Man in white is listening to music in headphones

Our Mission

LUCID is driving innovation at the crossroads of mental health, machine learning, and music.

We’re developing tools to empower those who are facing mental health challenges. By unlocking the power of music and attuning to their specific physiological needs, we’re enabling a human-centric approach to mental wellness.

Anxiety

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental health challenge in the U.S., affecting 18% of the population each year. Only 36.9% of those affected receive treatment. (ADAA)

Stress

Stress affects all systems of the body, including the cardiovascular and immune systems. Chronic stress can lead to the development of numerous mental and physical conditions.

Burnout

In the workplace, burned-out employees are 2.6 times as likely to be actively seeking a different job, 63% more likely to take a sick day, and 23% more likely to visit the emergency room. (APA)

Our Network of Scientific Support

Through collaboration with accredited experts in neuroscience, machine learning, and music theory, we have developed a scientifically-validated approach to our technology.
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Building upon a strong foundation of peer-reviewed research, our network of academic and clinical partners allow us to continuously test and validate our developments.

Who We Are

LUCID’s multidisciplinary team consists of artists, scientists and engineers.

Our respective passions and expertise unite us all, at the intersection of music and mental health. Together, we’re writing the future of music as medicine.

Leadership

Zach McMahon

Chief Executive Officer, Co-Founder

Zach McMahon is a co-founder of LUCID, and currently serves as CEO. Prior to LUCID, Zach was a strategy consultant in biotech and digital health at ZS Associates, where he worked on projects focused on bringing new therapies to market, assessing market size, pricing, and competitor intelligence. Before entering the health industry, Zach spent seven years leading tech teams in the energy industry, building and deploying ice road GPS, AI maintenance systems, and drone survivance systems to support Arctic production and operations. Zach holds an MBA with honors from the University of Toronto and a BS in Management Info-Systems.

Aaron Labbé

Chief Technology Officer, Co-Founder

Aaron Labbé is a co-founder of LUCID, currently serving as Chief Technology Officer. Aaron developed the initial concept for LUCID during his BFA thesis in New Media and Computational Art at Ryerson University. After facing severe mental health battles which hospitalized him during his youth, he began researching the therapeutic potential of sound and music. This psychoacoustics research was further developed through Ryerson’s Transmedia Zone into what LUCID is today. A lifelong artist and musician, Aaron is the recipient of several Canada Council awards. He is a guest lecturer at Ryerson University, and has spoken at the Museum of Contemporary Art Toronto, Dutch Design Week, Toronto Interior Design Show, and Wallifornia Music Tech. Aaron holds a BFA in New Media from Ryerson University and a BS in Sound Recording Technology from the State University of New York Freedonia.

Zoë Thomson

Chief Innovation Officer, Co-Founder

Zoë Thomson is a co-founder of LUCID, currently serving as Chief Innovation Officer. Zoë leads clinical validation at LUCID and oversees partnerships in the digital therapeutics, pharmaceutical, and consumer health spaces. Prior to founding LUCID, Zoë conducted diverse research regarding public health and machine learning applications within healthcare at the University of Calgary and Ryerson University. Zoë holds a B.S. with distinction in biomedical engineering with a minor in philosophy from Ryerson University.

Dr. Frank Russo

Chief Science Officer

As Chief Science Officer, Dr. Frank A. Russo, Ph.D. leads LUCID's efforts to broaden and adapt its Digital Music Therapy technology into new therapeutic domains. Dr. Russo is Professor of Psychology and the NSERC-Sonova Senior Industrial Research Chair in Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience at Ryerson University. He is also Status Professor of Speech Language Pathology and Music, University of Toronto; Affiliate Research Scientist at Toronto Rehabilitation Institute; and Research Affiliate at McMaster Institute for Music and the Mind. At Ryerson's SMART Lab, Russo conducts research on the biological, cognitive, and social-emotional bases of music and speech. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Psychological Association and Massey College, and is a past president of the Canadian Acoustical Association. He currently serves as Associate Editor (Frontiers in Emotion Science; Music Perception); and is Past Editor-in-Chief (Canadian Acoustics).

Experts

Dr. Rebecca Kleinberger

Voice Technology Expert, MIT

Dr. Rebecca Kleinberger is a voice expert and a researcher at the McGovern Institute/Media Lab at MIT. Her work spans from assistive technologies to vocal experiences design. Her research connects various fields, including sensor technologies, wearable computing, design, HCI, neurology, clinical research, and psychology. Kleinberger has developed unique expertise in the study, analysis, and understanding of the human voice. Her research aspiration is to create more healthy and meaningful technologies with and for the voice. She received a Masters in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT, a Masters in Virtual Environment and Computer Graphics from UCL in London, and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from ENSAM Paris.

Dr. Farooq Naeem

Psychiatry Advisor, Chief of General and Health Systems Psychiatry CAMH

Dr. Farooq Naeem is the Chief of General and Health Systems Psychiatry at CAMH and professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He has pioneered techniques for culturally adapting CBT. These techniques have been used to adapt CBT for a variety of common and severe mental health problems in South Asia, North Africa, the Middle East and China. He is considered a leader in global mental health.

Dan McClure

Finance & Investments Advisor

Dan McClure is a financial industry veteran, spending over 20 years in the capital markets, and has executive experience in media. He is currently Co-founder and Principal at Blue Deer Capital and previously was the president of Bron Studios. He previously served as Head of Research at I.G. Investment Management, a $100B+ asset manager, and CEO & CIO of alternative manager, CQI Capital Management. As a portfolio manager, Mr. McClure managed over $3 billion of private and public assets. He has designed and launched four separate investment funds and is an active angel investor.

Beverly Dywan

Design Advisor

Beverly Dywan is a design consultant, and instructor at OCAD University in Industrial Design and Inclusive Design. She also serves on the University’s Senate. Additionally, she has been a consultant to the Toronto Rehab Institute, providing a window onto their research and innovation. Beverly has extensive international experience working with cultural institutions. Her company Design in Three Dimensions has provided experience and exhibit design, as well as strategic planning work for museums in Canada, the United States, and Hong Kong.

Dr. Sageev Oore

Machine Learning Advisor

As LUCID’s Machine Learning Advisor, Dr. Sageev Oore advises on the application of artificial intelligence into the field of music for therapeutic outcomes. Dr. Sageev Oore is the Canada CIFAR AI Chair and a Research Faculty Member at the Vector Institute. He is an associate professor of Computer Science at Dalhousie University, where his research interests include machine learning and deep learning, with an emphasis on music, audio processing & creative applications. Dr. Oore was a Visiting Research Scientist at Google Brain, working on the Magenta Project and developing generative music systems such as PerformanceRNN. He is also an award-winning musician, studying piano performance with music teachers from Dalhousie, Juilliard, and UBC.