PODCAST · science
Researchers Under the Scope
by University of Saskatchewan, OVDR, College of Medicine
Medicine is so much more than lab coats and stethoscopes. The research community at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine is a diverse group of humans, all working with their own unique motivations — and not all of them work in a hospital setting. Get to know what gets these researchers amped about their jobs, what they're doing, where they're doing it, and why. Presented by the Office of Vice-Dean of Research, College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.
Episodes
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Dr. Andrew Freywald: Tumours Meet Their Match
How can oncologists predict which cancer treatment is most likely to work for a given patient? Dr. Andrew Freywald explores that question by growing tiny, living models of real-life patient tumours — organoids— then watching how each one responds to existing cancer drugs. Freywald, a longtime...
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Braaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnns, with Dr. Tyler Wenzel
Miniature human brains grown in a Saskatoon lab are upending the way researchers see neurology and immunology. Neuroscientist Dr. Tyler Wenzel is using brain organoids to challenge decades of rodent-based research, charting a new course for precision medicine. As a high school biology teacher,...
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Inside the Next Chapter of Biomedical Science, with Dr. Linda Chelico
As Researchers Under the Scope marks its 100th episode, we hand the microphone to Dr. Linda Chelico, who recently accepted a five-year term as Vice-Dean Research, Biomedical Sciences, at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. Originally from Melfort, Saskatchewan, the virologist…
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'Health Really Is Wealth': Dr. Holly Graham
Dr. Holly Graham never planned on nursing. She wanted a police badge, then a law degree and a judge's bench. Instead, she followed her mother's wish and walked into nursing school as the only student from a reserve in a class of more than 200. The isolation was real. So were the health gaps she…
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Inside a Drug Trial for a Rare Childhood Disease: Drs. Sarah Tehseen & Katie Felton
Most childhoods don't involve sitting at the hospital for an infusion of medication, transfusions on weekends, or worrying that classmates will comment on the colour of your skin. For one Saskatoon teen with an ultra-rare blood disease, that's everyday life. She was diagnosed with a form of…
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This Is Your Brain After Anesthetic: Dr. Peter Hedlin
Peter Hedlin (PhD, MD) recalls being a 'young, naïve medical student' when he asked a mentor a question that's stuck with him for years. "I remember asking how anaesthetics work on the brain," said Hedlin. "And he said, 'we actually don't really know'. And I thought that was crazy." Today, Hedlin...
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Not Just Numbers: Vaidehee Lanke Tracks Opiate Use & Perinatal Health
In this episode, medical student and researcher Vaidehee Lanke shares what large provincial datasets reveal about opioid use disorder, maternal mental health, and pregnancy. Armed with data, she hopes better support —before, during, and after birth—can change outcomes for mothers and babies.…
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Cross-Linked Clues: Jack Walther on Depression and Alzheimer's
As a student, Jack Walther's friends often came to him when they needed a listening ear, or help with relationship struggles. This summer, Walther took his fascination with the brain and mood disorders to Dr. Darrell Mousseau's psychiatry laboratory, learning to untangle some of the tiny…
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EEEV-ident Passion: Eve Simpson on Doubt, Persistence and Viral Spread
Eve Simpson knows from experience scientific research doesn't always follow a linear path. In the first of three student research episodes, the fourth-year biochemistry, microbiology and immunology student looks back at a summer spent decoding Eastern Equine Encephalitis Virus (EEEV) in Dr. Anil...
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That's So Metal: Dr. Jessica Sheldon Targets Acinetobacter Baumannii
Jessica Sheldon (PhD) is on a mission to starve out Acinetobacter baumannii —one of the world's most virulent hospital-borne pathogens. Notorious for its speedy evolution and multi-drug resistance, the hospital-borne bacteria lingers on dry surfaces and infects critically-ill patients, leading to...
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Fluid Endeavour: Kirk Haan's Medical Balancing Act
Kirk Haan graduated from high school, thinking he'd study pharmacy at the University of Saskatchewan, and walk out five years later. After one summer at a pharmacy, Haan realized he was after a more 'hands-on' career in medicine. "I've kind of worked with my hands my whole life, just between...
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Dr. Sébastien Gauvrit: Fishing for Answers in Vascular Development
Sébastien Gauvrit (PhD) was only ten when his family let him have his first tank of guppies. Within weeks, he was hooked. "I actually had to understand genetics directly by mixing these different fish together to get the colour or fin shape I was interested in," said the vascular biologist and...
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Dr. Stu Skinner & Mobile Medicine: Halting Syphilis & HIV
Stuart Skinner (MD) knew something was wrong three years ago, when patients started coming to him with vision loss, fever, rashes, and meningitis. Almost every case could be traced back to untreated syphilis — a sexually transmitted infection with caseloads exploding 1,200 per cent from 2017....
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Peptide Puzzle: Dr. Yi-Chun Chen on Early Markers for Diabetes and Obesity
Yi-Chun Chen (PhD) is taking a close-up look at some of the body's hardest-working cells — the ones often processing an overabundance of modern-day food and nutrients. "From an evolutionary point of view, our cells are not designed to deal with that," said Chen, who joined the department of...
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In the Trenches: Dr. James Stempien on Emergency Medicine
James Stempien (MD) has navigated some of the most challenging corners of emergency medicine, from the frigid isolation of Inuvik to the bustling corridors of Saskatoon's emergency departments. His experience in low-tech outposts has shaped his approach to modern emergency care. "When things…
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All's Not Lost: A Roadmap to Treating Hepatitis C on the Prairies
As the world aims to eradicate hepatitis C (HCV) by 2030, Carrielynn Lund and Dr. Alexandra King's team created a how-to guide. Journeys to Wellness: Prairie Hepatitis C Roadmap is a step-by-step guide to tackling a spike of new infections across the three Canadian prairie provinces. Hepatitis C...
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Exercise Your Right to Breathe: Dr. Brianne Philipenko & Asthma
Brianne Philipenko (MD) was midway through her respirology fellowship in Calgary when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the city. She started interval workouts at home using Nike's fitness app — when inspiration struck. "Coming up with a creative, innovative way to allow people to access an…
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Dr. Sarah Forgie: Why the New Dean of Medicine Taught Herself the Ukelele
In this episode, we gain insight into Dr. Sarah Forgie, the new Dean of the College of Medicine. She discusses her innovative teaching methods, her career as a pediatric infectious disease specialist, and her vision for advancing Saskatchewan's College of Medicine. Dr. Forgie also shares the…
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Grey Area: Dr. John Howland on Cannabis & Budding Brains
A behavioural neuroscientist in Saskatoon is uncovering marijuana's effects on fetal brain development. After recently winning a five-year CIHR grant of $960,076 in the spring of 2024, Dr. John Howland's lab at the University of Saskatchewan is expanding its work examining prenatal exposure to...
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Innovating and Bridging Gaps in IBD Care: Dr. Juan-Nicolás Peňa-Sánchez
Growing up in Columbia had a profound impact on Dr. Juan-Nicolas Pẽna-Sànchez. In this episode, hear why the former family physician pivoted, becoming Saskatchewan's lead in finding the best ways to treat Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis in rural and Indigenous patients. Even as a teenager,...
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Cuts Like a NanoKnife: Dr. Mike Moser
"When I got into medical school, the last thing in the world I wanted to be was a surgeon because I couldn't stand the sight of blood," said Dr. Mike Moser. Fast-forward to the present day, where Moser is now one of Saskatchewan's top kidney transplant surgeons, winning last year's Golden Scalpel...
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Walking the Talk: Dr. Daniel Fuller on Urban Health and Mobility
As an undergrad, Daniel Fuller didn't have a car, nor was he keen on taking the bus. "I rode my bike to university every day in the fall and then just kept on going and never stopped," said Fuller, a former national and international canoe/kayak athlete. As he pedaled, Fuller watched the way…
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Anatomy of Success: Three Researchers, Three Grants, One Goal
From the laboratory to saving lives, this episode brings together three outstanding researchers from the University of Saskatchewan's Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Pharmacology (APP) as they discuss their work and its implications for cardiac care. Dr. Michelle Collins, Dr. Scott...
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Dr. Jacob Alhassan and the Politics of Expendability
"Pushing politicians to do what is good for the health of the people, there's no way around it," said Dr Jacob Alhassan. Born and raised in a rural Ghanaian village, Alhassan grew up without electricty and paved roads. He watched women die in childbirth. He grew resentful of health systems that...
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Dr. Sabira Valiani: Creating Connections in Critical Care
Dr. Sabira Valiani was one of the frontline physicians working inside Saskatoon's critical care units four years ago, during the initial lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic. "It was really weird," said Valiani. Valiani said 'a lot of light bulbs went off in my head' amid the automated stillness of...
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Dr. Daphne Yau on Blood Sugar & Brain Health
Daphne Yau can trace her interest in endocrinology back to a beta-cell physiology experiment during her master's degree, working with laboratory mice with Type 2 Diabetes. "It was the part of the pancreas that makes insulin," she said. "It was fascinating. It also made me realize that maybe pure...
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Dr. Sam Haddad: At the Heart of Patient Care
Haissam Haddad inadvertently horrified his family when he signed up for engineering courses in his first year of university. The teenager returned the next day to change his major to medicine -- a move he's glad he made. Dr. Haddad practiced family medicine in Syria for three years, then arrived…
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Remote Rehabilitation: Dr. Stacey Lovo's Quest for Equitable Care
In this episode, we meet Dr. Stacey Love, Director of Virtual Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation at Saskatchewan's Virtual Health Hub, and an Assistant Professor at the University of Saskatchewan's School of Rehabilitation. She's also involved with the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient Oriented...
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Dr. Angelica Lang: Shaping the Future of Shoulder Health
Dr. Angelica Lang knows most of the people she sees have to keep working, even if they have shoulder pain. As an assistant professor at the University of Saskatchewan and director of the Musculoskeletal and Ergonomics Lab at the Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health, Lang's goal is to...
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Stronger Foundations: Dr. Munier Nour on Bone Development in Diabetic Youth
Dr. Munier Nour said osteoporosis is often seen as a disease that affects older adults. But compared to their peers, kids with Type 1 diabetes grow into adults eight times as likely to suffer bone fractures. "Osteoporosis may actually have its origins during pediatric years," he said. "Because…
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Thriving Against The Odds: Dr. Amanda Hall on Short Gut Syndrome
In the heart of the Health Sciences Building, Dr. Amanda Hall studies a tray of organoids under a microscope. "They do need a lot of attention and a lot of feeding," she said, pointing to dot-like points in a gel solution. The pediatric surgeon and assistant professor of pediatric general surgery...
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Inhale, Exhale, Repair: Dr. Valerie Verge
Valerie Verge was in her early twenties when she landed her first job, doing neuroscience research and she loved it. But 43 years ago, her research journey began to take a twist. "I developed an allergy to rats and mice," she said. "I was using a box of Kleenex a day." She reluctantly had to…
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Fighting Treatment-Resistant Depression with Ketamine: Dr. Evyn Peters
Dr. Evyn Peters has created pivotal changes for patients arriving at Royal University Hospital's mental health short stay unit, and its emergency department. With 33 publications and interests spanning psychiatry, psychopharmacology and mood disorders, Peters is often one of the first physicians...
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Dr. Wendie Marks: Researching Complex Connections Between Stress, Nutrition & Health
By the end of her Grade Eight year in Saskatoon, Wendie Marks was sure about one thing: she knew she wanted to study health and the way early-life development affected the human body. "I spent a lot of time in the library reading books," Marks said. "I was always kind of the nerdy type." Marks...
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Mossy Cells and New Paths in Neuroscience: Dr. Justin Botterill
When Justin Botterill first arrived at the University of Saskatchewan, he took what he described as a 'shotgun approach' to choosing classes. Midway through his second year, his psychology professors introduced him to neuropsychology, and to psychiatric and neurological disorders. He was hooked....
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Be Like Bruce is Back: Chris Gordon Tackles Pancreatic Cancer
When Bruce Gordon's relatives descend on Saskatoon this month, his wife will put them to work. Bruce Gordon was a police officer and a lawyer, who competed as a triathlete and in the Crossfit Games. He was a fierce competitor until he was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer at age 54.…
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Turning Back the Neurotoxin Clock, with Dr. Jeff Dong
Midway through his undergraduate degree at the University of British Columbia, a laboratory 'help wanted' poster caught Jeff Dong's eye. He applied, gaining invaluable practical experience that summer in Stephanie Borgland's lab. "She really supported me in understanding what research is about,"...
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Antibodies and Aging Gracefully: Dr. Peter Pioli
Before we're even born, our bodies begin to grow and train an army of spies and assassins, creating a crew of immune system fighters in the upper chest's thymus gland. While this production is dominated by T cells, other immune cells such as B cells and plasma cells can be generated within the...
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Ready to Launch: Anurag Sakharkar Pinpoints Key Biomarkers in Astronaut Health
Like a lot of kids, Anurag Sakharkar used to dream about being a doctor, or an astronaut. His parents, both academics, encouraged him to follow his dream. In high school, he began spending evenings and weekends working at the University of Saskatchewan's biomedical labs, perfecting advanced...
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Scratching That Itch: Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis Targets Atopic Dermatitis
When Dr. Rachel Asiniwasis returned to the prairies after her dermatology residency in Toronto, she noticed a pattern among many of her pediatric patients. Hundreds of them were coming to her with itchy, raw patches of skin, the result of atopic dermatitis — eczema. "One of the biggest…
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When Can ICU Patients Be Discharged Home?
Patients in intensive care units often move to a regular ward before they're discharged, and sent home. But increasingly, hospitals are skipping that step, sending a handful of ICU patients directly home. "We were really looking at analyzing the data of safety in terms of discharging patients…
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Reversing the effects of Alzheimer's Disease: Dr. Ron Geyer on NeuroEPO
For decades, families have watched Alzheimer's disease steal their loved ones' cognitive function. It's the most common form of dementia; one that affects a third of people over the age of 85. It's a disease Dr. Ron Geyer and Dr. Andrew Kirk want to tackle. Right now, most pharmaceuticals target...
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From Scratch: Rural Dementia Care with Dr. Debra Morgan
Debra Morgan grew up on a farm and continued farming with her husband, initially working in nursing in the winter. Nursing shifts took her from neurosurgery to pediatrics, to orthopedics, then to Saskatoon's geriatric units at City Hospital and Royal University Hospital. "I just found that I…
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Affairs of the (Zebrafish) Heart: Dr. Michelle Collins
If you've ever sat through a bad date at a restaurant, unsure of what to order, you're still doing better than a typical zebrafish date. Dr. Michelle Collins said without safety precautions, a zebrafish male and female left together overnight often eat their embryos. The assistant professor of...
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Dr. Darryl Adamko: Little Lungs, Lessons Learned
Diagnosing pulmonary diseases ilike asthma in young children is still largely a matter of trial and error, according to Saskatchewan's top pediatric respirologist. As viruses and colds tear through schools and daycares across North America, Dr. Darryl Adamko wants to change that. "If you have...
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In the Spirit of Christmas
May this holiday season find all our Researchers Under the Scope listeners feeling cozy, festive and warm. In the spirit of giving, the Office of the Vice-Dean of Research at the College of Medicine has once again teamed up, to make a donation to students and staff at King George Elementary…
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Dr. Scott Widenmaier: Connecting Cholesterol, Obesity and Immunometabolism
When Scott Widenmaier left high school, he wasn't sure what career path he wanted to pursue. He grew up in Alameda, Saskatchewan, and soon found work on oil rigs. But by the time he was in his early twenties, he knew it was time for a change. "I realized that winters are just too cold to continue...
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Just Give Mutants A Chance: Dr. Linda Chelico
As a high school student growing up in Melfort, Sask.. Linda Chelico (PhD) knew she wanted to work in health sciences. She enjoyed biology class, and took an interest in watching nature heal itself. She wanted to find environmentally friendly solutions to health problems. Then, she read a…
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Dr. Oleg Dmitriev on Copper, Platinum and Safer Chemotherapy
Colour-changing reactions and small explosions punctuated life at Dr. Oleg Dmitriev's home, when he was a boy. He loved trying out chemical reactions, and experimenting. As a teenager, he was fascinated by the science fiction novels his father brought home. "It's all about strange worlds and...
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What Physics Can Tell Us About Inflammatory Pulmonary Disease, with Dr. Asmahan AbuArish
Asmahan AbuArish grew up in Hebron, surrounded by military checkpoints. She knew she wanted to help people, but she had to give up her dream of being a medical doctor early. Fortunately, AbuArish is no quitter. She discovered physics — and later its very real applications in curing inflammatory...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Medicine is so much more than lab coats and stethoscopes. The research community at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine is a diverse group of humans, all working with their own unique motivations — and not all of them work in a hospital setting. Get to know what gets these researchers amped about their jobs, what they're doing, where they're doing it, and why. Presented by the Office of Vice-Dean of Research, College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan.
HOSTED BY
University of Saskatchewan, OVDR, College of Medicine
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How many episodes does Researchers Under the Scope have?
Researchers Under the Scope currently has 103 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Researchers Under the Scope about?
Medicine is so much more than lab coats and stethoscopes. The research community at the University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine is a diverse group of humans, all working with their own unique motivations — and not all of them work in a hospital setting. Get to know what gets these...
How often does Researchers Under the Scope release new episodes?
Researchers Under the Scope publishes regularly with 103 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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You can listen to Researchers Under the Scope on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Researchers Under the Scope?
Researchers Under the Scope is created and hosted by University of Saskatchewan, OVDR, College of Medicine.
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