A Decade Of Scientific Discovery

To celebrate 10 years of discovery and impact, we shine a spotlight on a few of the winners and finalists from Angels Den’s past.

From helping babies breathe more easily to ensuring blood is available the moment a trauma patient arrives at the hospital, Angels Den projects deliver urgently needed solutions to some of the world’s toughest healthcare challenges.

Dr. Jennifer Beck knew there had to be a better way to help sick babies breathe more easily when they can’t breathe on their own. The current practice—placing a mask around a baby’s face and pushing air into its lungs—is not only invasive, it’s potentially damaging.

Her idea? A first-of-its-kind vest, based on technology developed at St. Michael’s by Dr. Christer Sinderby, that applies negative pressure around the baby’s tummy and synchronizes ventilation with the baby’s natural breathing pattern.

Dr. Beck teamed up with Dr. Douglas Campbell, and pitched the concept at the inaugural Angels Den in 2015. They won.

With a major boost of funding and confidence, the scientists quickly moved the idea into a feasibility trial to test the vest and ensure its safety. The results were presented at the PAS International meeting in May 2024. They are now refining the design and planning future trials to test the vest on smaller and sicker babies.

“Our ultimate goal is to help all babies breathe better,” says Dr. Beck. “When we won, it renewed my belief that this project was worth pursuing.”

Clinicians typically use their naked eye to assess a wound before deciding on the best course of treatment and then take a “wait and see” approach to assess if the wound is healing or getting worse. Depending on the wound, patients may need to wait days or even weeks to determine if the treatment is effective, which can lead to further tissue deterioration.

Until now.

Dr. Karen Cross, 2016 winner at Angels Den, has developed a pocket-sized device called the MIMOSA Pro that, in less than a second, gives clinicians the point-of-care insights they need to make more informed clinical decisions about wound treatment, such as tissue oxygenation, temperature and detailed digital images, and accurately track progress over time.

Armed with this data, clinicians are now able to assess wounds more quickly and get patients the right treatment, at the right time. And with MIMOSA’s secure, cloud-based web portal, clinicians can monitor wounds remotely, so they can intervene in a more timely manner. Plus it’s more convenient for patients, who don’t need to come into the clinic as often.

“MIMOSA is building the largest skin imaging dataset that is representative of the entire patient population, as a means to empower clinicians with the best tools and best information so that they can make the right decisions for their patients,” says Dr. Cross.

Anemia is a life-threatening condition that disproportionately impacts expectant mothers and their babies. Most of the time, it’s caused by low iron—an issue that can be easily reversed through iron supplementation.

Dr. Michelle Sholzberg, a hematologist at St. Michael’s Hospital, saw an opportunity to address what she calls a “true global pandemic” at the systemic level through the power of education and advocacy. That’s when IRON MOM was born.

The winning project at Angels Den 2017, IRON MOM raises awareness of anemia and low iron among health providers and women through a website, an app, printed materials and advocacy. As soon as women are identified as having low iron, IRON MOM provides recommendations for supplementation to bring their levels back to normal and decrease the risk of anemia.

IRON MOM has cascaded change in clinical practice, nationally and internationally, with the result that there are fewer women with iron deficiency and more healthy pregnancies and babies.

“Winning Angels Den has ignited a wave of change in women’s health. Our research team is now internationally renowned,” says Dr. Sholzberg.

Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is a common condition that reduces blood flow to the legs. But in more than half of all cases, the condition is diagnosed at an advanced stage—leaving leg amputation as the only remaining treatment option.

That wasn’t an option for vascular surgeon and scientist, Dr. Mohammad Qadura.

Together with his team, Dr. Qadura discovered a biomarker for PAD that can be identified with a simple blood test. Since the win at Angels Den, his team has patented the biomarker and developed a revolutionary blood screening test for PAD.

Now they are designing an international trial for their screening tool. Ultimately, they are aiming to introduce the tool to doctor’s offices and hospitals around the world—helping countless patients avoid loss of limbs.

“So much research starts in the lab and ends in a publication. We didn’t want that. We wanted to take our idea to clinics worldwide. And when you have this kind of support to pursue your passion—it’s phenomenal,” says Dr. Qadura.

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating neurological disease that impacts every patient differently—a reality that can make it tough to predict how individual patients will respond to treatment.

As a neurologist specializing in MS, Dr. Jiwon Oh wanted to change that.

Teaming up with clinical epidemiologist Dr. Tony Antoniou, Dr. Oh presented her winning idea at Angels Den 2019: an AI algorithm that extracts and analyzes patients’ clinical data to inform the design of personalized treatment options.

With studies now underway to test the algorithm’s predictive abilities, it’s already being put to work, helping St. Michael’s clinicians efficiently populate research databases and with other administrative tasks in the clinic.

The innovation isn’t just impacting MS patients at St. Michael’s. With MS clinics from around the world reaching out about implementing the algorithm in their own centres, a global transformation in clinical approaches to MS treatment is on the horizon.

“Many bright and unique ideas often never see the light of day. That’s why a competition like Angels Den is so important. It gives an avenue for smaller but really innovative and game-changing projects to be funded,” says Dr. Oh.

The first 60 minutes—aka the Golden Hour—after a traumatic injury is the most critical. So by the time a trauma patient arrives at the hospital in need of urgent care, every second counts. But it can take up to 10 minutes for life-saving blood to arrive from the blood bank—with every minute putting the patient’s survival at risk.

Dr. Brodie Nolan, a trauma team leader at St. Michael’s, is closing this gap.

Together with Dr. Katerina Pavenski, head of the hospital’s transfusion medicine division, Dr. Nolan is developing a tool that first responders can use to quickly determine whether a trauma patient will need blood upon arrival. Paramedics can then call ahead to ensure the right blood is available at the moment it’s needed.

Competing at Angels Den has had a global ripple effect for the team: it sparked the creation of First60, a growing network of international collaborators dedicated to transforming care in the first 60 minutes after a traumatic injury.

“Angels Den allowed us to move beyond a focus on just one project at one hospital to set up a global network that will transform the future of trauma care,” says Dr. Nolan.

Every day, OBGYNs Dr. Carmen McCaffrey and Dr. Elizabeth Miazga see patients who have been on wait lists for years to receive care for endometriosis—a painful pelvic condition impacting one in 10 women. While they wait, very few of these patients have access to trusted resources, or the private financial means, to help them manage their often agonizing pain.

Together, the physicians came up with a solution to fill this gap: the MyEndo app.

A winning project at Angels Den 2022, MyEndo—currently in development—will create free, 24/7 access to pain management tools proven to be effective for endometriosis. Resources will include pelvic floor physiotherapy sessions, mindfulness courses, information about acupuncture and dietary modifications, and much more.

“Women’s health does not get the attention it deserves. The day we won Angels Den, we felt like people were finally listening. What an incredible feeling!” says Dr. McCaffrey.

Congratulations to all of the Angels Den winners and finalists from the past 10 years! For more information about the 2024 teams and to donate in support of Angels Den, visit angelsden.ca.