A proactive approach to mental health
We believe that in-person treatment + Rhea can transform how we treat brain injuries and mental health conditions.
The more we’re learning, the more we’re proving there’s a better way.
Rhea is a rehabilitation platform that’s grounded in science and uses prescribed physical exercises to heal and care for the brain.
Right now, we’re successfully using Rhea to improve quality of life and accelerate recovery for people suffering from concussion.
Our plan is to develop evidence-based Active Recovery programs that clinicians and individuals can use to support a range of mental health concerns – from anxiety and depression to other brain health conditions.
Why Concussion?
From sports injuries to slips, trips and falls – any knock on the head can lead to a concussion. It can take just ten minutes to diagnose, but the recovery itself isn’t always as straightforward.
There’s such a complicated range of symptoms that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. The traditional advice was to prescribe rest and darkness, then wait and see. But the longer it takes the brain to recover, the more of an impact it has on someone’s work, social life and emotional wellbeing. And if they’re really unlucky, the symptoms can persist for months or even years.
So we started looking at proactive ways to accelerate recovery.
In collaboration with some of the world’s leading experts, we began to pioneer an Active Recovery approach to brain health that uses specific movements to advance the healing process.
After positive clinical results, we’ve developed this into a personalized rehabilitation platform that’s tailored to an individual’s progress and draws on expertise from across different healthcare professions – from physiotherapy, optometry, kinesiology, occupational therapy and more.
Leadership
Our leadership team includes experts out of the University of Toronto that have produced a wealth of sport-related concussion research informing management and rehabilitation.
They have published over 100 peer-reviewed publications, been awarded over $6m in research grants and philanthropic contributions and have established an impact investment thesis that has led to the recent completion of Rhea’s Pre-Series A Financing to further commercialization.
Clinical
Dr Michael Hutchison
Associate Professor and Director of the Centre for Sport-Related Concussion, Innovation, and Knowledge at the University of Toronto, where he oversees an interdisciplinary clinical research team of health professionals for sport or physical activity-related concussion. He also holds scientist positions Keenan Research Centre for Biomedical Science of St. Michael’s Hospital and the National Hockey League Players’ Association (NHLPA).
Dr David Lawrence
Sports and exercise medicine physician with a post-grad masters of Public Health. He is the lead team primary care physician for the Toronto Blue Jays and holds multiple clinical privileges with University Health Network and rural Ontario (Haliburton Highlands Health Services Hospital).
Dr Alex Di Battista
Defence Scientist with the Defense Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and a sessional lecturer at the University of Toronto. His expertise is employing multivariate statistical modelling to understand how biological correlates can be used to uncover the pathophysiology of traumatic brain injury, as well as mental health disorders.
Dr Shirley Blanc
An optometrist who focuses a large portion of her practice on assessing and treating patients with visual-based problems from traumatic and acquired brain injury. She is a Fellow and Advisory Board Member of the Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association (NORA), an international inter-disciplinary organization.
Business Development
Srin Sridharan
Srin is a founder and investor in Rhea, focused on creating strategic partnerships and growth opportunities for Rhea. Srin is the managing partner of Thought – an impact-focused investing firm and invests in a select group of companies that can generate measurable societal benefit and strong financial returns.
Lou Carsley
Strategy, marketing and P&L operating expertise in health technology and consumer-focused products and services. Lou was formerly CMO & COO of Newtopia, a corporate wellness provider and prior, General Manager of Nutrisystem in Canada.
Peter Hwang
Peter is a seasoned entrepreneur with a track record of success in multiple successful start-up exits, and developing commercialization strategies for early-stage investments, and has established an Operator Sponsored funding and advisory firm with Nicoya Ventures Ltd.
Qamar Qureshi
Chief Financial Officer, Business Strategist, and Venture Capitalist. Actively engaged in building and developing new and cutting-edge businesses and platforms, with expertise backed by business transformation, strategy, and finance experience in senior roles within fortune 500 companies. Qamar brings extensive experience navigating the insurance industry and is building Rhea’s insurance entry strategy in both Canada and the United States
Product
Jason Briscoe
Jason is a seasoned expert in brand, product interface and experience design. He’s also a Director at The Workshop Design Inc – a studio that works solely with design-led VCs and founders on the ideas that shape the world’s future.
Jack Chorley
Senior Engineer experienced with taking multiple early-stage tech startups to market. Focused on building thoughtful customer experiences and scalable product engineering teams. Jack has worked with startups in the finance, telemedicine and hospitality industries.
Seth Rowden
Seth is a brand writer and storyteller for early and mid-stage ventures in tech, FinTech, lifestyle and culture. He is an expert in taking complicated company messaging and catering those messages for a variety of stakeholders
