Grant: Project Grant

Over 2.5 million Canadians live with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a condition that often develops after traumatic experiences. While treatments such as therapy and medications can help, access is limited by long waitlists, a shortage of trained professionals, geographic barriers, and stigma. To address these gaps, this project will adapt MIRA, an AI-powered virtual mental health assistant co-developed by our team and Mood Disorders Society of Canada, into a Trauma-focused Responsive AI Using MIRA (TRAUMIRA). MIRA already provides 24/7, anonymous, plain-language guidance and navigation to vetted resources; TRAUMIRA will expand on this by offering personalized grounding strategies, education on PTSD and recovery, and tailored links to community and support services for individuals with mild-to-moderate PTSD. It will not replace clinical care or provide diagnoses but will act as a complement, available in multiple languages to reach diverse populations. This project is inherently interdisciplinary: people with lived experiences, clinicians, trauma researchers, AI engineers, ethicists, and privacy experts will co-design the platform from the outset, integrating health sciences, engineering, and social sciences in ways that make the work inseparable across disciplines. Built-in crisis detection tools, ethical safeguards, and bias-mitigation protocols will ensure safety, while participatory methods will maintain cultural relevance and equity. An adaptive Type 2 Hybrid dual randomized controlled trial will first pilot TRAUMIRA with 40 adults with mild to moderate PTSD at two sites, then expand through the Canadian PTSD Network to total 206-288 participants randomized to TRAUMIRA plus usual care or usual care alone. If successful, TRAUMIRA will offer a scalable, accessible, and ethically sound model for using AI to strengthen mental health care across Canada.