in women’s representation at the manager-level and above, and women’s participation on the Board. Gillian is a two-time award recipient of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women by the WXN.
Samantha Yammine
Samantha Yammine, PhD is a neuroscientist and popular Science Communicator. As @science.sam on Instagram and Tik Tok, she’s an innovative leader in making science more familiar, accessible, and inclusive. Sam is a regular guest expert on Netflix, TVO Kids, CBC GEM, Discovery UK, CBC Radio, and AsapSCIENCE. She sits on the Board for RCIScience and ScienceUpFirst. Sam was named one of Toronto Life’s Top 50 Most Influential People in Toronto in 2021.
Eugenia Addy
Eugenia Addy is a seasoned educator, a community organizer, a media personality and a passionate advocate. She is also the CEO of Visions of Science, a charity that helps young people from marginalized communities reach their fullest potential by connecting them to STEM. Eugenia holds both an HBA in Chemistry and Biology and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Toronto. You've likely seen her work in national magazines and newspapers and on the TEDx stage.
Reshmi Nair - Host
An award-winning journalist with more than 15 years of experience, Reshmi Nair has covered breaking news around the world on TV and radio. A familiar voice to Torontonians, she most recently anchored CP24 TONIGHT, following over a decade at CBC. As the current co-host of The Rush with Reshmi Nair and Scott MacArthur on Newstalk1010 Toronto, she breaks down the biggest issues impacting the city today, and discusses where we’re headed tomorrow.
Meet Our 2022 Judges & Host
Gwen Harvey, Co-Chair
Melissa Martin, Co-Chair
Nancy Abbey
Cath Bradley
Jill Burgin
Dr. Erica Conte
Gail Dhruv
John McCartney
Weston McComb
James McPhedran
Mary Mullen
Sherri Neldner
Tony Rodrigues
Dr. Ori Rotstein
Mark Smithyes
Gwen Harvey, Co-Chair
Melissa Martin, Co-Chair
Nancy Abbey
Cath Bradley
Jill Burgin
Dr. Erica Conte
Gail Dhruv
John McCartney
Weston McComb
James McPhedran
Mary Mullen
Sherri Neldner
Tony Rodrigues
Dr. Ori Rotstein
Mark Smithyes
Angels Den 2022 Fundraising Team
Suctioning Stones for Clean Kidneys
Dr. Monica Farcas
MORE
Keenan Award for Medical Discovery
Dr. Monica Farcas
Investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Surgeon-Entrepreneur, Urologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: The pain of kidney stones is excruciating and 10 percent of adults have an attack in their lifetime. While surgeons can remove kidney stones by breaking them with lasers, the process leaves tiny fragments, like sand, that can create new stones over time. With too many recurrences, people can lose their kidney function altogether.
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THE SOLUTION: Dr. Monica Farcas has invented a device that sucks up the kidney stone fragments during surgery leaving the patient completely stone free. Now they want to take the prototype to the next level. For the patient, the innovation means healthy kidneys and a pain-free life. And for the health-care system, it means fewer emergency visits and operations.
Watch Her Pitch
Congratulations to our 2022 Winners
Meet Our 2022 Teams
The 2022 Angels Den competitors pitched their research projects that make access to care faster. That customize treatments to each patient. That prevent disease and disability. That make healthcare more human. This is HUMANCARE.
Keenan Award for Medical Discovery
Suctioning Stones for Clean Kidneys
Dr. Monica Farcas
MORE
Dr. Monica Farcas
Investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Surgeon-Entrepreneur, Urologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
​
THE CHALLENGE: The pain of kidney stones is excruciating and 10 percent of adults have an attack in their lifetime. While surgeons can remove kidney stones by breaking them with lasers, the process leaves tiny fragments, like sand, that can create new stones over time. With too many recurrences, people can lose their kidney function altogether.
​
THE SOLUTION: Dr. Monica Farcas has invented a device that sucks up the kidney stone fragments during surgery leaving the patient completely stone free. Now they want to take the prototype to the next level. For the patient, the innovation means healthy kidneys and a pain-free life. And for the health-care system, it means fewer emergency visits and operations.
Watch Their Pitch
Six teams will compete for two research prizes: The Odette Award for Health System Innovation and The Keenan Award for Medical Discovery.
Each team will pitch to celebrity judges who, along with our panel of jurors, will vote for the winners. At stake? Half a million dollars of funding. And once again, you, the audience, will get to choose your favourite team for The Canada Life People's Choice Award.
About
Keenan Award for Medical Discovery
Popping Bubbles and Saving Muscles
Dr. Howard Leong-Poi | Dr. Jane Batt
MORE
Dr. Jane Batt
Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, and Respirologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
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Dr. Howard Leong-Poi
Clinician Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science and Cardiologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: Say you’ve hurt your arm or leg and you’ve damaged some nerves. That stops muscles below the injury from contracting, which in turn leads to muscle wasting. If the nerve activity returns quickly, then muscle wasting is avoidable. Yet because nerves tend to grow slowly, the unused muscle can degrade, scar and die. The upshot? You might never use that limb again. But what if the muscle was kept alive while the nerve regrows?
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THE SOLUTION: Dr. Jane Batt and Dr. Howard Leong-Poi say it’s possible. They are using microscopic bubbles containing genes that sustain muscles. The bubbles are injected into the blood stream and when they reach the target muscle, clinicians use ultrasound waves to pop them and release the genes, keeping the muscle active and healthy until the nerve grows back.
Watch Their Pitch
Keenan Award for Medical Discovery
COVID-19 and Ketamine: Treating the Mental Health Crisis
Dr. Venkat Bhat | Dr. Karim Ladha
MORE
Dr. Venkat Bhat
Investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and Psychiatrist, St. Michael’s Hospital
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Dr. Karim Ladha
Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, and Anesthesiologist, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: One in 10 Canadians who’ve had COVID-19 suffers from severe post-infection symptoms (long COVID). More than a third of those with long COVID experience depression, anxiety, or cognitive impairment, also known as brain fog. So far, there are no proven treatments. But there’s hope. Glutamate is a neurotransmitter required for normal brain functioning. It just might be that when the glutamate balance is disrupted, long COVID brain symptoms occur. Could regulating glutamate be the answer?
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THE SOLUTION: Ketamine is well-known for bringing about fast antidepressant effects by acting on the glutamate system. Dr. Venkat Bhat and Dr. Karim Ladha believe it can also reduce depression and brain fog in long COVID. Their plan is to administer ketamine intravenously to long COVID patients at a dose that impacts the glutamatergic system. If it works, we’ll have an easily accessible and relatively cheap drug available to countries around the world.
Watch Their Pitch
Odette Award for Health System Innovation
Outbreak Alert: Stopping the Next Pandemic
Dr. Stephanie Garies | Dr. Andrew Pinto
MORE
Dr. Andrew Pinto
Scientist, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Family Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital
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Dr. Stephanie Garies
Post-Doctoral Fellow, MAP Centre for Urban Health Solutions, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: The COVID-19 pandemic caught us by surprise. Health care providers and decision makers had to play catch-up. And too many people, especially those experiencing disadvantage, paid the price. How can we get better at detecting a respiratory illness outbreak and get ahead of it, before it turns into another pandemic?
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THE SOLUTION: Family doctors are the first to see patients with respiratory illness, and these visits are detailed in electronic medical records (EMRs). Dr. Andrew Pinto and Dr. Stephanie Garies are designing algorithms that monitor EMRs for signs of respiratory outbreaks. So when a cluster of patients in Sudbury present with symptoms, and similar cases pop up in Kingston or Hamilton, public health officials can be quickly notified and have a fighting chance of putting the brakes on a potential epidemic.
Watch Their Pitch
Odette Award for Health System Innovation
Breathe Easy: The Personalized Ventilator is Here
Dr. Muhammad Mamdani | Dr. Laurent Brochard
MORE
Dr. Laurent Brochard
Clinician Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Keenan Chair in Critical Care and Acute Respiratory Failure, and Intensive Care Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital
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Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and Vice President, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, and Odette Chair in Advanced Analytics, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: Mechanical ventilation saves lives. But if it’s not matched to each patient, it can further damage lungs, cause anxiety, pain and discomfort, and even injure other organs. For too many patients, that can mean prolonged stays in hospital, and lead to long-term disability or even death. Not surprisingly, each patient needs different levels of ventilation. How can clinicians make sure a patient gets the full benefit of mechanical ventilation, with none of its bad effects?
​
THE SOLUTION: Dr. Laurent Brochard and Dr. Muhammad Mamdani will create and deploy into practice AI algorithms that analyze a patient’s status, minute-by-minute. The clinicians then use this information to adjust the ventilation based on patients’ real-time needs which results in less sedation, fewer complications and deaths, and quicker recovery. And for hospitals, that means ICU beds are freed up faster to care for other critically ill patients.
Watch Their Pitch
Odette Award for Health System Innovation
MyEndo: The App that Eases Endometriosis
Dr. Carmen McCaffrey | Dr. Elizabeth Miazga
MORE
Dr. Carmen McCaffrey
Investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon, St. Michael’s Hospital
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Dr. Elizabeth Miazga
Clinical Fellow, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, St. Michael’s Hospital
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THE CHALLENGE: Endometriosis is an agonizing pelvic disease that afflicts 10 percent of women and people assigned female at birth. Diagnosis is often delayed by 5-10 years and surgery may take years to book, leaving women to suffer with chronic pain, infertility, and significantly impaired quality of life. First-line treatments, like mindfulness and pelvic floor physiotherapy, are effective but often not accessible. They can be too costly for some, since they’re not covered by OHIP, and providers are few and far between.
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THE SOLUTION: Dr. Carmen McCaffrey and Dr. Elizabeth Miazga have already developed a basic MyEndo app, which hosts a mindfulness course for patients with endometriosis that eases pain. Now they want to expand the app to include a wide range of online treatments and educational resources, making it free and open access, so women everywhere can get the care they desperately need and deserve.
Watch Their Pitch
The Research Innovation Council is an exclusive group that chooses top scientists to receive RIC funding to launch their research projects. This is your chance to impact some of the toughest and timeliest health issues – like those you’re watching on Angels Den. Invest $10,000 per year over five years – and make medical ingenuity possible.
Want to go behind the scenes of medical research and launch a life-changing project? You can.
Improving our health care system by increasing effectiveness, efficiency, equitability or sustainability.
Join the Research Innovation Council
Angels Den 2023
The 9th annual Angels Den is returning to an in-person event at Meridian Hall after three successful years online. On Wednesday, October 11, 2023, six teams of St. Michael’s Hospital's top scientists will pitch their groundbreaking research projects to judges and jurors for $500,000 in funding. Check out the action from last year, or scroll down to learn more about Angels Den 2022. For 2023 sponsorship information contact Farrah Hasan.
Having trouble watching on YouTube? Click here. If you’re experiencing technical difficulties, contact HasanFar@smh.ca
Breathe Easy: The Personalized Ventilator is Here
Dr. Muhammad Mamdani | Dr. Laurent Brochard
MORE
Odette Award For Health Innovation
Dr. Laurent Brochard
Clinician Scientist, Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science, Keenan Chair in Critical Care and Acute Respiratory Failure, and Intensive Care Physician, St. Michael’s Hospital
​
Dr. Muhammad Mamdani
Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute and Vice President, Data Science and Advanced Analytics, and Odette Chair in Advanced Analytics, St. Michael’s Hospital
​
THE CHALLENGE: Mechanical ventilation saves lives. But if it’s not matched to each patient, it can further damage lungs, cause anxiety, pain and discomfort, and even injure other organs. For too many patients, that can mean prolonged stays in hospital, and lead to long-term disability or even death. Not surprisingly, each patient needs different levels of ventilation. How can clinicians make sure a patient gets the full benefit of mechanical ventilation, with none of its bad effects?
​
THE SOLUTION: Dr. Laurent Brochard and Dr. Muhammad Mamdani will create and deploy into practice AI algorithms that analyze a patient’s status, minute-by-minute. The clinicians then use this information to adjust the ventilation based on patients’ real-time needs which results in less sedation, fewer complications and deaths, and quicker recovery. And for hospitals, that means ICU beds are freed up faster to care for other critically ill patients.
Watch Their Pitch
MyEndo: The App that Eases Endometriosis
Dr. Carmen McCaffrey | Dr. Elizabeth Miazga
MORE
Canada Life People’s Choice Award
Dr. Carmen McCaffrey
Investigator, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgeon, St. Michael’s Hospital
​
Dr. Elizabeth Miazga
Clinical Fellow, Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery, St. Michael’s Hospital
​
THE CHALLENGE: Endometriosis is an agonizing pelvic disease that afflicts 10 percent of women and people assigned female at birth. Diagnosis is often delayed by 5-10 years and surgery may take years to book, leaving women to suffer with chronic pain, infertility, and significantly impaired quality of life. First-line treatments, like mindfulness and pelvic floor physiotherapy, are effective but often not accessible. They can be too costly for some, since they’re not covered by OHIP, and providers are few and far between.
​
THE SOLUTION: Dr. Carmen McCaffrey and Dr. Elizabeth Miazga have already developed a basic MyEndo app, which hosts a mindfulness course for patients with endometriosis that eases pain. Now they want to expand the app to include a wide range of online treatments and educational resources, making it free and open access, so women everywhere can get the care they desperately need and deserve.