BEaTS Research Radio's Podcast

Each week on BEaTS Research Radio at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, early-career scientists and investigators deep dive into the ever-changing, rapidly evolving world of Science in one-on-one conversations with some of the planet's most brilliant Scientists, breaking down the science in terms you can understand

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BEaTS Research Radio's Podcast

Special Episode - Heart to Heart: Studying sex differences in heart diseases

December 04, 2025 • BEaTS Research Radio • Season 1 • Episode 221

Emily Wu from the University of Ottawa interviews Dr. Emilio Alarcón on the significance of sex differences in cardiovascular research. Dr. Alarcón is a professor at the University of Ottawa and a scientist at the Heart Institute whose research focuses on developing biomaterials for the regeneration of damaged tissues. In this episode, Dr. Alarcón comments on segments from a previous BEaTS interview between University of Ottawa student Deyanira Hernandez and Dr. Brian Aguado. Dr. Aguado is a professor at the University of California, San Diego, whose research focuses on using biomaterials to determine sex-specific mechanisms of heart diseases, namely aortic valve stenosis (AVS). This episode discusses the effects and significance of including sex differences in disease and biomaterial research.

Learn more:
Dr. Emilio Alarcón - https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-medicine/dr-emilio-alarcon

Dr. Brian Aguado - https://jacobsschool.ucsd.edu/people/profile/brian-aguado

0:03 | Topic introduction.
1:06 | BEaTS and host introduction.
1:28 | Introduction to Dr. Alarcón.
2:14 | Introduction to Dr. Aguado.
2:58 | The importance of studying biological sex in disease research (Dr. Aguado).
5:13 | The relevance of studying biological sex in biomaterial research (Dr. Alarcón).
7:40 | Precision medicine and sex-based research (Dr. Aguado).
9:07 | Addressing the potential unavailability of precision medicine (Dr. Alarcón).
11:08 | Considering other biological variables in future research (Dr. Alarcón).
14:22 | Concluding remarks.

Isra Omar (Producer, Post-production, Content generation), Bushra Pathan (Social media editor, Content generation), Malik Thomas (Writer, Content generation), Emily Wu (Host, Content generation).