Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World

• Compounding the cure: How our overzealous efforts to zap infections could be making animals — and humans — sicker

  Featured in this episode: Dr. Scott Weese is a veterinary internal medicine specialist, chief of infection control and director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses at the University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College. Weese is a member of the Global Leaders Group on antimicrobial resistance and has helped craft antimicrobial use guidelines for veterinarians in Canada. Further reading: The global threat of antibiotic resistanceAt the UN, world leaders are negotiating the biggest health issue you’ve never heard ofThree million child deaths linked to drug resistance, study showsDo I need that antibiotic?Veterinary medicine is key to overcoming antimicrobial resistanceThe link between pets, people and antimicrobial resistanceCanada introduces new guidelines to tackle antimicrobial resistance Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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• Waste opportunity: Can we design plastic out of healthcare?

  Featured in this episode: Journalist Susan Freinkel is the author of Plastics: Toxic A Love Story, a book that traces the history of plastics through eight different objects, from the Frisbee to the IV bag, and examines how plastic negatively affects our lives. Dr. Ted Schettler is a physician and expert on the health risks of plastics and phthalates. He’s the scientific advisor at Health Care Without Harm, an organization that has dedicated more than 30 years to reducing healthcare’s environmental impact, including the removal of mercury from medical devices.An anesthesiologist for more than 20 years, Dr. Lyndia Dernis has seen first-hand the amount of plastic waste operating rooms produce. Currently practicing at St. Mary’s Hospital Centre in Montreal, Dernis has spearheaded the Anesthesia and Environment Committee, which has drastically reduced and recycled the hospital’s plastic waste since being implemented in 2020.  Rashmi Prakash is the CEO of Aruna Revolution, a Halifax-based startup producing sustainable menstrual products. She’s also an adjunct professor at UBC, where she teaches a course on the impact of biomedical engineering on society, sustainability and environmental stewardship. As a biomedical engineer, Prakash has seen the surplus use of single-use plastic medical devices wrapped in single-use plastics, the layers of which she likens to a Russian doll. Aditi Sitolay is a masters student of medical device design and entrepreneurship at Imperial College London. She’s also the founder of Synoro Med, a Vancouver-based startup that specializes in designing sterile, reusable medical devices, including an early-prototype IV bag.  Further reading: Solving healthcare’s emissions problemYour brain could have a spoon’s worth of microplastics. Here’s what to do about itWe tested our blood for microplastics. This is what we foundMicroplastics: Are we facing a new health crisis — and what can be done about it?Prescription for plastic medical waste: How hospitals, medical suppliers are aiming to be greener Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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• Fire alarm: Rethinking innovation in an increasingly volatile world

  The wildfire that devastated Fort McMurray in 2016 burned more than 579,000 hectares of land, drove 88,000 people from their homes and caused nearly $10 billion in damages. It’s often seen as an outlier, a freak natural disaster. But extreme wildfires, like those that tore through Los Angeles earlier this year, are becoming more intense and harder to control. “We all saw the smoke, and too many of us have seen the fire,” says John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast. “Weather is different now, and fire is different now.” Hotter, drier weather is turning our forests into kindling, and emergency responders are struggling to handle our new reality: intense, unpredictable fires fuelled by a changing climate. In this special episode, host Manjula Selvarajah sits down with Vaillant to better understand how we got here and to see if there is any way out.Featured in this episode: John Vaillant is a Vancouver-based author and freelance journalist. His latest work, the Pulitzer Prize–nominated Fire Weather: The Making of a Beast, chronicles how the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and destroyed 2,400 homes and businesses. Further reading: Forged by fire: Fort McMurray 5 years after the disasterCanada needs to get ready for a future fraught with fire: How can the forest sector respond?FACT SHEET: Climate change and wildfiresCanada’s 2023 wildfires emitted more carbon than most countriesLandscapes turned into hellscapes, shock and the ongoing fight against wildfires in Los AngelesLos Angeles wildfires magnify California’s “insurance crisis” as homeowners face billions in lossesSubscribe to Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World here. And below, find a transcript to “Fire alarm: Rethinking innovation in an increasingly volatile world.” This interview was recorded at MaRS Climate Impact on December 4, 2024. Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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  25:03
• Cracking the code: How generative biology could transform medicine

  Can AI unravel the mysteries of human biology? Could it help design specialty treatments and cures for disease? Geoffrey von Maltzahn and his team at Generate:Biomedicines are bullish on both counts. AI has greatly accelerated progress in genome engineering, bioengineering and nanotechnology and they are getting closer to developing tailored therapeutics. “Six years ago, this was a crazy idea,” he says. “We’re now convinced that 100 percent of protein therapeutics are going to get created this way.” In this special episode of Solve for X, host Manula Selvarajah sits down with von Maltzahn to talk about where the science is now and where it is headed.  Featured in this episode: Geoffrey von Maltzahn, general partner of  Flagship Pioneering, is an inventor and entrepreneur who works at the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence, a specialization that makes him a world-renowned leader in generative biology.  Further reading: How generative biology can wipe out our most devastating diseases — for goodHow technology is tackling questions that confound modern medicineHow we can deliver a better tomorrow through generative biologyThe frontiers of generative biology | MaRS Impact Health 2024Subscribe to Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World here. And below, find a transcript to “Cracking the code: How generative biology could transform medicine.” This interview was recorded at MaRS Impact Health in June 2024. Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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  25:23
• Innovation hotline: Answering the tech sector’s burning questions

  Featured in this episode: Alison Nankivell has spent more than 25 years moving Canada’s economic needle forward. Before being named CEO of MaRS in early 2024, Alison held pivotal roles at the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Export Development Canada (EDC). At MaRS, she brings an experienced playbook to support startups working in climate, health and emerging technology. Kris Bennatti is the CEO and co-founder of Hudson Labs, a Toronto-based startup that builds specialized financial software to help improve corporate accountability in capital markets. Lise Birikundavyi is the co-founder and managing partner of BKR Capital, Canada’s first Black-led, institutionally-backed VC fund. Birikundavyi is a finance specialist who has worked with several international institutions, including the Jacobs Foundation where she managed its edtech impact investment strategy.  Corey Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of Growcer. The Ottawa-based startup develops commercial hydroponic systems that help communities grow indoor produce, year-round in any climate.   Charles Plant is a serial entrepreneur, innovation economist, fractional CFO and founder of The Narwhal Project, which helps tech startups raise capital and scale business.  Further reading: Welcome to the $100-million clubUndervalued and ignored: Why young Canadian firms are looking to foreign investors and buyers Evolving ESG reporting regulations call for co-ordinated executive action in CanadaDEI in Canadian workplaces is hitting a wall, subscriber survey showsNorth American outlook: Uncertain political environment adds to business, consumer fatigueClimate adaptation is as important as climate mitigationSubscribe to Solve for X: Innovations to Change the World here. And below, find a transcript to “Innovation hotline: Answering the tech sector’s burning questions.” This interview was recorded October 17 in the MaRS Studio.  Solve for X is brought to you by MaRS, North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a registered charity. MaRS supports startups and accelerates the adoption of high-impact solutions to some of the world’s biggest challenges. For more information, visit marsdd.com.

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  39:42

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