Episode 1: Dr. Allen Eaves
March 9th, 2021
Our first guest is Dr. Allen Eaves, he is the co-founder of the Terry Fox Laboratories as well as the founder and CEO of Canada's largest biotechnology company, STEMCELL Technologies.
During his time as the Head of Hematology at the University of British Columbia, he received numerous honors, including the Order of British Columbia, and built the Leukemia/Bone Marrow Transplant Program in British Columbia.
In this episode, we discuss with Dr. Eaves his career origins as well as the journey towards his monumental success.
Episode 2: Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer
APRIL 14th, 2021
Dr. Florian Kuchenbauer pursued his M.D. and Oncology residency in Germany; he then obtained a Ph.D. at the Terry Fox Laboratory.
He now founded the Kuba lab with Dr. Arefeh Rouhi; their research focuses on translational leukemia, understanding the pathophysiology of acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma.
With mastery of both clinical and laboratory perspectives, Dr. Kuchenbauer is able to conduct state-of-the-art research to improve leukemia patient outcomes.
In this episode, learn more about his life as a PI, Clinician, Scientist, Father, Partner, and Mentor.
Episode 3: Dr. Connie Eaves
May 11th, 2021
Dr. Connie Eaves (BA & MSc, Queens University, Canada; PhD University of Manchester, UK) was a co-founder of the Terry Fox Laboratory in 1981 and has served both as its Deputy Director and Director.
She is a recipient of numerous awards, including the NCI (Canada) Robert L. Noble Prize for Excellence in Cancer Research and the 2019 Canada Gairdner Wightman Award.
During her PhD studies in the late 1960’s, she discovered that two cell populations contribute to the generation of antibody responses, heralding the subsequent recognition of B and T cells. She has since contributed many seminal advances to our understanding of progenitors and stem cells involved in blood formation and their regulation in both normal and perturbed states, with a particular emphasis on chronic myeloid leukemia.
Over the last decade, she has also become an expert in breast stem cells and has continued to work in hematopoietic stem cells. She has published more than 440 papers and continues to direct a dynamic research group. She is a major protagonist of excellence in training, having personally supervised 80 graduate students and post-MD and post-PhD fellows.
In this episode, learn more about Connie as a scientist, a mother, a wife, and a fabulous mentor.
Episode 4: Dr. Mani Larijani
august 6th, 2021
Dr. Mani Larijani completed his PhD at Harvard University and completed his post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Toronto. He later opened up a lab at the Memorial University of Newfoundland where he studied DNA and RNA mutating enzymes, known as AID and the APOBEC3 family, that have functions in both immunity and tumorigenesis.
He uses unique approaches to enzymatics, where he studies how AID and the APOBEC3 family members changed throughout evolution and uses this to uncover crucial mechanisms of these enzymes in humans. With this, he was able to discover the structure of AID, a long-standing mystery, which was subsequently named a fundamental cancer research breakthrough by the Canadian Cancer Society.
Currently, Dr. Larijani has been appointed as the Shrum Chair at Simon Fraser University and continues to study breakthrough mechanisms of these enzymes. In this episode, learn more about his extraordinary journey from his PhD to the SFU Shrum Chair!
Episode 5: Dr. Gerry Krystal
September 29th, 2021
As a distinguished scientists of BC Cancer, Dr. Gerry Krystal primarily focuses on how diet affects cancer occurrence. Involved in many moments of historical and scientific significance, tune into Science Made Casual to learn of how success is achieved from his perspective.