Tak Mak loves him some science
Renowned immunologist and cancer biologist Dr. Tak Mak got the discussion off to an enthusiastic start on May 27th at MaRS when he characterized what it was that “got him out of bed in the morning”?:
“I get to scrounge around the biggest candy store in the world — that is Science,”? Dr. Mak, Senior Scientist at Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, told an audience of 240 gathered for MaRS’ inaugural Science at the Summit event.
Dubbed a “scientific vagabond” in a 2003 profile in Nature Medicine, Dr. Mak and his “scrounging” has yielded a series of key discoveries that have influenced the worldwide path of medical research — as have the efforts of all his colleagues at Science at the Summit.
Dr. Mak was one of four scientists featured in a public discussion aimed at inspiring and engaging the public in Ontario’s leading-edge medical research. Each participant is a winner of the $5 million Premier’s Summit Award, Canada’s largest prize awarded for medical research excellence: Dr. John Dick, University Health Network; Dr. Tak Mak, Princess Margaret Hospital, UHN; Dr. Stephen Scherer, The Hospital for Sick Children; and Dr. Frances Shepherd, Princess Margaret Hospital, UHN.
University of Toronto President Dr. David Naylor offered his considerable skill as moderator, guiding the discussion from personal motivation and Eureka! moments to trends in diagnostics and informatics, and the emergence of personalized medicine.
Each of the scientists spoke broadly and eloquently about the impact of research and the advances in technology that are changing the way we understand, diagnose, treat and prevent disease.
For CBC News Express journalist Sheila Whyte, the wide-ranging discussion was illuminating.
“I really enjoyed the Summit, a most unusual gathering. First there’s the “Wow” factor, being in a room with five of the top scientists in the world, all of whom work within a kilometre of each other in Toronto,” Whyte said in an email exchange following the event. “A gathering like that gives someone like me a more powerful sense of the stage we’re at in various fields, something you just can’t get in a [media] report.
“Seeing scientists who do this sort of thing in the flesh is so much more relevant. And when they spoke of the need to keep a profile up so that funding would keep coming I thought how much better it is to actually see them, rather than hear about them.”
Whyte went on to note that, like Canada’s astronauts and space program in general, the overall profile for medical research would only be strengthened if scientists could spend more time out of the lab.
“It’s a huge challenge to raise public awareness for a field that requires so many years of research to produce the kind of results it has,” she recognized. “Still, I was so knocked out by being in their company, I wonder, shouldn’t they be out there more among non-scientists?”
Hear, hear.
More information
- Premier’s Summit Award winners – videos, information booklet downloads, photos
- Photos of Science at the Summit on Flickr
- Catch the highlights airing this fall on CBC Radio’s Ideas.
- Dr. Frances Shepherd
- Dr. John Dick
- Dr. Stephen Scherer
- Dr. Tak Mak
- Stay tuned for podcast of this event!
Linda Quattrin was a newspaper reporter and editor before applying her interest in science as communications director at Robarts Research Institute. A member of the Canadian Science Writers Association, she is responsible for media relations and corporate communications at MaRS.
