Gregory Kiar, PhD

Gregory Kiar, PhD, is the director of the Center for Data Analytics, Innovation, and Rigor (DAIR) and a research scientist on the senior scientist (tenure-equivalent) track at the Child Mind Institute. With a background in biomedical engineering, Dr. Kiar has developed techniques to study many different forms of biosignal data, including turnkey tools to estimate brain connectivity maps and platforms to assess the numerical stability of neuroscience findings.

Dr. Kiar has extensive experience in computational statistics, uncertainty quantification, pipeline development, and machine learning. His work seeks to inform decision-making for robust data collection, signal processing, and biomarker discovery both in clinical and research environments, with a priority on techniques that can be applied in naturalistic settings. He has also been a long-time advocate of open science, having organized dozens of hackathon-style events focused on training and collaboration. Additionally, Dr. Kiar has taught and mentored for several university-level courses, including academic writing, fundamental computational skills, data science techniques, and best practices in reproducible research.

As the director of the DAIR Center, Dr. Kiar oversees a highly collaborative team that provides guidance and hands-on support for tool building, large scale data analytics, and study design for groups within the Child Mind Institute and beyond. The DAIR team focuses on identifying opportunities for bringing modern data science techniques into brain imaging and mental health research.

Altogether, Dr. Kiar works to improve the trustworthiness of the techniques we use to study the brain and mental health. He strives to make them as accessible and widely usable as possible.

• PhD, Biological and Biomedical Engineering, McGill University
• MSE, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University
• BEng, Biomedical and Electrical Engineering, Carleton University