This week we reach into our archive to replay one of our most popular interviews from 2024 with Brad Wouters, Executive Vice-President of Science and Research at University Health Network. Brad and I discuss his passion for medical biophysics, his accomplished academic career, what brought him to Europe, his return to Canada and the incredible research he and his team are doing at UHN.

Based in Mississauga, Ontario, Kare Chemical Technologies is a synthetic chemistry company working on something that sounds unlikely but could change how we treat chronic pain. By converting a byproduct of citrus orange peels into pharmaceutical grade cannabinoids, the company is developing non-psychoactive alternatives to opioids for patients dealing with long-term pain.

In this episode, host Jim Wilson speaks with co-founder and COO Kareem Abdur-Rashid about a company that began with a family member's diagnosis, a father's decades of experience in organometallic chemistry, and a young scientist who signed up before fully realizing what he was getting into. Kareem walks through how the technology works, how the company bootstrapped its way to its first licensee, and why chronic pain remains one of the most underfunded areas in pharmaceutical development.

This conversation is a candid look at early stage entrepreneurship from someone who is still in the thick of it, learning as he goes and building something that could genuinely help people get their lives back.

We thank the NRC for sponsoring the NGBi podcasts. The National Research Council of Canada (NRC) is the Government of Canada's largest federal research and technology organization, focused on accelerating innovation, research, and development.

Claudia Krywiak is President and CEO of the Ontario Centre of Innovation which is a government-funded organization that helps small and medium-sized enterprises commercialize research by connecting industry, academic, and government partners to drive innovation across the province.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Claudia Krywiak about her journey that began in a small town in Poland, wound through Dubai and Toronto, and eventually lead her to the heart of Ontario's innovation ecosystem. Jim speaks with Claudia talks about growing up between cultures, finding her footing in Canada, and how curiosity has been the common thread in her career.

Claudia also shares her perspective on what is on the horizon in quantum computing and AI, why she believes the next two years will bring more technological change than the last decade, and why there has never been a better time to be an entrepreneur in Ontario.

In this episode of NGBiLab, Jim Wilson speaks with HygenX.AI co-founder and CTO Kris Rupay about a company that started in a garage during the pandemic and was originally founded to help restore confidence in air travel. What began as a UV disinfection robot for airplane aisles evolved into a potentially life-saving technology now being deployed in hospitals across North America.

The team at HygenX.AI have developed an autonomous AI-driven robotic UV disinfection technology that is designed to make healthcare spaces safer, faster, and cleaner. Their robot, RAY, can disinfect a patient room in minutes rather than hours, while generating a real-time digital map of exactly what has been treated.

Kris also talks about the challenges of pivoting from aviation to healthcare, the steep learning curve of building a medtech company without having a background in healthcare, and why he believes hospital-acquired infections are one of the most underreported public health crises in the world.

In the next episode of NGBideas Jim Wilson sits down with Gerald Prince who is Senior Director of GMP Manufacturing Gerald Prince at Bluerock Therapeutics. Gerald's professional journey has wound through some of North America's largest food, consumer goods, and pharmaceutical companies and ultimately landed him at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto. Gerald's story began in Stockton, California where his childhood home was unfortunately touched by gun violence but teachers and coaches believed in him before he believed in himself and their encouragement helped set Gerald on a career path defined by leadership, ambition and perseverence. His journey eventually brought him to Canada and the forefront of cell and gene therapy where he and his team are helping change the future of medicine. It is an inspiring story and we know you will enjoy learning about it.

Targa Biomedical is developing pharmacological solutions designed to improve the quality of cells, tissues, and organs for transplantation and regenerative medicine. Based in Montreal, Quebec, their technology has the potential to rescue damaged donor organs that would otherwise be discarded, making more transplants possible for patients in need.

In this episode, host Jim Wilson speaks with co-founder and CEO Shant Der Sarkissian about how a chance observation in the lab, combined with a conversation with a cardiac surgeon next door, became the foundation for a company seven years in the making. Shant walks through the science behind conditioning damaged organs outside the body and why Targa believes it is first to market with this specific approach.

Shant also reflects on the unique challenges of being an academic entrepreneur, and why he believes the confusion of having too many career options is actually a blessing in disguise.

SPEC Labs is a not-for-profit organization in Mississauga, Ontario that provides shared, ready-to-use wet lab space for life sciences startups in need of room to grow. Their all-inclusive model is designed to remove one of the biggest barriers facing Canadian biotech companies: access to affordable lab infrastructure.

In this episode, host Jim Wilson speaks with founder and CEO Doris Qamar about how a frustrating gap in the Canadian market sparked an idea that took years to bring to life. What started as a search for scalable lab space for a small biotech company became a 20,000 square foot facility in Sheridan Research Park, now open and welcoming its first clients.

Doris also makes a passionate case for why keeping innovation and intellectual property in Canada matters now more than ever.

Dr. Kullervo Hynynen is Vice President of Research and Innovation at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Ontario, and a global leader in focused ultrasound technology. His decades of work have helped transform how the medical community approaches treatment for some of the most challenging neurological and oncological conditions.

Join host Jim Wilson as he speaks with Dr. Hynynen about his remarkable journey that began on a small farm in rural Finland and lead to one of the most significant breakthroughs in the history of neuroscience. What started as a rejected NIH grant proposal became the foundation for a technology that can now open the blood-brain barrier non-invasively, potentially unlocking treatment for conditions like Alzheimer's and brain cancer.

Kullervo also reflects on the personal losses that shaped his commitment to cancer research, and how a series of serendipitous career decisions, from Aberdeen to Arizona to Boston to Toronto, brought him to Sunnybrook.

This conversation covers the stubbornness required to push through years of failed experiments, the challenge of commercializing science in Canada, and why Kullervo believes the next frontier is a focused ultrasound helmet that patients could one day use at home.