Hockey legend Mats Sundin thrills fans at UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre
Former Toronto Maple Leafs captain Mats Sundin launched his new memoir,
Home and Away, at UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, paying tribute to hard-working staff and patients, as well as to his friend and fellow-Swede, Dr. Jonas Mattsson.
Mats befriended Dr. Mattsson when the latter was recruited to be Director of the Hans Messner Allogeneic Transplant Program at the Princess Margaret, Canada's largest stem cell program, in 2018.
"There is no better place to start this book tour than the Princess Margaret," said Sundin, who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League, including 10 as captain of the Maple Leafs. "There are some tough battles going on here.
"It's a reality check for a lot of players who feel pressure in hockey. You come out and meet people who are going through really tough times and the hospitals that do some really great work."
Dozens of patients and their family members attended the book launch, thrilled to meet one of the Leafs' greats and receive signed copies of his book. After the signing, Sundin toured the Hans Messner Allogeneic Transplant Program and met some in-patients still recovering from stem cell transplants, who donned hockey jerseys for the occasion.
Born and raised in the suburbs of Stockholm, Sundin made history when he became the first European player to be selected No. 1 overall in the 1989 NHL draft. After four seasons playing with the Quebec Nordiques, he was traded to Toronto. He stands as the all-time Leafs leader in goals and points, and the longest-serving NHL captain not born in North America.
In
Home and Away, Sundin chronicles his time with several luminaries of the sport, including late NHL legends Pat Quinn, fellow Swede and mentor Börje Salming, and Guy Lafleur.
"As impressive as all of his stats are, what Mats is most revered for is being an extraordinary leader," said Dr. Brad Wouters, Executive Vice President of Science and Research at UHN, who introduced him at the launch in October. "At a time when some in North America questioned European commitment to the game, Mats became one of the strongest captains in the history of the NHL, who many times carried the team on his back."
Dr. Mattsson expressed gratitude to the hockey great for bringing positivity and energy into the cancer centre.
"Here we like to talk about hope," said Dr. Mattsson. "The field of cancer is changing constantly and cancer patients can live a good life."
Sundin's book is written with best-seeing author Amy Stuart and published by Simon and Schuster.
UHN Foundation's Grand Cru raises $38 million at 20th anniversary event
UHN Foundation's Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival celebrated its 20th anniversary in spectacular style, raising a record-breaking $38 million to support UHN's new surgical tower at Toronto Western Hospital.
This includes a transformative $30 million donation from John and Rosella D'Angelo, Giuseppe and Lidia Maio, and Claudio and Gina Memme in partnership with HBNG Charitable Foundation, marking the largest donation to date to the $300 million tower campaign.
The three-day celebration opened with an unforgettable night at Toronto's Enercare Centre, where more than 5,000 attendees including, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Toronto Raptor Kelly Olynyk and actor Eric Braeden, joined for a Halpern Portfolio Tasting and a record-breaking live auction. Standout auction items included exclusive art by Mr. Brainwash and Edward Burtynsky, a Rolls-Royce Spectre, rare wines, and much more.
Grand Cru's founder, Todd Halpern, a UHN Trustee and UHN Foundation Board Member, reflected on the extraordinary impact the event has had on health care advancement at UHN over the past two decades.
"Thanks to the incredible generosity of the D'Angelo, Maio, and Memme families and events like Grand Cru, we're witnessing the future of health care transform in real time," he said. "The new surgical tower will reshape the health care landscape not just for Toronto, but globally.
"I can't imagine a more important cause for Grand Cru to support, and I'm so proud of the impact our event has had on health care over the last 20 years."
Over the weekend, 19 private homes across Toronto and the GTA hosted Exclusive Wine & Dine Experiences with some of the world's most celebrated chefs, including multi-Michelin-starred Daniel Boulud (Daniel), top chef Sash Simpson (Sash), and Eron and Elena Novalski (Noce, Aria). Each chef crafted custom menus paired with wines from international producers featured in the Halpern Portfolio, creating unforgettable culinary experiences.
Todd Halpern and his wife, Ellen, hosted one of these exclusive dinners at their home, where they raised an incredible $1.15 million in donations for a piece of art by Jane Waterous. The piece, titled One World, will eventually be put on display in the new surgical tower upon its completion in 2028.
"We are deeply grateful to our donors, sponsors, volunteers, and all who came together to make this milestone event possible," said Julie Quenneville, CEO of UHN Foundation. "Having raised $170 million since its inception, Grand Cru's 20-year legacy is a testament to the power of community, and to Todd Halpern's vision that together we can help Canada's No. 1 hospital transform health care."
Special thanks to event sponsors including Grand Touring Automobiles, American Express, CIBC, BMO and Miele among others. For more information about UHN Grand Cru Culinary Wine Festival, please visit
grandcru.ca.
Michener Institute respiratory therapy students celebrate stethoscope ceremony
Second-year respiratory therapy students have taken part in one of longest standing traditions at the Michener Institute of Education at UHN — the 18th annual stethoscope ceremony.
In this ceremony, which took place at the end of National Respiratory Therapy Week that ran Oct. 20 to 26, students officially receive their stethoscopes with faculty, alumni and family members cheering them on. Students also recite the Respiratory Therapy Student Oath to commit to caring for patients and their community in the best way possible.
"Receiving our stethoscopes is a rite of passage for the students in my program," respiratory therapy student Taylor Brown said of the event. "I'm honoured to be part of this ceremony in front of my friends and family."
As a symbolic step forward in the respiratory therapy program, the ceremony is also an opportunity to remind students why they entered health care and to reflect on the ways that respiratory therapists make a difference in patients' lives.
"RTs are heroes, and they meet patients at the most vulnerable time," says Kelly Arndt, Manager of Quality and Practice at the College of Respiratory Therapists on Ontario and a guest speaker at the event. "The students in this ceremony will save countless lives in the future."
UHN's
Diwali – A Night to Shine raises more than $2 million
UHN Foundation's
Diwali – A Night to Shine presented by Sprott celebrated a record-breaking year raising more than $2 million for UHN's most urgent health care needs.
The sold-out event took place on Oct. 5 at Beanfield Centre and brought together nearly 600 guests to celebrate Diwali, the vibrant South Asian festival of lights, and the role women play in driving medical innovation across UHN.
"We are truly humbled by the overwhelming support and generosity shown at this year's UHN
Diwali – A Night to Shine, presented by Sprott," said co-chairs Vinny Bhathal and Sanjay Nakra in a joint statement. "It's an honour to co-chair this event and witness the incredible commitment of our community to UHN's mission."
Hosted by Sangita Patel, the evening was a showcase of South Asian culture, featuring live entertainment, exquisite cuisine, and a spotlight on UHN's first all-female surgical team to perform a lung transplant. Sangita reflected on her own personal health care journey, emphasizing the impact of donor support on advancing medical innovation.
"It is an absolute honour to be part of such an important event for UHN, a place that holds a special place in my heart," she said. "The generosity of our community tonight ensures that life-saving advancements continue to thrive for future generations, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to play a part in it through celebrating Diwali."
Kevin Hibbert, UHN Foundation Board Member and Chief Financial Officer and Senior Managing Partner at Sprott Inc., reflected on the evening's success, stating, "Sprott Inc. is proud to partner with UHN Foundation in advancing health care excellence. The energy and generosity displayed tonight are a testament to what we can achieve together."
This year's event brought the total funds raised by UHN's Diwali event to more than $15 million since its inception in 2011. Generous sponsors included Adrak by MJAJ Hospitality and The Krembil Foundation among others, along with media partners ATN, Y Media and Dolce.
"I am incredibly proud of what we accomplished at this year's
Diwali – A Night to Shine," said Julie Quenneville, CEO of UHN Foundation. "A heartfelt thank you to our co-chairs Vinny Bhathal and Sanjay Nakra, Kevin Hibbert and our presenting sponsor Sprott Inc., Sangita Patel, and our organizing committee and volunteers for leading us through such a memorable evening.
"The outpouring of generosity from our community serves as an inspiration and a reminder that together, we are helping Canada's No. 1 hospital continue to do what's never been done in health care."
For more information on how to support UHN Foundation, please visit
UHNDiwaliGala.ca.
UHN's inaugural Commercialization & Partnering Showcase
Commercialization at UHN held the inaugural
UHNLeashed Commercialization and Partnering Showcase last month, bringing together more than 200 life science industry leaders and investors to learn about the latest initiatives, resources, innovations and partnership opportunities.
Featuring keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and a panel on harnessing the power of AI and Data in health care,
UHNLeashed served to inform and engage potential partnerships to advance commercially promising research.
The event also included the public launch of UHN's new Accelerator Fund, with presentations from the inaugural recipients, Drs. Sarah Crome, Pamela Ohashi and Shin Ogawa.
Other event highlights included a presentation of investment-ready life science opportunities; presentations featuring UHN companies and new ventures; an overview of UHN's vast capacity and resources for product development partnerships; and a day-long partnering cafe that activated critical partnerships between researchers, investors and industry.
The Jay & Sari Sonshine Centre opens at Toronto Western Hospital
A new centre dedicated to stroke prevention and cerebrovascular brain health clinical work, education and research has opened at UHN's Toronto Western Hospital.
The Jay & Sari Sonshine Centre for Stroke Prevention and Cerebrovascular Brain Health is the first in Canada to apply lifestyle medicine — an evidence-based medical discipline focused on the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions — in its clinical service to clients.
The new centre, which opened on Oct. 8, was made possible through a $10 million donation from philanthropists Jay and Sari Sonshine last year. It's the largest gift to the Stroke Program at UHN.
"Having our name associated with such an incredible team of dedicated specialists and the Toronto Western Hospital is truly an honour for us," said Jay Sonshine, who was joined by his family at the opening event, which was organized by UHN Foundation. "We've been so impressed with the thoughtful and holistic approach [in the centre's work on stroke prevention] and to see it in practice is unbelievable."
According to the most recent data on the global burden of disease, stroke remains the second leading cause of death and the leading cause of disability worldwide. It has also become more prevalent in the past decade among the working population.
Dr. Aleksandra Pikula, the inaugural Jay and Sari Sonshine Chair in Stroke Prevention and Cerebrovascular Brain Health, oversees Sonshine Centre's work. She is also the Director of the Stroke Neurology Research Program at UHN, a stroke neurology and lifestyle medicine specialist.
She said the vision is to turn it into a world-renowned centre specializing in lifestyle medicine and stroke prevention, and to share its science, knowledge and insights with local and global communities.
"My vision has always been to establish a stroke prevention program that is embedded within the community, rather than being confined to hospitals only," Dr. Pikula said at the opening. "With the generous funds you have provided, I am confident we will transform the implementation of integrative stroke prevention care within our community."
Dr. Leanne Casaubon, Medical Director of UHN Stroke Program and Co-Founder of the Sonshine Centre, added: "We now can move forward in a space that we really own and share what we learn and develop here with the world."
The Princess Margaret co-leading global commission to focus on 'human crisis' in cancer
At the invitation of the journal
The Lancet Oncology, UHN's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre is co-leading a global commission to address the "human crisis" in cancer, developing recommendations that focus on the psychological, social and cultural needs of patients and health care providers.
The global commission, which met recently in Toronto, acknowledged that while medical treatments have improved for many kinds of cancers in recent decades, the human dimensions of cancer care have not kept up.
"We are proud to be co-leading this effort," says Dr. Gary Rodin, Director of the Global Institute of Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care (GIPPEC) and the Cancer Experience Program at the Princess Margaret. "The human crisis in cancer care around the world means, in fact, that palliative care is not available to many people who need it, and training in psychological care is not routinely available to cancer care providers in most parts of the world."
Dr. Rodin is co-leading the commission with Dr. Richard Sullivan, Director of the Institute of Cancer Policy at King's College, London.
Multiple factors are causing this "human crisis" of cancer around the world, the commission heard.
In part, the problem has been caused by an alarming rise in cancer prevalence, with more than 18 million cancer cases diagnosed globally in 2020 and an almost 50 per cent increase in prevalence expected in the next two decades.
The growing complexity, cost, technologization, specialization, and economics of cancer care have also heightened the global imbalance in attention to the human dimensions of cancer care.
This interdisciplinary commission team includes experts from medical and surgical oncology, clinical epidemiology, cultural anthropology, public health policy, health economics, nursing, psychosocial and palliative care.
More than a dozen members from nine different countries convened in Toronto on Oct. 17 to 18 at the University of Toronto Faculty Club to discuss interim progress and to brainstorm solutions.
Presenters shared data on potential determinants of the human crisis of cancer, including: fragmented systems of cancer care, inadequate access to mental health and palliative care, commercialization and financial toxicity, imbalanced medical education curricula and inattention to the sociocultural context of cancer care.
The Commission will develop recommendations for change.
"While spectacular medical progress in recent decades has made many cancers treatable and controllable, the dehumanization of health care has emerged as a critical concern in contemporary cancer care," noted Dr. Karla Unger, Research Investigator at the National Institute of Cancerology in Mexico City.
Scheduled to launch in 2025, the Commission report will put a spotlight on this human crisis at a critical tipping point and has the potential to change the global narrative on person-centred cancer care.
