Meet the woman who wants to cure brain cancer

Your Complex Brain

Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive type of malignant brain tumour.
It strikes suddenly, often in the prime of life, and is a devastating diagnosis for patients and loved ones. But innovative new research, such as a blood test to detect and diagnose brain cancer, is showing promise and bringing hope to a field in desperate need of new treatment options.
To learn more, Heather meets with Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, a neurosurgeon and scientist on a mission to cure brain cancer. Together they discuss Dr. Zadeh’s efforts to improve quality of life and long-term outcomes, for patients. Dr. Zadeh explains how the science has evolved in the 20 years since she started her career and notes that she is optimistic that there could be a major breakthrough in brain cancer treatment in our lifetime.
At the top of the show, we hear from Rick Arkell, who lost his beloved wife Ally to brain cancer when she was just 35 years old. Later, we meet Dr. Farshad Nassiri, a senior neurosurgery resident at Krembil Brain Institute. Dr. Nassiri, a student of Dr. Zadeh’s, was involved in the development of a blood test to detect and diagnose brain cancer.
Featuring:
Dr. Gelareh Zadeh is Medical Director of Krembil Brain Institute. She is also the head of Neurosurgery at UHN, and the head of Surgical Oncology and a Senior Scientist at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre.
Special thanks to Rick Arkell and Farshad Nassiri for sharing their stories.
To hear more about Rick & Ally’s story and about how Rick is carrying on Ally’s legacy by raising money for brain cancer research, click here: https://www.uhn.ca/Krembil/Complex-Brain-Podcast
Additional Resources:
Krembil Brain Institute – Brain Tumour Clinics
UHN Foundation – Support Krembil Brain Institute
Brain Canada Foundation
Ontario Brain Institute
Brain Cancer Canada
Brain Tumour Canada
Dr. Zadeh featured in Krembil Brain Institute magazine (2021)
Videos:
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The Your Complex Brain production team is Heather Sherman, Jessica Schmidt, Dr. Amy Ma, Kim Perry, Alley Wilson, Sara Yuan, Meagan Anderi, Liz Chapman, and Lorna Gilfedder.
The Krembil Brain Institute, part of University Health Network, in Toronto, is home to one of the world's largest and most comprehensive teams of physicians and scientists uniquely working hand-in-hand to prevent and confront problems of the brain and spine, such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, epilepsy, stroke, spinal cord injury, chronic pain, brain cancer or concussion, in their lifetime. Through state-of-the-art patient care and advanced research, we are working relentlessly toward finding new treatments and cures.
Do you want to know more about the Krembil Brain Institute at UHN? Visit us at: uhn.ca/krembil
To get in touch, email us at [e-mail] or message us on social media:
Instagram - @krembilresearch
Twitter - @KBI_UHN
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/KrembilBrainInstitute
Thanks for listening!