Grant McFadden, Researcher, ASU Biodesign Institute

Dr. Grant McFadden is trying to find out if a virus fatal only to rabbits might also destroy cancer cells. He became interested in the myxoma virus in grad school. The virus was first released in Australia in the 1950s to try to control a massive rabbit population . Since then, Grant has turned his interest into a lifelong pursuit of understanding viruses. Now, as a virologist and researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute, he's altering viruses and learning how these viruses could treat cancer. 

In this episode, Dr. McFadden tells Hamid about his research and discusses the importance of the FDA and the development and safety of the Covid-19 vaccines.

Watch the interview on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jOYnyjPsF-U

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:10 A passion for virology
• 9:20 Why study the myxoma virus?
• 14:17 Two eureka! moments
• 16:55 Oncolytic virotherapy
• 20:16 "Treating cancer's not easy."
• 22:26 How long will it take to see if it works?
• 28:33 How was COVID-19 fast-tracked?
• 34:50 How do mRNA vaccines work?
• 37:19 Have we significantly improved vaccine development?
• 38:52 Why are you so confident in the vaccine?
• 45:21 Do people who had COVID-19 need the vaccine?
• 46:57 Will healthcare improve as a result of research from the past year?
• 49:28 Is aging a disease, too?
• 53:04 How do we live well for the most amount of time?
• 54:46 Advice for graduates and young professionals
• 57:27 Cool things happening at ASU
• 1:00:29 Oncomyx
• 1:07:00 Are too many regulations slowing things down?