Special Episode - Phage Therapy: Using Viruses as Medicine

Katya Krykunova from the University of Ottawa interviews Dr. Marisa Azad from The Ottawa Hospital about the first use of phage therapy in Canada. Dr. Azad's patient developed a life-threatening periprosthetic joint infection (PJI) of her hip implant. She was allergic to most major antibiotics; the culprit bacteria were resistant to all others, and further surgery would risk her life. All conventional treatments were exhausted. With the patient’s condition declining, Dr. Azad decided to team up with Cytophage Technologies and pursue phage therapy as a last resort. In this episode, Dr. Azad walks us through this clinical case and highlights how phage therapy offers an alternative approach for targeting infections when antibiotics and surgery fail.

Learn more: https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4915/17/8/1118

0:04 | BEaTS and host introduction
0:20 | What is phage therapy?
0:56 | Introduction to Dr. Marisa Azad
2:52 | What are PJIs?
4:26 | Using phage therapy for a severe case of PJI
7:29 | Making phage therapy possible for this patient in collaboration with Cytophage Technologies
9:26 | Ensuring the safety and efficacy of phage therapy
11:22 | Insights from Dr. Brad Cook from Cytophage Technologies
11:55 | What Dr. Azad has learned throughout the process
13:27 | Science, medicine, and art
14:32 | Concluding remarks

Soundtrack by The Underground Drive. All rights reserved. Listen more:
https://music.apple.com/ca/artist/the-underground-drive/1571062779
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4sCJG8TMQyTZ9FDd1JjJmR

Show Host: Katya Krykunova
Producer: Meghan Walsh
Writer: Sydney Brown, Katya Krykunova
Content generation: Talia LoFaro, Meghan Walsh, Katya Krykunova
Editor: Meghan Walsh, Katya Krykunova, Sydney Brown, Talia LoFaro
Audio post-production: Sydney Brown
Social media coordinator: Talia LoFaro