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Mission

Since 2017, the McGill Mindfulness Research Lab (MMRL) has been working to expand the theory, research, and applications of mindfulness and compassion. 

The collective goal is to make deep, lasting change on individuals and societies through advancing mindful and compassionate ways of relating to oneself, others, animals, and the natural environment.

Values

The lab strongly promotes values of equality, diversity, respect, and dignity for all sentient beings.

Group photo of MMRL members photographed by Owen Egan and Joni Dufour.

Group photo of MMRL members photographed by Owen Egan and Joni Dufour

Top row (left to right): Karin Cinalioglu, Myriam Lesage, Viktoriya Manova, Claudia Dias Martins, Neha Verma. Bottom row (left to right): Joelle Moses, Kevin Prada, Karl Broch, Dr. Bassam Khoury, Christina Rigas, Agata Kasprzyk, Isabel Sadowski, Akua Kwarko-Fosu, Brandon Benchimol-Elkaim. 

MMRL Team

The MMRL is directed by Dr. Bassam Khoury, an Associate Professor at McGill University whose research has gained international recognition. Dr. Khoury has published over 100 papers on mindfulness and compassion in leading journals in the domains of clinical psychology and physical/medical health. His work has been cited over 9,400 times and his ResearchGate has cumulated nearly 72,000 reads. He is joined by a team of graduate students, undergraduate volunteers, and global collaborators.

Meet the Team

Core Research Areas:

  • The MMRL is focused on developing and validating a new framework on mindfulness and compassion: The Embodied and Embedded Mindfulness and Compassion Framework (EEMCF).

  • The MMRL investigates existing mindfulness and compassion-based research and programs through meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and other reviews.  

  • The MMRL investigates mindfulness and self-compassion through intervention studies, experimental non-clinical studies, cross-sectional studies, and other studies. 

  • The MMRL has publications outside the scope of mindfulness and compassion, on topics such as mental health during COVID-19 and Dr. Khoury’s earlier work on psychosis and diagnostic approaches. 

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Embodied and Embedded Mindfulness and Compassion Framework (EEMCF)

The MMRL is focused on developing and validating a new framework on mindfulness and compassion: The Embodied and Embedded Mindfulness and Compassion Framework (EEMCF).

This unique framework conceptualizes, operationalizes, and applies mindfulness and compassion as specific, yet distinct embodied (body-based and mind-body connected) and embedded (contextually grounded) trainable skills/abilities. 

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Explore MMRL Research

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