Meet Kiera

Engram Innovations co-founder, Dr. Andrew Frank, is a Cognitive Behavioural Neurologist and researcher at Bruyère Memory Program at the Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital in Ottawa, Ontario.

After finishing his Bachelor’s degree in Honours Biochemistry at the University of Calgary, Dr. Frank completed his M.D. at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He completed his residency in Neurology at the University of Ottawa. Following this, Dr. Frank undertook a subspecialty fellowship in Cognitive and Behavioural Neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Dr. Frank’s clinical practice is focused on the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, such as dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. His clinical interest lies in the early detection of cognitive disorders, such as Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI). Dr. Frank’s research interest centers on investigating new pharmacologic treatments and technologies for Alzheimer’s disease.

Lisa is an Investigator at the Bruyère Research Institute. After completing her BSc in Human Physiology at the University of Western Ontario in London, Ontario, she completed her BHSc in Physiotherapy at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. After working as a physiotherapist in public and private practice for 12 years, Lisa obtained her MSc and PhD in Rehabilitation Science from Queen’s University. 

At the Bruyere Research Institute, her primary focus is the use of technology and enhanced exercise programs for rehabilitation, particularly stroke and geriatric rehabilitation. She also does research on the use of technology and the arts to improve quality of life in complex continuing care and long-term care, and the use of smart-home technology to enable people living with cognitive impairment to live in their homes. 

Lisa incorporates her Physiotherapy background into all that she does. The technologies that she uses include immersive and non-immersive virtual reality, AI, activity trackers, and partial body-weight support walkers.

Stéphane Bouchard held the Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cyberpsychology for 21 years and teaches cyberpsychology, psychotherapy and research methods at the Université du Québec en Outaouais. 

Since 1999, his research projects involve developing virtual environments to treat complex anxiety disorders, body image disturbance and addictions, leading randomized control trials on the efficacy of in virtuo exposure for mental disorders (anxiety, addictions, etc.), and conducting experimental studies to understand to why virtual reality is an effective tool. Another prolific area of expertise is telepsychotherapy, where he conducts randomized control trials and processes studies on the efficacy of delivering cognitive-behavior therapy in videoconference. 

As a practicing scientist, his research accomplishments demonstrate a keen interest in developing clinically useful applications in cyberpsychology and conducting rigorous studies on the treatment of anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses.  Him and his team uses artificial intelligence and other tools to develop powerful virtual environments that help to assess, promote and sustain mental health. 

He has received numerous career awards, including the Prix Adrien Pinard in 2014 for his exceptional contribution to the field of psychology. He is a dynamic workshop leader and a prolific scholar whose scientific articles are cited more than 12 000 times.