CEO & Chief Scientist

"Digital therapeutics, within the next two decades, will eclipse pharmacotherapy in both market size and clinical impact."

As CEO of MI, I am committed to supporting my team in building digital tools that empower better living and faster healing. We blend science and design with internally developed technology that remotely and objectively measures mind and body data (typically via computer vision enabled psychobiometrics). By partnering with medical and academic institutions around the world, we rigorously interrogate the efficacy of our products through multi-centre randomised controlled trials. Our commitment of using science to ensure our tools work and are tailored to suit each individual means you can trust a MI product is the most effective product for you, no matter where you live or who you are.

Until 2017, I was a Principal Investigator of the Zurich Neuroscience Centre where my laboratory at the Psychiatry Hospital focused on understanding molecules and neural circuits that give rise to the motivation to explore. This work was a continuation of a discovery I made in 2009 while completing my PhD at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto in the lab of Prof. John Roder. We discovered a molecular link between environmental exploration and spatial learning, and in doing so observed an active role for the hippocampus in motivational behaviour. These results were recently extended by my lab and the labs of others to reveal roles of cortical and subcortical inputs to the hippocampus in novelty-driven exploration, research made possible by recent advancements in optogenetics in the freely behaving animal in combination with wireless electrophysiology, PET and fMRI. Together, this avenue of research has shed light on the mechanisms underscoring the intimate relationships between exploration, efficient learning and cognitive disease. At the circuit level, the importance of curiosity for healthy living may parallel the beneficial effects of mindfulness that MI delivers to its customers through the product AmDTx.

Throughout my career, I have been dedicated to science outreach and mentorship. I firmly believe that face-to-face interaction between researchers and students stands to benefit society on many levels. I was instrumental in establishing the Mount Sinai Hospital Outreach Program SciHigh, was Editor-in-Chief of Hypothesis, received the inaugural CIHR Award for Mentorship, represented Switzerland at Famelab 2012 and have been an invited as an speaker seven times to the world's longest-running Science Documentary Film Festival, AFO in the Czech Republic. I an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a member of the Swiss Stress Network and Canadian nominee to the World Economic Forum as a "Future World Leader".

As part of my work with MI, I thoroughly enjoy speaking at appropriate events of all sizes anywhere on Earth.

Dr. Saab joins a panel discussion on Tech for Better Health, hosted by the Ontario Brain Institute. The public talk explores the world of clinically validated neurotechnologies and helps you navigate through the noise to find the right one for you.

Dr. Saab interviewed by Ryan Shuken of China Startup Pulse.

Dr. Saab joins a panel to discuss the journeys taken by four early-stage companies spanning applications in skin care, nutrition, digital and mental health, including how a collaborative ecosystem helped them overcome roadblocks to success

Guest address by Dr. Saab at APAC Health, Fitness & Wellness Leadership Summit 2020, discussing how Am Mindfulness blurs the line between mental health therapy and performance enhancement. He reviews the definition of digital therapeutics, explains the computer vision technology and AI that enable Am to objectively measure stress, and provides an overview of clinical results including a deep dive into yet unpublished data from a recently completed actively controlled randomised trial examining endurance and mental fatigue amongst university athletes.

Dr. Saab joins a panel of experts in a discussion on how insurers and startups can drive innovation through collaboration.

Dr. Saab's fireside chat with the Transformative Technology Academy. Listen to how MI integrates neuroscience into digital therapeutics. From computer vision and AI to clinical validation and regulatory approval, share in a healthcare revolution accelerated by a post COVID-19 world ailing for bigger and better ways to manage stress and optimise human performance.