Available to stream: November 7, 2023 12:01 am - November 21, 2023 11:59 pm EST

THE HUMAN TRIAL

Would you go first?
A Presentation for Parliament Hill
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About the Film
FAQ

In 2011, Lisa Hepner and her husband Guy Mossman heard about a radical stem cell treatment for diabetes, a disease that shockingly kills more than five million people each year. Driven by a desire to cure Lisa of her own type 1 diabetes (T1D), the filmmakers were given unprecedented, real-time access to a clinical trial — only the sixth-ever embryonic stem cell trial in the world. What follows is an intimate journey with the patients and scientists who put themselves on the line to be first.

For seven years, Lisa and Guy embedded themselves with a biotech company in San Diego. They filmed the researchers’ triumphs and failures in the lab, following them from Tokyo to Riyadh as they raised money to keep their trial going. At the same time, the husband/wife team followed two patients, the self-described “guinea pigs” at the University of Minnesota. Combining these two points of view, the filmmakers reveal the emotional and physical rollercoaster that scientists and patients go through as they travel along the road to a cure for disease.

À PROPOS DU FILM

En 2011, Lisa Hepner et son conjoint Guy Mossman ont entendu parler d’un traitement radical par cellules souches contre le diabète, une maladie qui tue chaque année plus de cinq millions de personnes. Animés par le désir de guérir Lisa de son propre diabète de type 1 (T1D), les cinéastes ont eu droit à un accès sans précédent et en temps réel à un essai clinique, le sixième essai à l’aide de cellules souches provenant d’embryons jamais mené dans le monde. La suite constitue un cheminement intime auprès des patients et des chercheurs qui mettent leur vie en jeu afin d’être les premiers.

Pendant sept ans, Lisa et Guy se sont insérés dans une entreprise de biotechnologie de San Diego. Ils ont filmé les triomphes et échecs des chercheurs en laboratoire, les ont suivi de Tokyo à Riyadh alors qu’ils amassaient des fonds pour la survie de leur essai. En même temps, le couple de cinéastes suivait deux patients, qui se décrivaient eux-mêmes comme « cobayes » à l’Université du Minnesota. En combinant ces deux points de vue, les cinéastes dévoilent les hauts et les bas, tant physiques que qu’émotifs, que vivent les chercheurs et les patients dans leur longue quête d’une cure pour cette maladie.

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Impact de ROCO
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