Rémi Thériault obtained his B.A. in Psychology and M.Sc. in Psychiatry both at McGill University, Montréal, Québec. He recently started his Ph.D. at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), under the guidance of Professor Stéphane Dandeneau, working on implicit social cognition. Over the last couple of years, he has been primarily working with Dr. Amir Raz at the McGill Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory. His undergraduate research has principally focused on exploring the mind-body connection through the placebo effect and the malleability of the sense of embodiment. His master’s research has focused on psychological strategies to increase empathy and reduce intergroup prejudice, such as taking others’ perspective using virtual reality technology. Finally, his current doctoral research focuses on ways to boost altruism and reduce aggression through meditation. He dreams of becoming Professor and director of a “Wisdom, Morality, and Self-Regulation Lab”, focusing on furthering our understanding of sīla (morality) and paññā (wisdom) from a social-cognitive psychological perspective. Overall, Rémi is passionate about putting social-psychological research to use to increase people’s wellbeing and intrinsic motivation to help one another. He hopes to leverage positive psychology to bring true, lasting social change in society by implementing innovative, structural solutions where he lives and beyond.
