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Raw Talk is a graduate student-run podcast at the University of Toronto about medical science, and the people who make it happen. We focus on the journeys, perspectives, and expertise of health researchers, professionals, students, patients, and community members at the University of Toronto and beyond. Our mission is to promote the research culture within the Institute of Medical Science, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine, and broader life sciences community; provide guidance to current and prospective graduate students; and to engage the public in medical science innovations and translational research.
Episodes
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
2020 has been a strange, unpredictable and challenging year, as the coronavirus has impacted our lives in countless ways. Here at Raw Talk, we found ourselves struggling to keep up with COVID-19 research and understand the impacts of the pandemic on our society. So, instead of our usual live event this year, we created COVIDecoded: a weekly YouTube live stream of discussions with experts on all things COVID, to help understand the emerging science and social shifts. In this episode, the hosts from the series came together (distanced and wearing masks, of course) to discuss what we learned from the series, key themes that emerged, and our personal reflections on living through the pandemic. We review the current state of testing in Canada, discuss the social determinants of COVID-19 risk and the importance of gathering race-based data, and reflect on the lessons we can learn going forward. We hope the episode, and the full discussions below, can help you make sense of the diverse and complex interactions between our world and the virus, or in other words, the "New Normal".
Written by: Claire Mazzia
U of T Alumni Offers from our sponsors TD Insurance & MBNA
Raw Talk Podcast Friendraiser
Raw Talk Podcast Code of Conduct
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in Italian cats and dogs
Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in the Spanish population
COVIDecoded Series:
Episode 1 - Coronaviruses 101
Episode 2 - Epidemiology and Modeling
Episode 3 - Psychological Impact
Episode 4 - Public Health and Policy
Episode 5 - Intersections with Climate Change
Episode 6 - Putting It to the test
Episode 7 - Health Equity
Episode 8 - Immunity in Canada
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our 8th and final instalment focuses on immunity and SARS-CoV2. Controlling this novel pathogen will no doubt require immune systems to adapt, and supporting those changes will demand a significant shift in societal attitudes and policies. What does it mean to be an asymptomatic carrier? What is herd immunity? What might a vaccination strategy look like? Join our discussion to learn all this, and more! Dr. David Naylor is a physician, biomedical researcher and former President of the University of Toronto, who most recently served as the Interim President and CEO of the SickKids Hospital prior to the appointment of the current administration. Having chaired Canada’s National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health back in 2003, Dr. Naylor is more than well-equipped to Co-Chair the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force, develop discourse on public health and safety, and help lead Canada into the ‘next normal’.
Additional insights on COVID-19 and the Immune Response
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our 7th instalment focuses on health equity – the historical context and impact of longstanding systemic inequities; how the pandemic has highlighted existing inequities for racialized, marginalized, and underrepresented groups; the importance of race-based and socioeconomic data; how they can inform an equitable public health response; and how we can ensure sustainable health and societal changes moving forward. Dr. Roberta K. Timothy is an Assistant Professor in the Teaching Stream, and is the new Director of Health Promotion at Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto. Specializing in the areas of intersectionality and ethics in health work; health and race; transnational Indigenous health; and anti-oppression/anti-colonial approaches to mental health. Dr. Timothy has worked for over 30 years in community health working on resisting anti-Black racism and intersectional violence strategies. Dr. Timothy is also co-founder and consultant at Continuing Healing Consultants where she implements and teaches her intersectional mental health model "Anti-Oppression Psychotherapy". She is an interdisciplinary scholar, health practitioner, and political scientist who examines global health and ethics from a critical trauma-informed decolonizing framework. Dr. Ceinwen Pope is a new family physician and current medical resident at the University of Toronto's Public Health and Preventive Medicine residency program. Her interest in health equity and population health led her to pursue an undergraduate degree specializing in Global Health at McMaster University, followed by a medical degree at the University of Ottawa. In the fall, she will begin a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the Dalla School of Public Health as part of her ongoing medical training. Her recent work has involved looking at equity-informed public health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our 6th instalment focuses on COVID-19 testing – what the tests tell us and how they work, how testing has changed the course of the pandemic, and what we can expect from them in terms of epidemiological surveillance and recovery as we move forward. Dr. Adeli is a senior scientist and clinical biochemist with over 30 years of experience in clinical chemistry service, education, and research. He is currently the Head of Clinical Biochemistry at the Hospital for Sick Children and Full Professor in the Departments of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, Biochemistry, and Physiology at the University of Toronto. Dr. Adeli also serves as the President of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) and the current Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. Mary Kathryn Bohn is a PhD candidate in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology at the University of Toronto. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry at McMaster University in 2018 and is now a trainee with the Canadian Laboratory Initiative on Paediatric Reference Intervals (CALIPER) under the supervision of Dr. Khosrow Adeli at The Hospital for Sick Children.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our 5th instalment focuses on the connections between the COVID-19 pandemic and Climate Change: similarities on both personal and structural levels, key differences, and lessons we can learn from each crisis for the other. We are grateful to be joined by two experts working at the intersections of health and environment: Chúk Odenigbo is Director of Ancestral Services at Future Ancestor Services and a PhD student at The University of Ottawa in Medical Geography. Proudly Franco-Albertan, Chúk is passionate about the interactions between culture, health and the environment. As a former ambassador for the outdoors with MEC, and alumni of the first Ocean Bridge cohort, Chúk was ranked among the top 25 environmentalists under 25 in Canada by the starfish for three years. Gideon Forman is a Climate Change Policy Analyst with the David Suzuki Foundation working to promote renewable energy projects and the expansion of active and public transportation. For over a decade he was Executive Director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, leading campaigns against lawn pesticides and coal-fired power. In recognition for his environmental work, Gideon was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal in 2013.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our fourth instalment features public health experts Dr. Jeff Kwong and Professor Vivek Goel in a discussion on the public health response to COVID-19 in Canada and Ontario. We also explore the role of public health interventions and the future of the COVID-19 public health response. Dr. Jeff Kwong is an epidemiologist, a specialist in public health and preventive medicine, and a family physician. He is the Program Leader of the Populations and Public Health Program at IC/ES (formerly the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences), a Scientist at Public Health Ontario, a Professor at the University of Toronto, and the Interim Director of the University of Toronto’s Centre for Vaccine Preventable Diseases. He has conducted a range of studies related to the epidemiology of influenza and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Professor Vivek Goel is a member of the COVID-19 Immunity Task Force and the Governing Council for CanCOVID, the national research platform for COVID-19 research. He is also Special Advisor to the President and Provost at the University of Toronto and a Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health. He has previously served as the University’s Vice-Provost, Faculty and was subsequently Vice President and Provost from 2004 until 2008. He was a founding scientist at IC/ES, where he continues as an Adjunct Senior Scientist. He served as founding President and CEO of Public Health Ontario from 2008 until 2014, before returning to the University as Vice-President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives from 2015-2020.
Dealing with COVID-19: A Balanced Response Letter
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our third instalment features Dr. Rima Styra, an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto and clinician-investigator at the University Health Network, and Donna Alexander, social worker at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, former Vice-President of the Black Health Alliance and Board Member of Black Mental Health Canada and the Community Advisory Committee for Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. We will discuss how our mental health is impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the specific psychological effects experienced by healthcare workers and the Black community, and what changes should be made in our mental health systems in response to the “new normal.”
U of T Alumni Offers from our sponsors TD Insurance & MBNA
Mental Health Resources:
The Star: Canada could face a mental health ‘echo pandemic’ in the aftermath of COVID-19
The Star: Here’s what you actually feel: Two Toronto doctors explain the psychology of pandemic
CTV News: Half of Canadians report worsening mental health, experts say woes just beginning
WNYC News: Advice on Getting Through COVID Isolation From Two Doctors Who Worked Through SARS
2004 SARS control and psychological effects of quarantine
COVID-19 Mental Health Services (City of Toronto)
Black Mental Health Resources/Services/Organizations:
Mental health resources for the Black community in Toronto
8 Mental Health Practices for People of African Descent while Isolated
Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth (SAPACCY)
WellNest Psychotherapy Services
Mental Health Services for Healthcare Workers:
CAMH Resources for health care workers during COVID-19
St. Joe's COVID-19: Mental Health Services for HCW
Free Psychological Services for Frontline Workers (Canadian Psychological Association)
Mitigating the psychological effects of COVID-19 on health care workers
Impact on health care workers employed in high-risk areas during the Toronto SARS outbreak
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our second instalment features Dr Sharmistha Mishra, infectious disease physician and mathematical modeler, and Linwei Wang, senior epidemiologist, both at St. Michael’s Hospital, to learn about the questions, data, and assumptions behind mathematical models of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Wednesday Sep 09, 2020
Your favourite medical science podcast is making the most of ‘the new normal’ - this year’s Raw Talk Live event was broadcast entirely on YouTube! Over 8 weeks, we spoke to researchers all across Canada about all things COVID-19.
Our first instalment features Dr. Karen Mossman, molecular virologist and Vice President of Research at McMaster University. Dr. Mossman discusses how coronaviruses, particularly SARS-CoV-2, infect human cells and cause disease, and shares interesting insights from her current research.
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
Wednesday Sep 02, 2020
In part two of our maternal health series, we explore the journey through pregnancy, birth, and the post-natal period – including the planning involved, the decisions made, and any healthcare a person may receive along the way. We started out our conversation with Madeleine Springate-Combs, a midwife in Ontario, who told us about why someone may choose to receive care from a midwife and the philosophy of midwifery. We also spoke to midwife Lauren Wattam, who has worked with Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) and practiced midwifery in missions to Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Yemen. She told us about the important roles that midwives can play throughout pregnancy and childbirth around the world and the impacts of global health outreach. We also spoke to Dr. John Kingdom, the chair of the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Toronto, and a clinician-scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital. He told us about some of the complications that can arise in pregnancy and the work he does to deal with them. Finally, we spoke to Jane Francis, a registered dietician and PhD candidate in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto. Her work focuses on providing accessible breastfeeding support to mothers from marginalized populations.
Written by: Thamiya Vasanthakumar
Canadian Association of Midwives
Mount Sinai Ontario Fetal Centre
Medecins Sans Frontieres
Vulnerable mothers' experiences breastfeeding with an enhanced community lactation support program
Canada Prenatal Nutrition Program
Parkdale Queen West Community Health Center – Pregnancy and Parenting Programs
The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice by Terry Tempest Williams