Research Radio

If you or someone you knew was suffering from a complicated pregnancy - would you enrol in a rigorous medical imaging study? Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to detect pregnancy problems, and although it is a very sensitive imaging technique it does not come without some drawbacks. Tune into the pilot episode of Research Radio to hear how a 2nd year Master's student, Antara, overcomes her ethical reservations about imaging at-risk pregnant women and soon realizes the power of medical imaging in helping to diagnose patients. She sits down with Dr. Kartik Jhaveri (MD, FRCPC ,Professor, Director) who made it clear that imaging has a huge role to play in improving patient outcome, and that the outcome of patients should be the focus of innovation in radiology and medical biophysics. It is important to always be critical of the implications of a research study, and that is what we hope to do at Research Radio!

What happens to our memory as we age? Join Julia, a first year PhD student, and Research Radio Toronto director and music producer, as she explores how neuroscientists use animals to study memory, and interviews Physiology professor Dr. Paul Frankland, on how we make (and lose!) memories.

Do you ever wonder how your body recovers from the consequences of over-eating? Or, eating in general? And more, what happens when the body is unable to keep up with an excessive intake of calories? Join Cindy, a masters student, Research Radio director, and sponsorship coordinator, as she interviews Dr. Patricia Brubaker and her PhD student Alexandre Martchenko to investigate the “anti-diabetic” role of intestinal hormones and how they’re being used to manage Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Check us out www.researchradiotoronto.com

Hey Research Radio listeners! Are you lonely this Valentine’s day? Still looking for some last minute plans? Not to worry because Research Radio has a brand new episode you will LOVE launching right before Valentine’s day. Join Isidora, a recent MSc graduate, Research Radio podcast director and sponsorship coordinator, as she interviews Dr. Janet Rossant to explore the exciting and controversial world of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated human genome editing. With special commentary from PhD student Sally Kyunga Kim. To learn more about us, visit www.researchradiotoronto.com

In this more casual episode from Research Radio, you will finally get introduced to the very smart and funny team behind Research Radio as we discuss International Women’s Day and what it means to us, as well as the experiences of being a woman in STEM. Then we discuss the life of being a graduate student and we share some of the challenges we’ve faced as well why we got into research in the first place. In the end, we talk about how we can empower the underrepresented in pursuing STEM careers. By making a podcast, we can appeal to the masses and hopefully encourage some youth to pursue research and science as a potential career option.

This week, we interview Dr. Paula Harvey, Physician in Chief, Clinician Investigator and Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Toronto and Women’s College Hospital. Dr. Harvey's research focuses on cardiovascular disease in women across the lifespan. She is particularly interested in addressing the differences in cardiovascular disease risk between men and women to improve disease outcomes, but also is interested in cardiovascular disease prevention through lifestyle interventions. Dr. Harvey works collaboratively across various specialities such as rheumatology and exercise physiology to address cardiovascular disease in women with multiple comorbidities.

As soon as a controversial topic arises, it is almost guaranteed that not everyone will be on the same page. Groups of people stand at odds with one another regarding issues that affect millions of lives.  Climate change, is it real or not? Vaccines, do they give our kids autism? Abortion laws, who does it benefit? The stakes are high. How do we overcome ill-informed ideas, miscommunication, and personal convictions that plague any attempt towards an educated discourse and address these questions in an evidence-based way? One way to educate the masses on controversial topics is to have well-informed leaders in our government. In today’s episode, “Policing Science and Science Policy”, we discuss the role of science and that researchers have in encouraging our government leaders on impartial policy-making that can then better people’s lives. We speak with Daniel Eisenkraft Klein, and incoming PhD student in Exercise Sciences and Public Health Policy, as well as Canada’s Chief Science Advisor, Dr. Mona Nemer on how research can end any doubts on controversial topics by looking at the evidence and having more researchers in leadership roles. Listen to the episode to learn how Dalla Lana School of Public Health prepares its future policy-makers, and learn how Dr. Mona Nemer utilized her prolific scientific career to help the Canadian government with scientific affairs. Research Radio is a podcast produced by graduate students in the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto. Each month, we release 1-2 episodes highlighting a graduate student or scientist's research, and talking about all things grad life and pop culture! Check out our website, Instagram, and Facebook, and if you are interested in working with us, please email us at researchradiotoronto@gmail.com

Research Radio is back with another round-table discussion as part of our After Lab Hours Episodes! Join us as Isidora, Sami, Julia, and Sridevi candidly talk about technology and science, and how technology is creating a revolution of sorts in the pursuit of good scientific and clinical practice. How is technology helping us in our research labs? How will AI impact the future of patient care? What are the implications of genome sequencing and big data collection on humankind? Tune in to listen to an engaging conversation between graduate students and your future researchers. If you like what you hear, follow us on our social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) for more content, or visit our website. This podcast is affiliated with the Department of Physiology at the University of Toronto. If you have any questions about our podcast or the Department of Physiology, you can email us at researchradiotoronto@gmail.com.