Temerty Medicine Talks

Join us at our next event

The Resistance: Taking Action Against Deadly Superbugs

Tuesday, April 25, 2023
12:00 – 12:45 p.m. (ET)

The discovery and widespread adoption of antibiotics and other antimicrobials turned many once life-threatening infections into treatable conditions. But, over time, a growing number of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites have evolved and can now evade antimicrobial therapies — making many infections harder, or even impossible, to treat.

Today, more Canadians die from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) than from suicide or opioid use — and the problem is only getting worse. Globally, it is estimated that by 2050, more people will die from antibiotic failures alone than from cancer.

In this next edition of our virtual Temerty Medicine Talks series, join The Globe and Mail’s André Picard and leading University of Toronto experts as they discuss how they are contributing to the fight against AMR, and where they see the battle against superbugs heading next.

REGISTER NOW

This event is open to the public, no affiliation to the University of Toronto is required. Kindly register before April 21st. A link to view the event live or recorded will be provided to all registrants shortly before the event.

Panelists

Leah Cowen Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics

Leah Cowen is the Tier I Canada Research Chair in Microbial Genomics and Infectious Disease and the University of Toronto's Vice President, Research and Innovation, and Strategic Initiatives. She is also a co-director of the CIFAR Fungal Kingdom: Threats & Opportunities Program and Chief Scientific Officer of Bright Angel Therapeutics, a company that leverages state-of-the-art technologies for development of novel antifungal therapeutics. A former chair of U of T's Department of Molecular Genetics, her research focuses on the biology and evolution of fungal pathogens, including the development of new strategies to thwart drug resistance.

Greg German Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology

Greg German is a Medical Microbiologist with Unity Health Toronto and a Staff Physician in the Chronic Infection Clinic at St. Joseph’s Health Centre, focusing on urinary tract infections and phage therapy trials. He consults on cases across Canada to explore the use of bacteria-specific viruses (phages) to destroy drug-resistant bacterial infections. He is a leading authority, organizer and fundraiser for phage therapy in Canada.

Susy Hota Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine

Susy Hota is the co-leader of U of T's Microbiota Therapeutics Outcomes Program and the acting director of UHN's Infection Prevention and Control Department as well as the Antimicrobial Stewardship Program. As a clinician-scientist, her research areas of interest include management of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) and fecal microbiota transplantation, as well as infection control and emergency preparedness.

Past events include:

November 2022 — Feeding Health – Harnessing the Power of Nutrition in Medicine
April 2022 — Renewing Canadian Health Care – Solutions from Family Medicine
December 2021 — Aerospace Medicine: Taking Health to New Heights
October 2021 — Towards Hope: New Frontiers in Neurodegenerative Disease Research
June 2021 — The Age of Anxiety
April 2021 — On Aging and Place
December 2020 — In Pursuit of Equity: Transforming Physician Training
November 2020 — Science on the Front Line: COVID-19 and Beyond
October 2020 — Medicine and the Machine: The Artificial Intelligence Health Revolution
May 2019 — Chronic Pain and the Opioid Crisis
September 2018 — Cannabis
May 2018 — End of Life Care in the Era of Assisted Dying
September 2017 — Insulin and the Future of Diabetes
May 2017 — Brain Cancer Dream Team