Artwork celebrating Gelareh Zadeh, 2023 Canada Gairdner Momentum Award Laureate

Описание: Time-lapse of mixed-media work created by Kindra Crick to celebrate Gelareh Zadeh for advancing our molecular and genomic understanding of brain tumors and for her 2023 Gairdner Award.

Crick’s Cerebral Wilderness series explores the brain as a wilderness transformed by scientific discovery.

It was long believed that the blood-brain barrier completely walled off the brain’s tissue from the tendrils of blood vessels that fuel the brain. Before Zadeh’s discovery, it was assumed it would not be possible to detect any brain cancers with a blood test because of this perceived impermeability.

Zadeh worked to develop a test sensitive enough to pick up the smallest amounts of circulating tumor DNA with highly specific biomarkers in the blood; we now have a new, non-invasive way of detecting and discriminating between common brain tumors.

By challenging the assumption that the blood brain barrier was impenetrable, and comprehensively characterizing different brain tumor types, Zadeh’s work transformed the landscape in the diagnosis and clinical management of brain tumors, giving hope to individuals affected by brain cancer.

Crick is drawn to a quote by Daniel Boorstin stating, “The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge.”

Our mapped knowledge is provisional and by scrutinizing what we think we know may lead to “Something Long Thought Impossible”, a quote by Zadeh from a 2020 University Health Network press release, and the title of this artwork.