Healthcare Innovation
Global Leader in Cognitive Science Prepares
To Launch New Online Memory Assessment
Overview
Country or Region: Canada
Industry: Healthcare
Customer Profile
Cogniciti is a for-profit joint venture
between Baycrest, the world’s healthcare
leader in the study of memory and aging,
and MaRS, Canada’s premiere innovation
center. The company is based in
Toronto, Ontario.
Business Situation
Cogniciti is delivering an Online Memory
Assessment to help adults determine
whether their forgetfulness is due simply
to normal aging or whether they should
see a doctor.
Cogniciti is a for-profit joint venture between Baycrest, the
world’s healthcare leader in the study of memory and aging, and
MaRS, Canada’s premiere innovation center. Cogniciti’s
mission: to commercialize the very best brain health science
from Baycrest and other leading healthcare institutions.
In the fall of 2012 Cogniciti partnered with the Baycrest
Foundation and a leading Baycrest scientist to release Mindfull,
a how-to book on the science of nutrition and brain health. This
work was first published in e-book form and hit the best sellers
list in Canada. In September 2013 Harper Collins will bring the
printed version to stores across North America.
In the fall of 2013 Cogniciti will release its second product: an
online brain health assessment which will help adults around the
globe answer the question “Is my memory healthy or should I
see my doctor?” This tool will be a world’s first: a private, athome, clinically researched assessment designed for adults age
50 to 79 who are struggling with whether their forgetfulness is
simply normal aging, a mood disorder such as anxiety or
depression, or the early signs of dementia. Its aim: drive earlier
diagnosis and treatment of brain health issues thereby
improving the outcomes for patients while lowering the costs to
healthcare funders.
“Brain health is the next
frontier. Our aim is to
dramatically improve the
years and quality of life
of our aging population
by revolutionizing the
early detection of
disease.”
Michael Meagher, President,
Cogniciti
Situation
Located on a 22-acre campus in Toronto,
Ontario, Baycrest is a global leader in the
field of brain health and aging. In 2009
Baycrest partnered with MaRS, the leading
Canadian innovation center, to
commercialize brain health assessment,
management, and rehabilitation solutions
based on the science of Baycrest and other
respected sources. The for-profit venture—
called Cogniciti—operates with a small
executive team that is supported by the
talents of dozens of professionals at
Baycrest, MaRS, and beyond
Michael Meagher, President of Cogniciti,
explains why Baycrest is involved in a
commercial venture. “Virtually all public
hospitals in Canada are facing financial
challenges and are looking for ways to
keep providing superior healthcare despite
those challenges,” he says. “Over the years
Baycrest has done an amazing job on the
fundraising front. With Cogniciti and other
ventures, Baycrest is innovating by
commercializing its intellectual capital to
add new revenue streams.”
The current focus for Cogniciti: an online
screening tool for memory loss. “Baycrest
doctors and scientists tell us that a natural
part of aging is that our memories and
attention spans become less acute,”
explains Meagher. “The key issue is
determining when simple forgetfulness
becomes something more serious. Because
the early-stage symptoms for memory loss
due to aging, memory loss due to highly
treatable conditions such as anxiety or
depression, and memory loss due to
serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s are so
similar, people tend to delay getting
checked out—often for years. And during
that time, many live in fear that their
condition is Alzheimer’s, the world’s second
most-feared disease after cancer. Those
delays cause needless worry for the well
and make treatment tougher for those with
an illness. Our mission is to help eliminate
the delays.”
By late 2011, Cogniciti completed most of
the clinical work required to adapt the
three-hour battery of tests used by doctors
to a 25-minute, self-administered
assessment. The company then began
looking at how to transition that
assessment—running on a PC in a lab
environment at the time—to the web.
Since then Cogniciti and Baycrest scientists
have progressed the clinical research such
that, in spring 2013, they are in the final
stages of norms collection. The project
team is working to release a first edition of
the assessment in the fall 2013.
Solution
By thinking creatively, Cogniciti has avoided
the typical challenge of finding enough
willing test subjects. “Getting volunteers for
clinical research usually takes a lot of time
and money; a good hospital is lucky to get
a few dozen a week,” says Meagher. “We
took a different approach, reaching out to a
large media outlet that targets people aged
40 to 80 and enlisting its aid in finding
people who want to help us ‘make a
difference.’ We received more than 1,000
volunteers in the first four days, which
validates that people are hungry for what
we’re working to deliver. Over the course
of our research we have built a volunteer
base of more than 2,000 non-paid adults,
all giving of their time to help us create the
next break-through in brain health.”
Anonymous Screening Tool
After registering anonymously, people will
be presented with six exercises, each lasting
a few minutes and proven in the lab to be
good indicators of the two cognitive areas
most affected by age: memory and
attention span. The test results will be used
to generate an overall assessment of the
person’s brain health, calibrated to account
for age and educational background. A
personalized report will then be
immediately presented to the test-taker
that answers the question, “Is my memory
normal or should I be seeing my doctor?”
“Think of the Online Memory Assessment
as a thermometer for the mind,” says
Meagher. “Most of us use a thermometer
when we’re feeling poorly to help
understand whether our temperature is
high enough to warrant a call to the doctor.
In the same way, the Online Memory
Assessment helps us understand whether
our memory problems are simply the result
of normal aging or whether we should see
a doctor.”
Meagher expects most test-takers to fall
into the ‘worried well’ category—that is,
people with healthy brains who are
concerned about the forgetfulness that
comes to most of us as we get older. “For
these people, we’re hoping that the
Assessment will put their minds and the
minds of their family members at ease,”
says Meagher. “If the results fall outside the
norm for someone’s age and education, the
Assessment will provide a clear, step-bystep path for how to best prepare for a visit
to the doctor including a report specifically
designed for primary care professionals.
Good preparation can make the doctor’s
diagnosis faster and better, which is exactly
what most patients are looking for.”
Cogniciti is now evaluating
commercialization models. It sees an
opportunity with pharma and other large
companies to use its assessment to help
drive earlier treatment and better patient
outcomes. The Online Memory Assessment
offers one important step for business and
government to effectively address the
personal and economic costs of brain
health issues.
As he looks forward Meagher envisions
other uses of the Assessment. Evolving the
tool for use by primary care health workers
is one such opportunity. As is adding a
suite of science-based digital solutions for
those with declining memories or family
care issues. Books such as Mindfull fit this
model as do other Baycrest products such
as education courses for family caregivers
and digital versions of Baycrest’s best
interventions to help adults deal with
common memory issues such as
remembering faces and names.
“Dementia is both a
major emotional and
economic issue. ”
Michael Meagher, President,
Cogniciti
Benefits
Dementia Is Both A Major Emotional and
Economic Issue

Emotional: Alzheimer’s is the
world’s second most feared
disease. 91% of adults want an
annual, private brain health test
but there is nothing easily
available. So, adults delay seeing
their doctors, on average one to
three years. Cogniciti is going to
change that.

Economic: The total Canadian
economic burden of dementia
over the next 30 years is $872
billion according to a recent
major study. The savings by
delaying dementia by 2 years is
$219 billion. Cogniciti is going to
make that happen.
Valuable New Screening Tool
Through its efforts, Cogniciti is delivering a
screening tool that is easily accessible, can
be used in the privacy of peoples’ own
homes, and will be of benefit to all who use
it. “Regardless of the test results, the earlier
an assessment is done, the better the
outcome,” says Meagher. “People who test
normally can rest at ease knowing that
nothing is wrong, and people whose
memory function may be impaired due to
treatable issues such as sleep apnea can
work with a physician to address those
issues. People who, upon further diagnosis,
are found to be in the early stages of
dementia can start learning coping
techniques, get a head start on understanding the issues they face, and begin
exploring their options for treatment.”