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people with congenital heart disease of a patient’s hip bone the morning you’re often going to be surprised.” Operating room
who are transitioning to adult cardiac of the operation. While the patient In addition to being a successful nurse Sarah Lo
care, and an antioxidant cocktail is undergoing heart bypass surgery, (pictured in red
made up of beta carotene, ascorbic the cells are taken to a lab right applicant, Dr. Yau is also a member of
acid and red apple skin that prevents in the operating room and put the Innovation Committee (members cap) prepares
radiation damage during X-rays. through a process to isolate “a very can pitch ideas themselves, but a catheter that
particular kind of stem cell that’s have to excuse themselves from
One requirement of the Innovation good at improving blood flow and the decision-making for their own is used by a
Fund process is that projects must heart function,” says Dr. Yau. projects). Despite the fact that the multidisciplinary
be submitted to the Ontario Health renal denervation procedure didn’t
Technology Assessment Committee “During heart bypass surgery, and work, Dr. Yau says he’s glad the surgical team
(OHTAC), which decides if new before we take the patient off the committee funded it, “because, frankly, (right) to repair
treatments are safe and effective. If bypass machine, we inject the stem otherwise we wouldn’t have known.” an abdominal
OHTAC supports the use of a new cells directly into the heart,” he aortic aneurysm.
device or drug, the Ministry of Health says, to strengthen areas that have “If you’re batting a thousand, then
will usually provide funding. been damaged by a heart attack. you’re probably not funding a lot of stuff
that you should have funded,” says Dr.
It’s another example of how the After receiving $90,000 from the Yau. “If you only go for the short bets,
Innovation Fund helps to get leading- Innovation Fund, a pilot study was you’ll miss out on a lot of opportunities.”
edge devices and drugs into the system, conducted with 20 patients at the
says Dr. Rakowski. For example, the PMCC and 20 more at Maisonneuve- Funding the future
OHTAC has given the PMCC about Rosemont Hospital in Montreal.
$2-million to fund the valves and stents The procedure was found to be The unique approach of the Innovation
used during the TAVI procedure. safe and feasible, says Dr. Yau, but Committee has drawn interest from
did it improve heart function? the wider medical community, says Dr.
One of the Innovation Fund’s Rakowski, and he’s been approached
latest successes has to do with “In some of the outcomes assessing by organizations who are hoping to
what many believe is the next how well the heart squeezes, the create an innovation fund of their own.
frontier in treating cardiovascular improvement is so dramatic, to the
disease – regenerative medicine. point where even I said, ‘Really?’” “We are in the process of writing
says Dr. Yau. “We will be doing up our experience for a scientific
Hits and misses more studies to confirm that, but publication as a potential model
it’s a surprisingly positive result.” for others to emulate,” he says.
Can stem cells really repair a broken
heart? While results like this show just how When it comes to funding, Dr.
beneficial the Innovation Fund can Rakowski says he hopes the Innovation
That’s the question Dr. Terence be, failure can sometimes be equally Fund will be around for the long haul.
Yau was looking to answer when he important, points out Dr. Rakowski. With an 80-20 success rate, they are
proposed his next-generation stem proving their ability to recognize true
cell therapy project to the Peter Munk An early example of an Innovation innovation and help bring it to fruition.
Cardiac Centre Innovation Committee. Fund project that failed was a renal
As a cardiovascular surgeon at the denervation procedure, where you “We’d like to have three to five years
PMCC, Dr. Yau had come up with a new “burn the nerve around the artery to of sustainable funding,” says Dr.
way to utilize a patient’s own stem cells the kidney for people with severe high Rakowski. “And I think the success
to improve the patient’s heart function blood pressure,” says Dr. Rakowski. we’ve had so far is important for donors
after bypass surgery. And it could because they like to see there is benefit
happen right in the operating room. “Of everything we funded, this was for the money they give,” he says.
the no-brainer. We knew it was going
With this therapy, stem cells are to work,” he says. “And it didn’t. That is “If you look at that bang--the-buck
harvested from the bone marrow what’s so interesting about innovation. concept, I think we’ve done pretty
If you go in with a preconceived idea, well.”
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Peter Munk Cardiac Centre
