We are on a mission to transform the way healthcare is delivered by empowering practitioners with the tools, technology, and education to deliver data-driven care that improves patient outcomes.
Hi There - I’m Maggie, a physiotherapist who has come to understand how powerful technology can be in healthcare, both for me as a practitioner and for my patients.
And this is Elie, a chemical engineer who taught himself how to code on the train to and from his job as a chemical engineer.
We met by happy accident while dragon boating in Toronto in 2014. During practices, I reported (ahem, complained) about all the issues, limitations, and time-sucking tasks that are involved in delivering high-quality physiotherapy. I used to email every patient with a custom-written Word document with their program. I spent hours outside of patient care emailing patients, doing administrative work, and designing patient education and exercises.
With Elie’s newfound coding skills, he proposed that we build an app to help deliver video-based exercise programs and educational material while allowing patients to track their progress between sessions and communicate directly with me.
So in Oct 2014, we embarked on this journey together which has evolved from a side hustle to a full-time job, where we now serve tens of thousands of practitioners and their patients around the world.
Embodia, originally called healthSwapp, back before we knew anything about branding and marketing, has evolved as we have grown as tech founders. We have scaled the platform, product, and offering to be a full-service offering to allied health pros and their patients. We started with HEP, and over the years have added online continuing education for practitioners, telerehab, two-way messaging, and a complete practice management software.
I am and always will be a physiotherapist at heart. I have come to recognize the incredible impact that technology can have on our patients' lives and the efficiency of our practices.
We help physiotherapists and allied health pros globally redefine themselves and their expertise in a changing world.
As practitioners, we do so much for our patients. We support them through injuries, pain, and rehabilitation. We learn, grow, and commit to supporting their journeys.
That’s why we need others (including technology) to be there for us, the practitioners.
Embodia was co-founded by a physiotherapist. And we believe we can build technology together, as a community, that best serves us, our practices, and our patients.
Embodia is for the innovative, forward-thinking practitioner, owner, and organization - for those ready to embrace and embody innovation, for the change makers.
We envision a not-too-distant day in which all allied health professionals embody and deliver a hybrid model of care, putting patients in the driver’s seat of their recovery.
Meet the team
Registered physiotherapist (MScPT, McMaster University 2009; BSc(Hons), University of Ottawa), Maggie co-founded Embodia in 2014. She also hosts TechTO Health - a health technology community. Maggie has been an invited speaker at universities, technology symposiums, and healthcare conferences across Canada.
Outside of work, Maggie enjoys traveling, rock climbing and backcountry camping.
Elie Afif is a full stack software developer with experience in the healthcare industry.
As a chemical engineer (BEng, McGill University; MEng, University of Toronto), Elie worked for an engineering consulting firm designing air pollution control systems.His world changed overnight when he picked up a Python (programming language) book.
Elie quit his job and taught himself the skills needed for his fulfilling new career.
Elie is an avid biker and rock climber.
After her degree in Animal Biology, Kristen went on to work for government administration but eventually switched gears to get her education in UX/UI design. Kristen has always had a passion for the visual arts and also enjoys connecting with and understanding others, especially in relation to product design.
Outside of work, Kristen is a dog owner and enjoys painting, baking, gardening, and sports. She is also an avid outdoors enthusiast and gets out for hiking, hunting, kayaking, and camping as much as she can.
A Toronto-based videographer (Fine Arts, Fanshawe College), Danny has a diverse portfolio, extending to short films, live event & interview coverage, music & lifestyle videos, and much more.
While studying at Fanshawe, Danny developed a multi-disciplinary approach that builds on rotoscoping, stop motion animation, and documentary film. In 2021, Danny released his first full-length documentary ‘No Tickets At The Door’.
Danny is also a committed musician and community builder, an avid gardener, bicyclist, and home chef.
After earning his Kinesiology and Master of Fitness Science degrees (BSc, MSc, York University), Landyn worked as an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, and lifestyle coach. He then decided to become a physiotherapist (MScPT, University of Toronto). Landyn is an advocate of the notion “movement is medicine.”
Outside of work, you can expect to find him practicing calisthenics and strength training, running, and dancing up a storm on a Friday night. He also loves cooking, jamming out to music and playing guitar.
Sukh (MScPT; BSc(Hons) Molecular Biology & Biochemistry), has a diverse history in transplant and cancer research, youth services, advocacy, exercise coaching, and education, and is now a physical therapist. He heavily focuses on building a strong therapeutic alliance with his patients and believes that care should ALWAYS be client-centred.
Outside of work, you can expect to find him practicing calisthenics and strength training, running, and dancing up a storm on a Friday night. He also loves cooking, jamming out to music and playing guitar.
