Pulse: The Ottawa Hospital Foundation Podcast
Pulse will introduce you to the patients, healthcare providers, researchers, and donors of The Ottawa Hospital. You’ll hear how they are changing the future of medicine through new discoveries, by expanding treatments and improving the patient care.
RN Phil Nguyen’s home away from home
Register Nurse Phil Nguyen exudes energy — whether he’s caring for patients on 5W in the Transplant and Cellular Therapy Unit at the General Campus, teaching the next generation of healthcare workers at uOttawa, or busting a move as a hip-hop dancer. In this conversation, Phil talks about why he considers The Ottawa Hospital his home away from home. He reveals what he loves most about his job, his special connection with patients, and how his team will go beyond …
Breaking barriers: Dr. Shawn Aaron's award-winning journey in cutting-edge research
Dr. Shawn Aaron’s path to research wasn’t planned. In fact, his goal was to become a physician and care for patients with lung disease, but that all changed when he came to The Ottawa Hospital and fell in love with research. In this conversation, Dr. Aaron discusses his practice-changing research for cystic fibrosis and COPD. While he admits his research career saw early success when he turned his master’s thesis into a New England Journal of Medicine article – that …
Amy Volume considers our ortho team the real rock stars
Faced with an autoimmune disorder since childhood, rock radio announcer Amy Volume has been a patient of The Ottawa Hospital for about 20 years. More recently, she started losing mobility in one leg and that’s when her orthopaedic team said it was time for her to have hip replacement surgery. Listen to hear more about Amy’s story and why she considers our ortho surgeons the real rock stars. (23:46)
Unlocking discoveries in ovarian cancer
Meet Dr. Barbara Vanderhyden – a senior scientist at The Ottawa Hospital who’s held the inaugural Corinne Boyer Chair in Ovarian Cancer Research since 2000. In this episode, Dr. Vanderhyden talks about why she’s devoted her career to investigating ovarian cancer. You’ll learn about her dedicated team, and find out who are the unofficial members, and the important role they play. Plus, Dr. Vanderhyden shares two critical discoveries they’ve made in the last few years, her deep gratitude for our …
Stefanie Scrivens still going strong after specialized brain surgery
After nearly a decade of mini seizures, Stefanie Scrivens was diagnosed with a rare form of a brain tumour at only 20 years old — that was in 2009. She would be one of the first to benefit from a new treatment option to increase her chance of survival, including two complex, 8-hour awake brain surgeries at The Ottawa Hospital to remove the tumour. Today, at the age of 34, we check in with Stefanie to get an update on …
A first for gay men's health in Canada
Dr. Paul MacPherson is a longtime advocate for gay men’s health. In 2023, he was named the first Clinical Research Chair in Gay Men’s Health at The Ottawa Hospital and the University of Ottawa. This chair is a first of its kind in any Canadian hospital. In this episode, Dr. MacPherson talks about what it means to see this research become a reality, the stigma gay men face when it comes to their health, and how he hopes this chair …
How breast cancer turned Alison Hughes’ world upside down
UPDATE: Sadly, Alison passed away on Wednesday, October 11, 2023. We offer our deepest condolences to all those who loved her and we remain profoundly inspired by her. Alison Hughes was first diagnosed with breast cancer at age 37. At the time, she was running her own business and the mother of two young children. The news was the shock of her life. Ten years later, her world was turned upside down again — this time her breast cancer had …
Big breakthrough could be coming for most deadly kind of stroke
Dr. Dar Dowlatshahi is a stroke neurologist and senior scientist at our hospital. He is leading the Canadian site of a global research trial that could change how we treat the deadliest and least treatable form of stroke. In this episode, we go behind the scenes with the region’s stroke team to learn more about The Ottawa Hospital’s leading role in this study that could be a gamechanger for bleeding strokes. Dr. Dowlatshahi also shares what he loves most about …
How Julia Wagg’s legacy is giving others an extra shot at life
Before Julia Wagg passed away in 2017 at age 36, she decided to leave a gift in her will to support cancer research. She was inspired by a young ‘spitfire’ doctor and researcher who cared for her at The Ottawa Hospital. In this episode, Holly Wagg shares the story of her widow’s journey with leukemia, as well as Julia’s decision to leave a legacy gift to The Ottawa Hospital to help future patients. Holly also shares what it means to …
Former Ottawa mayor and her granddaughter fuel cancer research
When Jackie Holzman, the former mayor of Ottawa, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1998, she went public with her story hoping to encourage people to get a mammogram and to further advance research at The Ottawa Hospital. Now, the former board member of our research institute is standing alongside her granddaughter, Rebecca Leikin, who is undergoing breast cancer care. Rebecca now hopes to help future patients, much like her own grandmother has done. You could say, Jackie is handing …