Angels Den awards $700,000 to medical innovators

TORONTO – St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation’s Angels Den, presented by RBC Capital Markets, has awarded $700,000 in critical funding prizes to medical industry innovators. This year’s event raised more than $1.8 million to support the St. Michael’s Hospital Research Institute.

Six teams took the stage at Koerner Hall to pitch their ideas to judges, jurors and a packed house of supporters. Behind every pitch is a bigger story: the patients who inspired them, the challenges that shaped their work, and the commitment to find a better way.

This year’s judges were business journalist Amanda Lang, science communicator Dan Riskin, and venture capitalist Bruce Croxon.

Angels Den 2026 Winners

• $200,000 Keenan Award for Medical Discovery and $100,000 Canada Life People’s Choice Award
  Tailored kidney cancer treatment: Dr. Rola Saleeb and Dr. Ken Pace won for a new way to test kidney cancer treatments on patients’ tumour samples to help doctors identify which therapies are most likely to work.
• $200,000 Mitchell Award for Health System Innovation
  Navigating ICU risk in real time: Dr. Bijan Teja and Dr. Michael Sklar won for their AI tool that monitors critically ill patients and gives ICU teams a chance to intervene before a life-threatening crisis.

Thanks to the Second Mountain Foundation Momentum Awards and Catalyst sponsors, all runner-up teams walked away with $50,000 in research funding.

Bold ideas need support to see the light of day. Over 12 years, Angels Den has awarded over $7.3 million in funding, supported 101 research projects, sparked 10 spin-off companies, attracted an additional $57+ million in external funding, supported 12 PhD students, and launched 40 new treatments, tests, and tools that are improving Canadian healthcare.

“Some of St. Mike’s biggest breakthroughs got their start on the Angels Den stage. Today, they’re advancing sepsis detection, bringing AI innovations closer to Canadians, and making world-first remote robotic brain surgery a reality,” said Melissa Martin (pictured), co-chair of Angels Den and chair of the St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation Board. “Behind every breakthrough are people who refused to give up, and donors who gave them the chance to keep going. When we say, ‘who we are is why we can,’ this is what we mean.”

Explore the winners’ and finalists’ stories, bios and videos at angelsden.ca.

About St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation
St. Michael’s Hospital Foundation has a bold vision: Exceptional care. For everyone. In every critical moment. Without exception. Our supporters fund groundbreaking research, life-saving equipment, state-of-the-art spaces and efforts that uplift our most marginalized community members.

St. Mike’s is a hospital powered by people. People who rise when the stakes are highest to give every patient, every family, every possible chance. Doctors. Surgeons. Nurses. Scientists. Donors. All bound by the same ethos: Be compassionate. Be innovative. Be committed. Be relentless. Be like mike.

About RBC Capital Markets
The most significant corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, private equity firms and governments around the globe recognize RBC Capital Markets as an innovative, trusted partner with in-depth expertise in capital markets, banking and finance. We are well-established in the largest, most mature capital markets across North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, which collectively encompasses 80% of the global investment banking fee pool. RBC Capital Markets is part of a leading provider of financial services, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC). Founded in 1864, RBC is Canada’s biggest bank and one of the largest in the world based on market capitalization. With a strong capital base and consistent financial performance, RBC is among a small group of highly rated global banks. Learn more at rbccm.com.