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 - Infecting the Infection: Viruses become our Ally

December 04, 2025 • BEaTS Research Radio • Season 1 • Episode 232

Mattea Abou Faiçal from the University of Ottawa interviews Dr. Marisa Azad. Dr. Marisa Azad is an Associate Clinical Scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, and a Mayo Clinic Research Collaborator. She is also an Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Ottawa Hospital. In this episode, Dr. Marisa Azad shares her research on phage therapy and how her team delivered Canada’s first treatment for a multidrug-resistant joint infection.

Learn more: https://www.uottawa.ca/faculty-medicine/directory/dr-marisa-azad

0:04 | BEaTS and host introduction.
1:11 | Introduction to Dr. Azad.
1:45 | Why are periprosthetic joint infections so difficult to treat?
3:30 | Introduction to phages, phage therapy, and a landmark Canadian case study
6:26 | Finding the right phage: collaboration between Cytophage Technologies and The Ottawa Hospital
9:45 | Ethical and regulatory hurdles
12:00 | The growing potential of phage therapy and its current limitations
14:15 | Closing remarks and credits

Abhijit Sinha (Content Generation), Mattheo Fakhouri (Producer), Mattea Abou Faiçal (Voice) and Jean-Paul Azzi (Post-production)