Happy Wednesday - Dog-tor Postcall here and ready for a walk through the headlines of the week.

And don't forget to share Postcall with that one friend who looks like they could use a little boost this week (just forward this email, easy)!

Let’s get into the good stuff:

• I'm a (GPU) pearl, in an AI world 🤩 

• What patients might ask this week 🙊 

• Manulife is using saliva for what? 💦 

• Quick bites around the world 🌎️ 

• Hiring highlights 💼 

I'm a (GPU) pearl, in an AI world 🤩 

Welcome to the wild west frontier of AI, where prospectors (a.k.a. investors) pan for semiconductor gold.

What happened: Nvidia, current champion of high-performance computer chips, revealed record-high earnings this quarter of $13.51 billion and expect around $16 billion next quarter (170% higher than last year). Outperforming Wall Street’s projections, their stock has more than tripled. The CEO is so sure their company is still undervalued that they’re planning a $25 billion stock buyback. Some analysts agree, calling Nvidia a “must-have stock.” Others aren’t so sure.

Why all the panic? As the AI boom keeps booming, big companies and little start-ups alike are scrambling for high-quality hardware, leading to a global chip shortage. Nvidia specifically is THE leader in advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) that are perfect for AI tasks, like deep learning and complex calculations.

• There are long wait lists to buy GPUs — or, in some cases, to rent them.

• Countries stockpiling Nvidia's AI chips hasn’t exactly helped. Even China managed to make a $5 billion order, despite the U.S.’s best efforts to jam a wrench in their AI development.

What’s Postcall’s take? The world of AI advancement is high on its own supply (or lack thereof) right now, and, historically, highs lead to comedowns. Plus, this isn’t new territory for the chip industry: just last year we saw a GPU shortage and price drop. Some analysts say Nvidia stock is at risk for a big pullback. On the other hand, the demand for generative AI keeps escalating and so will demand. It’s possible this isn’t hype, but the start of a real tech trend.

What patients might ask this week 🙊 

1. This week, AI helped a brainstem stroke patient speak in their own voice for the first time in 18 years 🧠 

2. It may be tripledemic szn, but it ain’t booster szn yet 💉 . Canada’s Chief Health Officer is asking people to be patient while the Covid booster awaits regulatory approval, which will likely be in late October.

3. Alesse is more: there is a growing trend among women to ditch their OCP over concerns that it interferes with their mood.

4. Eat $hit: researchers have engineered a probiotic in the form of lactate-producing bacteria 🦠 that helped mice with a disease resembling MS to achieve less inflammation in the brain.

It’s All in the Spit 💦 

The insurance company, Manulife, is using personalized medicine to tailor medications to patients with certain mental health conditions.

What happened: Manulife has implemented a saliva test to predict a medication’s effectiveness based on an individual’s genetic composition. The test is at no extra cost and applies to conditions such as depression, anxiety, chronic pain, neurological diseases, and ADHD. The genetic data can be shared with a doctor to streamline decisions surrounding medication type, dose, and risk of adverse events. CYP450andMe, anyone?

Why it's interesting: The pharmacogenomics industry is projected to reach a market size of USD $36.7B by 2030. And it’s no wonder why: this large-scale, multi-country study was one of the first ones to show that pharmacogenetic testing reduces adverse reactions by 30%. There’s even a test out there to figure out if you’re an emotional eater based on your spit - MyPhenome analyzes a set of genes from saliva to determine why someone is predisposed to obesity and matches them with a personalized weight-loss therapy.

Postcall’s take: So, what can possibly go wrong with giving your genes to an insurance company? Not long ago police tracked down the suspected Golden State Killer in April 2018 by uploading crime-scene DNA to GEDmatch, a public ancestry database. This raises the question: what will DNA data privacy look like in the age of precision medicine? The last thing we want is for patients to get labelled with pre-existing conditions because of a few bad genes.

Bottom line: Encrypt that spit! That being said, how amazing would it be if we got your antidepressants right the first time?

Details at Insurance Business

🍔 Quick (Global) Bites

1: 🇮🇳 India just become the fourth country to land on the moon. The Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft — the first ever to land on the moon’s South Pole — cost around $75 million (for comparison, the movie budget for Gravity was $100M and they didn’t even land successfully).

2: 🇨🇦 Canada is witnessing a significant increase in international students, with around 900,000 expected this year, leading to concerns about housing and the integrity of the immigration system.

3: 🇷🇺 A new report from the RCMP shows cybercrime (often targeting hospitals) on the rise. Some incidents disrupt the ability to care for patients, like in December 2022 when patients at SickKids hospital in Toronto experienced diagnostic or treatment delays.

4: 🇯🇵 Japan started the release of 1M metric tons of radioactive water (contaminated with radioactive material during the 2011 earthquake). The IAEA said the water has met international standards, but 🇨🇳 China is still worried about Godzilla.

5: 🇺🇸 Love 🟩🟨⬜️⬜️🟩? Say hello to NYT’s newest game Connections. You still need to like words.

6: 🌎️ Scientists have fully sequenced the DNA of the Y chromosome. This opens doors to research into male health problems, including infertility, cancer, and heart disease.

Job Opportunities 💼 

Role: Physician Cosmetic Injector

• Location: Vancouver, BC

• Compensation: $500,000+

• Contact here

Role: Family Physician

• Location: Oshawa, ON (Glazier Medical)

• Compensation: $300k - 400k (FFS)

• Apply here

Role: Ophthalmologist (Glaucoma)

• Location: London, ON (Ivey Eye Institute)

• Compensation: Unlisted (APP + FFS)

• Learn more

Role: Anesthesiology

• Location: Bridgewater, NS (South Shore Regional Hospital)

• Compensation: $300k - $350k

• Apply here

Role: Family Medicine (Locum)

• Location: Spryfield, NS (DFM Spryfield Clinic)

• Compensation: $250k - $300k

• Apply here 

Take your horse to the old town road 🐽 
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