University of California, Davis: ‘Unfold’ Podcast Launches Season 4 Focused on Health

Season 4 of Unfold, a UC Davis podcast, explores the most cutting-edge technologies and treatments that help advance the health of both people and animals. Join public radio veterans and Unfold hosts Amy Quinton and Marianne Russ Sharp as they unfold stories about the people and animals affected the most by this research.

In Season 4 they’ll tell the story of a courageous couple going through the first human clinical trial that combines surgery and stem cells to treat their developing baby’s spina bifida. You’ll hear how veterinarians and physicians are working together to fight cancer. Amputees often abandon their high-tech prosthetic devices. But surgeons and engineers are now working together to solve that problem, making the devices more intuitive for users. You’ll hear lots of remarkable and hopeful stories about health in Season 4 of Unfold.

The season’s first episode, “Hope for a Spina Bifida Cure, Part 1,” launches today (Oct. 4). It examines the first clinical trial using surgery and stem cells to treat bulldogs with spina bifida. Without treatment, bulldogs born with the spinal defect are often euthanized.

You’ll meet Myrtle, an English bulldog with spina bifida enrolled in the clinical trial. Her owner, Katie Teykaerts, adopted Myrtle despite her health challenges. You’ll also hear about groundbreaking “magic stem cell juice” and lambs with spina bifida who can now walk.