Magellan Biomedical is a medical device company based in Toronto working on a problem that has been hiding in plain sight for almost a century. The fundamental tools used in cardiac catheterization have not meaningfully changed since 1929, and in some of the most critical procedures, conventional tools fail up to twenty percent of the time.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with co-founder and CEO Ali Tavallaei about a device called the CAT Pilot, which gives surgeons precise local control over the tip of a catheter during minimally invasive cardiovascular procedures. Where conventional tools achieve roughly a twelve percent success rate crossing arterial occlusions, the CAT Pilot achieves ninety-two percent. Ali walks through how the technology works, how the company spun out of Sunnybrook Research Institute, and why he believes an acquisition is a likely outcome once FDA approval is secured.

This is a conversation about a long overdue disruption to a standard medical procedure, and a small Canadian team that decided to do something about it.

Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan is Vice President of Research (Life Sciences) at the National Research Council of Canada, one of the country's most influential science organizations in the country. The NRC connects industry, academia, and government to drive innovation and often is quietly behind-the-scenes helping steer some of the most significant advances in Canadian Life Sciences.

In this episode, Jim Wilson speaks with Lakshmi about her journey that began in Chennai, India, wound through New Delhi, Edmonton, and Ottawa, and eventually lead to her becoming one of the most senior leaders in the Canadian Life Sciences community.

Lakshmi shares insights about the mentors and unexpected moments that have helped shape her path, what it was like to lead the NRC's Life Sciences division through the COVID pandemic, and why she believes Canada is at a turning point in its ability to build and commercialize world-class science.

Today we reach into the archive to rebroadcast our interview with Maura Campbell, President & CEO of OBIO.

Maura is one of the key leaders in Canada's life sciences community and it was a pleasure to speak with her. Listen in as she shares her thoughts on surviving a severe car accident, some of the obstacles she has faced as a woman working in life sciences, the disappointment of doing everything right but still having a company fail, and how keeping an open mind is important to success.