Bechara Saab

institutions around the world, we rigorously interrogate the efficacy of our products through multi-centre random controlled trials. Our commitment of using science to ensure our tools work and are tailored to suit each individual user 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, my laboratory at the Psychiatry Hospital focused on understanding molecules and brain circuits that give rise to the motivation to learn and 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.

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 in Toronto, was Editor-in-Chief of Hypothesis, received the inaugural CIHR Award for Mentorship, represented Switzerland in Famelab 2012, routinely attend the AFO Science Documentary Film Festival, currently serve as an editor of ScienceMatters, am an Overseas Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine and deliver keynote speeches at multiple conferences and events throughout the year.