MINDCURE Welcomes Dr. Ken Weingardt, Digital Therapy Visionary, as a Senior Clinical Technology Advisor to its Psychedelic Digital Therapeutics Team

Dr. Weingardt, a clinical psychologist and previously a Senior Clinical Director at Pear Therapeutics will guide MINDCURE’s digital therapeutics technology (DTx) platform, iSTRYM, through near-term commercial deployment

Mind Cure Health Inc. (CNSX: MCUR) (OTCMKTS: MCURF), a leader in advanced proprietary technology and research for psychedelics, is pleased today to welcome Dr. Ken Weingardt, CEO of Audacious Digital Health, as a consulting Senior Clinical Technology Advisor.

Dr. Weingardt will work with the MINDCURE team to take the minimum viable product (MVP) version of iSTRYM, the Company’s digital therapeutics platform, to clinical excellence in both commercial deployment and design. He will focus on the Company’s science-based, evidence-backed approach and guide iSTRYM as we accelerate toward near-term commercial deployment.

As forecast, iSTRYM is currently on schedule and on budget, with MVP deployment in Q3 2021 and commercial deployment Q1 2022.

Adding Ken to our team is a hallmark moment. We are in the early days of this fast-growing psychedelics market and are proud that Ken chose to work with MINDCURE. I’m honoured and excited to show what we will achieve together. I believe that vision, teamwork, and speed of execution are the keys of every disruptive business that delivers on its strategy and drives results for its customers and its investors.

Kelsey Ramsden, President & CEO, MINDCURE

A clinical psychologist with 20 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and behavioural health, Dr. Weingardt was most recently the Director of Clinical Programs at Woebot Health and a Senior Clinical Director at Pear Therapeutics. In July of this year, Woebot Health closed a $90 million Series B round, and Pear Therapeutics recently announced plans to go public in a $1.6 billion SPAC deal. At Pear, Dr. Weingardt worked with product, engineering, data science, and regulatory teams in developing FDA-approved prescription digital therapeutics for psychiatric disorders. In his career to date, he has led the development and implementation of digital behavioural and mental health technologies globally.

“I’m very excited to join MINDCURE as an advisor,” said Dr. Ken Weingardt. “This company is among the first to develop a digital therapeutic specifically designed to support the process of psychedelic-assisted therapy. I am delighted to advise the team as they leverage innovative technologies to potentially reduce symptoms, improve quality of life, and support transformation and healing.”

iSTRYM is a first-of-its-kind software application that optimizes the healing journey for both patients and clinicians — before, during, and after therapy sessions. By bringing together and building proprietary technological solutions, iSTRYM offers therapists global, evidence-backed treatment protocols, in-session psychedelic-informed tools, customizable dashboards, integration plans, insights into patient journeys, and real-time assessments for personalized client care.

iSTRYM is set up to operate like a standard SaaS platform. Clinics who onboard with the technology pay a set-up fee for training, and an ongoing fee determined by the size of clinic and number of therapists. iSTRYM provides clinics with standard treatment protocols and serves as a distribution arm for treatment protocols from other brand name providers and research institutions. MINDCURE intends to scale iSTRYM globally, whenever and wherever mental health can be served by a quantified and personalized care program. 

Developing the distribution network of content and care protocols for psychedelic drugs will allow MINDCURE to create value at all levels of the value chain: client, clinic, protocol developer, and drug developer.

iSTRYM will be available to a select number of clinics throughout North America in Q3 2021. The software will be launched broadly and commercially to clinics in Q1 2022. The launch will initially target psychedelic centers and is planned to expand to integrated clinics, both traditional and psychedelic, and eventually the broader mental health market. The company intends to file for FDA approval under the software as a medical device (SaMD) pathway, streamlining reimbursement and providing validation as a therapeutic intervention.

About Dr. Ken Weingardt

Dr. Weingardt is a clinical psychologist with 20 years of experience working at the intersection of technology and behavioral health. As an Associate Professor at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine he served as the Scientific Director, Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (CBITS), where he worked with researchers and clinicians to develop and evaluate digital therapeutics for behaviour health. Prior to this, he held an appointment as a Consulting Associate Professor in in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. In addition, he has served in a variety of national leadership roles in the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), including the National Director for Mental Health Web Services, where he led a team that was responsible for all of the VA mental health web assets including the patient portal. In his career to date, has led the development and implementation of digital behavioural and mental health technologies globally. 

On another note, the Company also announces that it has granted an aggregate of 25,000 stock options under its incentive stock option plan (the “Plan”) to employees of the Company. The stock options are exercisable at a price of $0.405 and subject to the terms of the Plan.

To view the original press release in its entirety click here