Temerty Medicine Celebrates U of T Entrepreneurship Week

Many Temerty Faculty of Medicine alumni are making a difference in their communities in a variety of roles — as health care providers, researchers, professors and policy-makers, just to name a few. Some have also ventured into the business world to start their own successful companies.

In recognition of University of Toronto’s Entrepreneur Week, we invite you to learn more about these Temerty Medicine alumni and entrepreneurs we recently profiled.

Sonya Amin (MScBMC ’03) co-founded AXS Studio, a biomedical communications company that specializes in 3D animation, together with two of her University of Toronto classmates. Here she discusses how Temerty Medicine’s MScBMC Program helped the trio launch AXS, the company’s growth from a three-person operation to a fully-realized venture, and the impact of her and her partners’ work on health care.

Rae Aust (BSc ’69, MSc ’76 Food Science) is a retired dietitian and the former owner and operator of Private Recipes Ltd. Becoming an entrepreneur wasn’t something she set out to do as a young dietitian, but early in her career she found herself immersed in the business side of food and nutrition. In her own words, she reflects on building and then selling a multimillion-dollar frozen meals business.

A practicing interventional cardiologist for more than 30 years, Gary Gershony (MD ’79, PGME Medicine ’84) also founded and ran two successful medical device companies and is still actively involved in medical entrepreneurialism as a consultant, mentor and early-stage investor. We chatted with Gershony about his career as a medical device entrepreneur and the future of medical entrepreneurialism in Toronto.

While still a resident at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, David S. Young (MD ’90, MSc ’96, PGME Surgery ’98) founded the first of two companies with a mission to develop therapeutic cancer antibodies. In this interview, Young discusses his journey from surgeon to scientist to entrepreneur, and how he sees antibodies revolutionizing cancer care.