Urgent calls exist to address the mounting crisis of mental illness, and in particular posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), among public safety personnel (PSP; e.g., firefighters, police, paramedics) in Canada. Critically, PTSD is associated with alterations in cognitive functioning (e.g., poor memory and attention) that disrupt the ability of PSP to engage in activities such as work and family life. To date, however, no evidence-based treatment intervention exists to address cognitive dysfunction among PSP with PTSD.

SmartBody, SmartMind (SBSM) is a 12-week online intervention combining elements of movement, mindfulness, education, and psychologically-informed coping strategies. SBSM’s philosophy is that there are physical, emotional, and psychological dimensions to all disorders. Accordingly, SBSM offers a variety of therapeutic techniques through a variety of modalities, so that each individual may tailor their own healing. While SBSM’s approach aligns closely with leading edge research on trauma, chronic pain, and other conditions, it has never been formally evaluated.

Many children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have problems with attention and executive functions (EF). Cognitive interventions have great potential to improve attention/EF and related skills (e.g., academic learning, social function, behaviour etc.), but few such interventions exist with even fewer that can be delivered at home. In light of COVID-19, parent-delivered interventions are crucial for continuity of healthcare for children with ASD. We will evaluate the efficacy of a new attention/EF intervention (Dino Island), as delivered by parents at home to their children with ASD.

While the use of “big data” in the business world and health sector is well underway, mental health services are slower to use their big data, particularly for research and decision-making purposes. Researchers have identified a need to explore the use of big data in mental health organizations, such as identifying strategies and tools to optimize data use, and examining the role of big data in mental health service delivery and policy development.

The proposed research project is the virtual delivery of an existing program provided by the partner organization, Calgary Reads. LENA Start is a group program offered to parents of children aged 6 months to 3 years. The goal of the program is the provide parents with information regarding language development in the home and practical strategies to both increase parent language and conversational turns between the caregiver and child as well as increase parent knowledge and child language outcomes.

Chronic pain is a widespread disorder, leading to devastating personal and financial costs for patients and the Canadian healthcare system. As such, there is a need to identify factors associated with improved pain care. Previous research suggests that, although limited in practice, the use of technology to electronically collect patient data may allow for more effective and complete patient care. The purpose of this project is to evaluate a newly developed electronic platform (i.e., Thrive Health) for the assessment of chronic pain.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder characterized by positive (hallucinations, delusions), negative (lack of motivation, flat affect), and cognitive (impaired memory and attention) symptoms. Aripiprazole, a dual-action antipsychotic, shows promise in enhancing brain structure and memory in schizophrenia, which may have downstream positive effects on negative symptoms and outcome. However, the mechanisms and timing underlying these potential effects have yet to be determined.

Evidence has shown considerable individual variability in bacterial content of the gut microbiota, which is hypothesized to influence brain function. Research examining this relationship suggests that microbiota transplantation may aid in improving depression symptoms by recolonizing the gastrointestinal tract with healthy bacteria. The study will examine the effects of a microbial therapeutic composed of various strains of gut bacteria from a healthy donor on mood.

Perhaps one of the most tantalizing goals of a coach or trainer is to determine how best to maximize athlete performance. In recent years there has been an explosion in the wealth of data related to athlete training and performance – such as a better understanding of athlete mental health and the impact it has on performance. However, there are still gaps in how coaches and trainers use this data and there is a disconnect between the theories springing from academia and the applied nature of this data.

Among all chronic diseases, mental health issues have the highest burden on health care systems. However, unlike other chronic diseases, like Diabetes or hypertension, no monitoring procedures exist to monitor patients’ mental health status to prevent relapse and crisis situations. It is therefore necessary to develop cheap, convenient and accessible monitoring systems that could be used outside clinical setting. Most mental health diseases demonstrate a range of physical and behavioral symptoms (e.g.