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Stefanie Blain-Moraes

Academic title(s): 

Associate Professor

Canada Research Chair (Tier 2) in Consciousness and Personhood Technology

Stefanie Blain-Moraes
Contact Information
Address: 

3630 Prom-Sir-William-Osler

Montreal, Quebec

H3G 1Y5

Phone: 
514-398-1325
Email address: 
stefanie.blain-moraes [at] mcgill.ca
Position: 
Associate Professor
Link(s): 
Degree(s): 

B.A.Sc. (Engineering Science), University of Toronto

Ph.D. (Biomedical Engineering and Rehabilitation Sciences), University of Toronto

Postdoctoral fellowship (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Anesthesiology), University of Michigan

Teaching areas: 

Design of Assistive Technology: Principles and Praxis

Current research: 

Consciousness, neuroprognosis, critical care, personhood, assistive technologies, minimally communicative individuals

Prof. Blain-Moraes runs the Biosignal Interaction and Personhood Technology (BIAPT) lab at ɬ﷬. Her lab applies physiological signal processing techniques and assistive technology design principles to address the needs of non-communicative individuals and their care providers. The objectives of the BIAPT lab are:

1. To advance the understanding of the neurophysiological and physiological basis of human consciousness and interaction
2. To translate this understanding into technologies that improve the quality of life of non-communicative persons and their caregivers

Biography: 

Prof. Stefanie Blain-Moraes is the Canada Research Chair (Tier II) in Consciousness and Personhood Technology (2019-2024). Since starting at ɬ﷬ in 2016, she has been principal or co-applicant on 29 successfully funded grant proposals that have brought a total of $9.6M to Canadian researchers; including $3.3M in operating funds awarded directly to her lab. Reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of her research program, she has been a Principal Investigator on grants awarded from all three branches of the Canadian Tri-Council (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC). She has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers on the detection of consciousness and the development of technologies to maximize the personhood of non-communicative individuals. Her inventions are protected under one US Patent, and several Notices of Invention. Prof. Blain-Moraes’ research was recognized with ɬ﷬’s Principal’s Prize for Outstanding Emerging Researchers in 2022, and has been featured in National Geographic, STAT news, the New Scientist and CTV National News.

To date, Prof. Blain-Moraes has trained 51 highly qualified personnel (5 postdoctoral fellows, 4 PhD, 11 MSc and 24 BSc thesis students), and supervised an additional 56 undergraduate students for their capstone design projects. Collectively, her students have been awarded over $1.3 million through 33 scholarships and fellowships, and have received national and international recognition for their research and contributions to academia. The excellence of Prof. Blain-Moraes’ teaching and training was recognized with the 2020 Faculty of Medicine Teaching Innovation Award from ɬ﷬ and by the 2023 Carrie M. Derrick Award for Graduate Teaching and Supervision.

Areas of expertise: 

Consciousness, neuroprognosis, critical care, personhood, assistive technologies, minimally communicative individuals

Selected publications: 

Notation. ɬ﷬ research trainees supervised by myself are identified by italics; § indicates equal authorship contributions, * indicates corresponding or co-corresponding authors, and ° indicates authorship from a community partner (e.g. not affiliated with an academic institution).

2023

  • Plez, L., Holland, M.°, Kulasegarampillai, P., Sieu, T-C. & Blain-Moraes, S. (2023) “’I made you a small room in my heart’: How therapeutic clowns meet the needs of older adults in nursing homes”. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. (accepted).
  • Maschke, C., Duclos, C., Owen, A.M., Jerbi, K. & Blain-Moraes, S. (2023) “Aperiodic brain activity varies in altered states of consciousness”. NeuroImage. 275:120154. Doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120154
  • Brennan, J., Kelleher, M., Motta-Ochoa, R., Blain-Moraes, S. & Specker Sullivan, L. (2023) “Situated personhood: Insights from caregivers of behaviorally unresponsive individuals”. International Journal of Feminist Approaches to Bioethics. (accepted).
  • Kuhlmann, N., Robert, J., Thomas, A. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2023) “Piece of Mind: Mobilizing scientific and experiential knowledge of Parkinson’s Disease through the arts”. Leonardo. Doi:10.1162/leon_a_02371.
  • Frantz, A., Incio-Serra, N., Lopez Almendariz, A., Duclos, C., Owen, A.M. & Blain-Moraes, S. (2023) “Assessing cognitive outcome in coma survivors: A literature review.” Brain Sciences. 13(1): doi:10.3390/brainsci13010096.
  • Kuhlmann, N., Lecuyer, J., Thomas, A. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2023) “Piece of Mind: Mobilizing scientific and experiential knowledge of dementia through the arts”. Leonardo. (accepted).

2022

  • Ocay, D.D., Teel, E.F., Luo, O.D., Savignac, C., Mahdid, Y., Blain-Moraes, S. & Ferland, C.E.* (2022) “Electroencephalographic characteristics of children and adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain”. PAIN Reviews. 7(6):e1054. Doi: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000001054.
  • Teel, E.F., Ocay, D.D., Blain-Moraes, S.* & Ferland, C.E.*. (2022) “Accurate classification of pain experiences using wearable electroencephalography in adolescents with and without chronic musculoskeletal pain”. Frontiers in Pain Research. 3.
  • Maschke, C., Duclos, C., Blain-Moraes, S. (2022) “Paradoxical markers of conscious levels: Effects of anesthesia on patients in disorders of consciousness”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 16.
  • Sample, M., Boehlen, W., Sattler, S., Blain-Moraes, S. & Racine, E.* (2022) “Brain-computer interfaces, inclusive innovation, and the promise of restoration: A mixed-methods study with rehabilitation professionals”. Engaging Science, Technology and Society. 8(2).
  • Holland, M.°, Fiorito, M.E., Gravel, M., McLeod, S., Polson, J., Incio Serra, N. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2022) “’We are still doing some magic’: Exploring the effectiveness of online therapeutic clowning”. Arts and Health.
  • Croteau, F., Thénault, F., Blain-Moraes, S., Pearsall, D., Paradelo, D. & Robbins, S.M. (2022) “Automatic detection of passing and shooting in water polo using machine learning”. Sports Biomechanics. Doi.org/10.1080/14763141.2022.2044507
  • Fu, D., Incio Serra, N., Mansion, H.°, Tamko Mansion, E. ° & Blain-Moraes, S. (2022) “Assessing the effect of nature on physiological states using wearable technologies”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 19(3), 1231: doi:10.3390/ijerph19031231.
  • Labonte, A., Kafashan, M.M., Huels, E.R., Blain-Moraes, S., Basner, M., Kelz, M.B., Mashour, G.A., Avidan, M.S., Palanca, B.J.A.*, ReCCognition Study Group. (2022) “The posterior dominant rhythm: An electroencephalographic surrogate for cognitive recovery following general anesthesia”. British Journal of Anesthesia. Doi.org/10.1016/j.bja.2022.01.019.

2021

  • Azevedo, N., Crestol, A., Berkun, K., Papthanasopoulos, A., Yamani, L., Rokos, A., Kehayia, E. § & Blain-Moraes, S.* § “(2021) A N400 event-related potential elicitation paradigm for native French speakers”. Mental Lexicon. (in press).
  • Rokos, A., Misic, B., Berkun, K., Duclos, C., Tarnal, V., Janke, E., Picton, P., Golmirzaie, G., Basner, M., Avidan, M.S., Kelz, M.B., Mashour, G.A. & Blain-Moraes, S. (2021) “Distinct and dissociable EEG networks are associated with recovery of cognitive function following anesthesia-induced unconsciousness”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience.
  • Rokos, A., Mah, R., Boshra, R., Harrison, A., Choy, T.L., Blain-Moraes, S.* § & Connolly, J.F. § “Eliciting and recording event related potentials (ERPs) in behaviorally unresponsive populations: a reflective commentary on critical factors”. Brain Sciences. Doi:10.3390/brainsci11070835.
  • Savignac, C., Ocay, D.D., Mahdid, Y., Blain-Moraes, S. & Ferland, C.* “Clinical use of electroencephalography in the assessment of acute thermal pain: A narrative review based on articles from 2009 to 2020”. Clinical EEG & Neuroscience. (accepted)
  • Duclos, C., Maschke, C., Mahdid, Y., Berkun, K., Da Silva Castanheira, J., Tarnal, V., Picton, P., Vanini, G., Golmirzaie, G., Janke, E., Avidan, M., Kelz, M., Liuzzi, L., Brookes, M., Mashour, G. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2021) “Differential classification of states of consciousness using envelope- and phase-based functional connectivity”. NeuroImage. 237:118171 Doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118171.
  • Mashour, G.A.*, Palanca, B., Basner, M., Li, D., Maier, K., Wang, W., Blain-Moraes, S., Lin, N., Muench, M., Tarnal, V., Vanini, G., Ochroch, E., Schwartz, M., Maybrier, H., Hardie, R., Janke, E., Golmirzaie, G., Picton, P., McKinstry-Wu, A., Avidan, M.S. § & Kelz, M.B. §. (2021) “Recovery of consciousness and cognition after general anesthesia in humans”. eLIFE. Doi:10.7554/eLife.59525.
  • Huels, E., Kim, H., Lee, U., Bel-Behar, T., Colmenero, A., Nelson, A., Blain-Moraes, S., Mashour, G.A., Harris, R.E.* (2021) “Neural correlates of the shamanic state of consciousness”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. Doi:10.3389/fnhum.2021.610466
  • Motta-Ochoa, R., Incio-Serra, N. §, Frantz, A.§ & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2021) “Enacting agency: Movement, dementia and interaction”. Arts and Health. doi.org/10.1080/17533015.2021.1894464
  • Motta-Ochoa, R. §, Incio-Serra, N. §, Boulet, A.°, Fu, D., Frantz, A., Williams, M.° & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2021) “Mouvement de passage: Creating connections through movement among persons with dementia”. Dementia. Doi.org/10.1177/14713012211004009.
  • Motta-Ochoa, R., Leibing, A., Bresba, P.°, William, M.°, Shaffer, S.°, Julien, O.°, Racine, E. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2021) “You’re Part of Us and We’re Happy to Have You Here”: Practices of Social Inclusion in a Community-Based Organization for Persons with Dementia”. Clinical Gerontology. 44(4): 471-480. Doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2021.1891170
  • Duclos, C. §, Nadin, D. §, Mahdid, Y., Tarnal, V., Picton, P., Vanini, G., Golmirzaie, G., Janke, E., Avidan, M.S., Kelz, M.B., Mashour, G.A. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2021) “Brain network motifs are markers of loss and recovery of consciousness”. Scientific Reports. 11:3892. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-83482-9.

2020

  • Mahdid, Y., Lee, U. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2020) “Assessing the quality of wearable EEG systems using functional connectivity”. IEEE Access. 8:193214-193225. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2020.3033472
  • Duclos, C., Norton, L., Laforge, G., Frantz, A., Maschke, C., Owen., A.M. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2020) “Protocol for the prognostication of consciousness recovery following a brain injury”. Frontiers in Neuroscience. 12.
  • Motta-Ochoa, R., Bresba, P.°, Da Silva Castanheira, J., Kwan, C.L., Shaffer, S.°, Julien, O.°, William, M.° & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2020) “‘When I hear my language, I travel back in time and I feel at home’: Intersections of culture with social inclusion and exclusion of persons with dementia and their caregivers”. Transcultural Psychiatry. Doi.org/10.1177/13634615211001707.
  • Nadin, D., Duclos, C., Mahdid, Y., Rokos, A., Badawy, M., Letourneau, J., Arbour, C., Plourde, G. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2020) “Brain Network Motif Topography May Predict Emergence from Disorders of Consciousness: A Case Series”. Neuroscience of Consciousness. 2020(1):niaa017.
  • Cascio, M.A., Motta-Ochoa, R., Teachman, G., Grond, F., Tembeck, T., Blain-Moraes, S. & Park, M.* (2020) “What’s at stake with biomusic? Engaging the humanities and social sciences in the ethical reflections on an emerging technology.” Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation. 5(20):1-20.
  • Cascio, M.A., Grond, F., Motta-Ochoa, R., Tembeck, T., Van Teen, D.°, Blain-Moraes, S.* (2020) “Working together – ethnographic observations on participatory design involving adults with autism”. Human Organization. 79(1):1-12. doi.org/10.17730/0018-7259.79.1.1

2019

  • Sample, M., Sattler, S., Blain-Moraes, S., Rodriguez-Arias, D. & Racine, E.* (2019) “Do publics share experts’ worries about brain-computer interfaces? A trinational survey on the ethics of neural technology”. Science, Technology, and Human Values. doi.org/10.1177/0162243919879220
  • Kwan, C.L., Mahdid, Y., Motta Ochoa, R., Lee, K., Park, M. & Blain-Moraes, S.* (2019) “Wearable technology for detecting significant moments in individuals with dementia”. Biomed Research International. Vol. 2019, Article ID 6515813, 13 pages. .
  • Renda, E., Karmali, S.A., Yordanova, I., Schwartz, S., Mahdid, Y., Blain-Moraes, S.§ & Boudrias, M.H. §* (2019) “Effects of transcranial direct current stimulation on an individual’s ability to learn to control a brain-computer interface”. ɬ﷬ Journal of Medicine.
  • Sample, M., Aunos, M., Blain-Moraes, S., Bublitz, C., Chandler, J., Falk, T., Friederich, O., Groetzinger, D., Jox, R.J., Koegel, J., McFarland, D., Neufield, V., Rodriguez-Arias, D., Sattler, S., Vidal, F., Wolbring, G., Wolkenstein, A. & Racine, E.* (2019) “BCIs and personhood: Interdisciplinary deliberations on the impact of neural technology”. Journal of Neural Engineering. doi:10.1088/1741-2552/ab39cd
  • Moraes, C.§, Blain-Moraes, S.§, Morell-Tomassoni, S. & Gorbet, R.B.* (2021) “The W-model: A pre-college design pedagogy for solving wicked problems”. International Journal of Technology and Design Education. 31(1): 139-164.
  • Grond, F., Motta-Ochoa, R., Miyake, N.°, Tembeck, T., Park, M. & Blain-Moraes, S. (2019) “Participatory design of affective technology: Interfacing biomusic and autism”. IEEE Transactions of Affective Computing.
  • Connolly, J.*, Reilly, J., Fox-Robichaud, A., Britz, P., Blain-Moraes, S., Sonnadara, R., Hamielec, C., Herrera-Diaz, A. & Boshra, R. (2019) “Development of a point of care system for automated coma prognosis – a prospective cohort study protocol”. BMJ Open.
  • Shortal, B.P., Hickman, L.B., Mak-McCully, R.A., Wang, W., Brennan, C., Ung, H., Litt, B., Tarnal, V., Janke, E., Picton, P., Blain-Moraes, S., Maybrier, H., Muench, M., Lin, N., Avidan, M., Mashour, G., McKinstry-Wu, A., Kelz, M., Palanca, B., & Proekt, A. (2019) “Duration of electroencephalogram suppression does not predict recovery time from general anesthesia”. British Journal of Anaesthesia. Doi:
  • Lee, H., Golkowski, D., Jordan, D., Berger, S., Ilg, R., Lee, J., Mashour, G.A., Lee, U., Avidan, M., Blain-Moraes, S., Golmirzaie, G., Hardie, R., Hogg, R., Janke, E., Kelz, M.B., Maier, K., Maybrier, H.R., McKinstry-Wu, A., Muench, M., Ochroch, A., Palanca, B.J.A., Picton, P., Schwarz, E.M., Tarnal, V., Vanini, G., Vlisides, P.E. (2019) “Relationship of critical dynamics, functional connectivity, and states of consciousness in large-scale human brain networks”. NeuroImage. 188:228-238. Doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.12.011

2018

  • Blain-Moraes, S.*, Racine, E. & Mashour, G.A. (2018) “Consciousness and Personhood in Medical Care”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 12. 10.3389/fnhum.2018.00306
  • Thiery T, Lajnef, T, Combrisson E, Dehgan A, Rainville P, Mashour G, Blain-Moraes, S. & Jerbi K.* (2018) "Long-range temporal correlations in the brain distinguish conscious wakefulness from induced unconsciousness", NeuroImage 179: 30-39. Doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.069
  • Koller, D.*, McPherson, A.C., Lockwood, I., Blain-Moraes, S. & Nolan, J. (2018) “The impact of Snoezelen in pediatric complex continuing care: A pilot study”. Journal of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine: An Interdisciplinary Approach. 11:31-41.

2017

  • Walsh, A.*, Evans, J.E., Sims, E., Goldberg, R.L., Peters, K.L., Globerson, K., Drossel, C., Blain-Moraes, S., Merbitz, N.K. (2017) “Bedside audio storytelling for hospital patients: A program overview”. The Journal of Humanities in Rehabilitation. Fall 2017, pp. 1-24.
  • Blain-Moraes, S., Tarnal, V., Vanini, G., Bel-Behar, T., Janke, E., Picton, P., Golmirzaie, G., McKinney, A., Palanca, B.J.A., Avidan, M.S., Kelz, M.B. & Mashour, G.A.* (2017) “Network efficiency and posterior alpha patterns are markers of recovery from general anesthesia: A high-density electroencephalography study in healthy volunteers”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00328.
  • Maier, K.L., McKinstry-Wu, A.R., Palanca, B.J.A., Tarnal, V., Blain-Moraes, S., Basner, M., Avidan, M., Mashour, G.A., Kelz, M.B.* (2017) “Protocol for the reconstructing human consciousness and cognition study”. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2017.00284.

2016

  • Blain-Moraes, S., Boshra, R., Ma, H.K., Mah, R., Ruiter, K., Avidan, M. Connolly, J.F. & Mashour, G.A.* (2016) “Normal brain response to propofol in advance of recovery from unresponsive wakefulness syndrome” Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00248
  • Kim, M., Mashour, G., Blain-Moraes, S., Vanini, G., Tarnal, V., Janke, E., Hudetz, A.G. & Lee, U. (2016) “Functional and topological conditions for explosive synchronization develop in human brain networks with the onset of anesthetic-induced unconsciousness” Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. doi:10.3389/fncom.2016.00001

2015

  • Moon, J., Lee, U., Blain-Moraes, S. & Mashour, G.* (2015) “General relationship of global topology, local dynamics, and directionality in large-scale brain networks”. PLoS Computational Biology. 11(4):e1004225. doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1004225.
  • Lee, U., Blain-Moraes, S. & Mashour, G.* (2015) “Assessing levels of consciousness with symbolic analysis”. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A. 373:20140117. .
  • Blain-Moraes, S., Tarnal, V., Vanini, G., Alexander, A., Rosen, D., Shortal, B., Janke, E. & Mashour, G.A.* (2015) “Neurophysiological correlates of sevoflurane-induced unconsciousness”. Anesthesiology. 122(2):307-316. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000000482

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