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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.

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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
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
Special Thanks To
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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

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Keenan Award for Medical Discovery

Winner

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  

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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

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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

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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.

Contact Amy Dionne, Senior Philanthropy Officer to join.

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DionneA@smh.ca

Improving our health care system by increasing effectiveness, efficiency, equitability or sustainability.

 Join the Research Innovation Council

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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

Winner

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

​

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

Winner

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

​

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.

Watch Their Pitch

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