Rubin Speaks
A Set Of Podcasts By Dr. Rubin Pillay – Ph.D., M.D., M.B.A, M.Sc, BSc(Hon)Pharm
The personal EKG and the dawn of life-saving medical devices in your pocket
This episode marks the end of season one of Game Changers in Medicine, and we felt there was no better way to wrap up the show than interviewing a modern-day game changer. In this episode, you’ll hear directly from Dr. David Albert, inventor of...
Insulin: The bonus episode
Last month's episode focused on the incredible twists and turns that resulted in Dr. Frederick Banting’s discovery of insulin in the early 1920s. Today, we’ll hear more from our expert panelists. Dr. Jay Skyler of the Diabetes Research Institute shares anecdotes from...
Insulin: The lucky coin toss and improbable partnership that led to this life-saving elixir
Currently, more than 460 million people have some form diabetes. However, what was once a life-threatening disease is now a manageable condition thanks to the discovery of insulin. In today’s episode you’ll meet the young Canadian surgeon, Dr. Frederick Banting, and...
X-Rays: This invisible diagnostic light was born in the dark 125 years ago
Photographs. Sometimes they capture a moment. Sometimes they tell a story. And sometimes, a photograph can change the world. This month, join us as we revisit the discovery of the x-ray and how it would change patient care forever. How do x-rays work? And how did the...
Warfarin: How a rat poison became one of the world’s most widely prescribed drugs
In the 1930s, an unknown disease was killing cattle across the Midwest. One Wisconsin farmer traveled 200 miles through a blizzard to the University of Wisconsin, desperate to find a solution. To emphasize the dire nature of the situation, that farmer brought the...
Smallpox Vaccine: The bonus episode
In our recent episode on the discovery of the smallpox vaccine, we were fortunate to hear from several noted doctors and virologists. They shared their expertise on how vaccines work and offered predictions for when we might have a vaccine for COVID-19. They were very...
Smallpox Vaccine: Why the world’s first vaccine matters now
You may have heard the story of Edward Jenner, the milkmaids, and the discovery of the smallpox vaccine. But is that story really true? In today’s episode, Dr. Pillay pulls back the curtain to reveal some little-known serendipity behind the discovery of the world’s...
Vitamin K: This vitamin you’ve never heard of may have saved your life
Babies were dying of a strange bleeding disorder and doctors couldn’t figure out why. In our premiere episode, “Vitamin K: This vitamin you’ve never heard of may have saved your life,” we learn how Henrik Dam, a biochemist studying cholesterol in baby chicks,...
What is “Game Changers in Medicine?”
Game Changers in Medicine is a groundbreaking medical history podcast about the serendipitous events, chance encounters, and unlikely heroes and heroines behind some of the world’s most significant medical discoveries. Through oral histories, memoirs, and other...