OramaVR
Dr. George Papagiannakis, co-founder and CEO of ORamaVR is a computer scientist specialised in computer graphics systems, extended reality algorithms and geometric computational models. ORamaVR (www.oramavr.com) is a Swiss deep-tech startup that aims to accelerate the world’s transition to medical VR training by offering an IT platform (MAGES-SDK) enabling the mass production of high fidelity medical Virtual Reality Simulations. These simulations are then been used by hospitals, medical device companies, medical schools and medical training centres to train and assess their medical professionals.
His academic credentials include serving as Professor of Computer Graphics at the Computer Science department of the University of Crete, Greece, as Affiliated Research Fellow at the Human Computer Interaction Laboratory of the Institute of Computer Science in the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Heraklion, Greece, where he
leads the CG Group and as visiting Prof of CS at the University of Geneva. He has more than 100
publications in the field, and he is a member of CGS (Board Member), IEEE, Eurographics, ACM and SIGGRAPH professional societies. In 2011 he was awarded a Marie-Curie Intra-European Fellowship for Career Development from the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency.
He was conference chair of the Computer Graphics International 2016 Conference, in cooperation with CGS, ACM, ACM SIGGRAPH and Eurographics Associations. In 2017 he published a Springer-Nature book on Mixed Reality and Gamification which achieved more than 77.000 downloads so far. His pioneering research has attracted more than 2M EUR external funding at FORTH-ICS and more than 5.5M external R&D funding at ORamaVR.
Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Linda Lancere
Researcher
Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences
Healthcare Track Co-Coordinator for Google Impact Challenge Program
Riga TechGirls
Baltic American Freedom Fundation Research Scholar Alumni
Baltic-American Freedom Foundation
Co-Founder, Rehabilitation, Research & Development
Digital Health Cluster Latvia
Linda Lancere obtained Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics in 2017 in Riga Technical University. Linda continued to complement her interests in modern technologies and physical movements by working in virtual reality project management and obtaining B.Sc. in Physical Therapy in 2021 in Latvian Academy of Sport Education. The previous experience accumulated and led to the interdisciplinary post-doctoral research in Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences, beginning January, 2019 with a title “Design research for user-friendly guidance of complex whole-body rehabilitation for lower extremity amputees by means of extended reality and advanced wearables data processing”. Part of the project was performed at the University of Iowa (2020) with support of the Baltic American Freedom Foundation and the Council on International Educational Exchange. At the present moment Linda is continuing research at VUAS and European University Alliance (E³UDRES²) in the area of wireless sensor/mixed reality/physical therapy field.
Radboud University Medical Center
Harry van Goor, MD, PhD, FRCS
Professor of Surgical Education
Digital Innovation Scientist
Past Interim Chair
Department of Primary and Community Care
Radboud University Medical Center
Harry van Goor, MD, PhD, FRCS is a Professor of Surgical Education, an digital innovation scientist, and past interim chair of the Department of Primary and Community Care of the Radboud university medical center. He has published over 400 peer reviewed papers and book chapters in a broad field of surgical care, medical device development and digital technology supported healthcare innovation. He is leading several technology tracks in the ‘fewer Bricks, more Bytes, different Behaviour’ (BBB) programme to improve care and wellbeing of patients, and healthcare workers in- and outside the hospital, including intuitive personalized wayfinding, continuous monitoring with wearable devices and predictive analytics, Ambient Intelligence in the hospital and at home, and Virtual Connected Care. He has chaired a European private-public program R4Heal, that develops and validates an integrated healing system. In this program several VRx projects are performed on acute and chronic pain management, Fit4Surgery and rehabilitation for various purposes in-hospital and @home. Harry van Goor led the team of in-hospital and hospital@home continuous monitoring of vital signs during the COVI19 crisis and the post- COVID VR@home rehabilitation program (COVRehab, COVR2Home). Harry is advisor of several (inter)national start-ups in digital health and of medical device companies and member of the program committee of European Healthcare Design congress in the UK. He has been awarded the Digital Healthcare Professional prize in 2022. He is a Frank Lloyd Wright connoisseur and is passionate about mid-century architecture.
Fundació Clínic per a la Recerca Biomèdica
Justyna Świdrak, PhD, is a Barcelona-based psychologist specializing in virtual embodiment and its applications in health, environmental, and cross-cultural psychology. Her main research focus revolves around body ownership and body perception in fibromyalgia, with additional interests in other areas, such as virtual touch, climate change, cross-cultural VR, and biophilic design.
Currently, Justyna holds two positions that complement her interests. In Barcelona (Spain), she serves as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology-IDIBAPS, under the guidance of Prof. Maria V. Sanchez-Vives and Mel Slater. She actively collaborates with experts in fibromyalgia from Hospital Clinic Barcelona. Additionally, she is an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences (Warsaw, Poland), where she completed her PhD in 2018.
Justyna's contributions to her field have been recognized through various grants and awards, including the prestigious Japanese Society for Promotion of Science Post-doctoral Fellowship.
Committed to scientific advocacy, Justyna is an active participant in Scientist Rebellion.
Desert Regional Medical Center
Dr. Grant Nelson
Emergency Ultrasound Director
Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship Director
Core Faculty for the Emergency Medicine Residency
Desert Regional Medical Center
Grant Nelson is a board-certified emergency physician, fellowship trained in emergency and critical care ultrasound. He currently serves as Emergency Ultrasound Director, Clinical Ultrasound Fellowship Director, and core faculty for the emergency medicine residency at Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, CA. During his time at DRMC Dr. Nelson has received multiple awards and recognition for his creative and engaging teaching methods. An experienced game and web developer, he has channeled his passion to teach into the creation of novel projects including a science-fiction first-person exploration game based on learning bedside echocardiography and a grant-funded virtual reality emergency room treasure hunt orientation. Over the past four years Dr. Nelson has been exploring various approaches to simulate and improve ultrasound education including creation of an integrated web+VR ultrasound curriculum platform. Currently he is working closely with University of Minnesota’s Division of Cardiac Anesthesiology and The Visible Heart Lab to develop transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography simulators using anatomically-accurate heart models capable of teaching advanced techniques and principles. Emphasizing performance for standalone headsets, gamified feedback loops, assistive techniques, eye-tracking, and real-time multiplayer with voice chat, Dr. Nelson envisions a comprehensive longitudinal ultrasound education available for anyone, no matter where they are.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Erin Blanchard, PhD, MSN, RN, CHSE, CMQ
Assistant Professor
Department of Health Services Administration
Simulation Educator
Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Erin Blanchard, PhD, MSN, RN, CHSE, CMQ is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Services Administration, as well as a Simulation Educator with the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Erin teaches in the Simulation and Healthcare Quality and Safety graduate programs. She is a Certified Healthcare Simulation Educator, as well as a TeamSTEPPS master trainer. Erin’s interests in research focus largely on healthcare simulation including design, execution, and debriefing; in situ and in simulation lab; immersive and procedural modalities; process and space planning; formative objective structured clinical examinations; communication; teamwork; cognitive aid use; and operative and perioperative emergencies. She has additional research interests in the area of telehealth, patient safety, and health disparities, particularly related to transgender patients.
University of Johannesburg
Dr. Habib Noorbhai
Professor
Health & Sports Science
Director
Biomedical Engineering and Healthcare Technology (BEAHT) Research Centre
University of Johannesburg
Habib Noorbhai is a Professor in Health & Sports Science and Director of the Biomedical Engineering and Healthcare Technology (BEAHT) Research Centre at the University of Johannesburg.
He is currently an NRF-rated researcher and continues to conduct research within two broad areas: cricket sciences as well as health education and innovation. Prof. Noorbhai has produced more than 60 publications in peer-reviewed journals (with over 50,000 reads on ResearchGate) and has presented his work at 20 national and 15 international conferences. He is an Associate Editor of the BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine Journal and has served as a reviewer for reputable sport and health journals. He has also supervised several students at the Honours, Masters, PhD and post-doctoral levels.
In 2015, he was among Mail & Guardians top 200 Young South Africans. Later, in 2017, he won the coveted title of Mr South Africa, and used the platform to spearhead activities within the sport, health and education spheres. He was later inducted as a Golden Key International Honorary Member at UCT in 2018 for his contributions to academia, leadership and service. In 2021, Prof. Noorbhai was awarded the Distinguished Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teacher Excellence at UJ.
In terms of service, Prof. Noorbhai has contributed science communication pieces as OP-EDs in The Conversation, Mail & Guardian, The Star, The Cape Times, Health24 and more. He’s been featured as a guest expert on various TV programmes, including SABC 3 Expresso, Morning Live, eNCA news, Newzroom Africa, CGTN, iTV; as well as on radio such as Radio702, Cape Talk, SAfm, HeartFM, Radio2000, East Coast Radio, SmileFM, and health and sport podcasts. He has also conducted a number of talks and workshops in industry, such as: ABSA, Standard Bank, Woolworths, PSG, Smollan, TEDx, Forbes Health, BioAfrica, etc.
Emory University School of Medicine
Barbara Olasov Rothbaum, Ph.D
Department of Psychiatry
Director, Emory Healthcare Veterans Program
Paul A. Janssen Chair in Neuropsychopharmacology
Emory University School of Medicine
Barbara Olasov Rothbaum, PhD is Director of the Emory Healthcare Veterans Program. She is a professor and Associate Vice Chair of Clinical Research at Emory School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Trauma and Anxiety Recovery Program and holds the Paul A. Janssen Chair in Neuropsychopharmcology. She specializes in research on the treatment of anxiety disorders, particularly PTSD. She was a member of the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Study on Assessment of Ongoing Efforts in the Treatment of PTSD, and briefed the DOD, VA, House and Senate Committees on Veterans Affairs and Armed Services Committees on the IOM report results. Dr. Rothbaum has been studying PTSD treatments since 1986, served on the DSM-IV PTSD subcommittee, and has developed, tested, and disseminated some of the most innovative and effective treatments available for PTSD. She is an inventor of virtual reality exposure therapy. She was a pioneer in applying it in the treatment of PTSD in combat veterans. She has authored over 400 scientific papers and chapters, has published 11 books on the treatment of PTSD and edited 4 others on anxiety, and received the Diplomate in Behavioral Psychology from the American Board of Professional Psychology. She is a past president of the International Society of Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), is currently on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), the Expert Scientific Panel for the National Center for PTSD (NC-PTSD), and the executive committee of the Warrior Care Network. She is currently a member on the Trichotillomania Learning Center Board of Directors, Warrior Wellness Alliance, and the Wounded Warrior Program’s Warrior Care Network’s: Executive Committee, Data and Outcomes Committee and the Clinical Practices Committee. She is a fellow of the ACNP (American College of Neuropsychopharmacology), the National Academy of Inventors (NAI), the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and American Psychological Association’s Division 56 (Division of Trauma Psychology) and was awarded the 2010 “Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Trauma Psychology” for APA Division 56 and the Robert S. Laufer Award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS). Dr. Rothbaum received the 2021 ISTSS the Lifetime Achievement Award. Her recent book is on PTSD for the general public: PTSD: What Everyone Needs to Know.
Arab Academy for Science and Technology
Dr. Ahmad Al-Kabbany
Associate Professor
Electronics and Communications Engineering
Arab Academy for Science and Technology
Dr. Ahmad Al-Kabbany is an associate professor of Electronics and Communications Engineering at the Arab Academy for Science and Technology in Egypt. He got his PhD from the University of Ottawa (Canada) in 2016. During PhD, his research focused on enhancing the user experience in immersive environments from an engineering perspective. His PhD research resulted in developing an alpha matting technique that was ranked 8th worldwide according to a standard benchmark in the field, and he got two university-wide research awards in 2013 and 2015. In 2017, he founded VRapeutic (pronounced as vee-ra-peu-tic) that has been focusing on the development of virtual reality-based healthcare solutions, with a major focus on learning and developmental disorders. VRapeutic has gone on to become a UNICEF Innovation Fund portfolio company, and it currently collaborates with the National Center for Special Education in Vietnam, under the sponsorship of UNICEF, and the Faculty of Physical Therapy at Cairo University in Egypt.
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Michelle Brown, PhD
Associate Professor
Director of the Master of Science in Healthcare Simulation
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Michelle Brown, PhD is a passionate educator, Associate Professor, and Director of the Master of Science in Healthcare Simulation program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She believes curiosity and the power of pause allow us to reflect and to bring others into the conversation. She is the recipient of the President's award for Excellence in Teaching and the Graduate Dean's award for Excellence in Mentorship. Michelle’s interests include faculty development, behavioral factors associated with decision-making, and using simulation to better understand stigma associated with opioid use disorder. Michelle believes authenticity and vulnerability are superpowers that help us create and sustain meaningful relationships.
Think Next
Agathe Acchiardo is a health futurist based in London. At Think Next, the consultancy she founded, she tracks trends that will shape the future of health and advise clients on how to take the most of the emerging opportunities. VR and AR have been on her radar for several years now – from the first use cases to the recent regulatory successes. In her last patient study, the Patient Trendscoping study, she investigates the interest of the public for VR-based interventions in the context of healthcare.
Arizona State University
Sarah Bassett
Co-Director
Resilient Visions Co-Lab
Arizona State University
Co-Founder and Director of Urbanism
People's Culture
Sarah Bassett, Professor of Practice and co-director of the Resilient Visions Co-Lab at ASU, specializes in disaster recovery. She uniquely incorporates her cancer survivorship experience into her work, emphasizing health, adaptation, and resilience in communities dealing with the chronic stresses and acute shocks of climate change, technological determinism, and rapid urbanization. Bassett’s work employs storytelling for policy advocacy using media and technology to create place-based change. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, archived in the MIT Co-Creation Docubase, and published with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. She serves on the board for the American Planning Association Technology Division and is the co-founder of Peoples Culture.
Cognuse
Andres Mellik
CEO
Cognuse
Andres Mellik is the founder/CEO of Cognuse and CoNurse.net and co-founder of SpeakTX.com as well as an active ambassador for LittleNIRVANA.eu .Andres has 24 years of experience in e-learning applications, embedded systems design and test and serious/educational games. He has worked with the earliest standards in e-learning while putting a lot of focus in exhaustive testing of those standards for highly scalable learning management systems. Those experiences have proven invaluable in introducing more consumable and accessible clinical information to hospitals.
He holds BSc/MSc from Tallinn University of Technology in Estonia and M.Eng. from the University of Lugano in Switzerland. Additionally, he has completed research terms at UEC, Tokyo, Japan and UC San Diego in California, USA. Andres is a long-term member of the IEEE as well as the founding member of the Sleep Technology Council under the National Sleep Foundation in the USA.
Sheffield Hallam University
Ivan Phelan
Director of the Impact VR Lab
Principal Research Fellow
Sheffield Hallam University
Ivan Phelan, Director of the Impact VR Lab, is a Principal Research Fellow at Sheffield Hallam University whose pioneering virtual reality solutions in healthcare have supported a range of unmet needs. Embracing a co-design approach has been central to their ethos. By involving key stakeholders, including patients and healthcare professionals, in the development process, Ivan and his team have been able to create systems that effectively meet the unique challenges faced by patients and healthcare providers.
Through his innovative approach, Ivan has developed a range of impactful applications that address critical healthcare challenges. From prosthetic training to pain distraction, and Upper and Lower limb rehabilitation to assisting with Dysphagia, Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Social Anxiety, his solutions have shown promise in enhancing the quality of life for patients and advancing healthcare practices.
His efforts have been acknowledged by UK universities, where he was highlighted as one of their top creative sparks. This recognition is part of a broader campaign aimed at highlighting the remarkable contributions of universities in the UK to the country's creative excellence.
Ivan was honoured by The Game Awards Future Class 2022, which featured him among 50 inspiring individuals who represent the bright, bold, and inclusive future of video games. This recognition not only highlights his innovative work in virtual reality but also demonstrates his influence and impact on the gaming industry.
Additionally, his virtual reality game Luna’s Light, designed to transform painful rehabilitation into an enjoyable and effective experience for children, received the prestigious Best Health Game award at the 2023 Games for Change ceremony.
Healthware Technology
Petteri Kolehmainen
Managing Director
Healthware Technology
Petteri is an experienced entrepreneur and business leader. He has 12+ years of experience in running a digital agency.
He speaks both the language of engineers and the leaders in business and follows the new trends in technology closely. He enjoys working with customers and making sure their needs are met.
Petteri also has strong experience both in developing and managing digital product creation. Lately his interests have been especially towards AR, VR and artificial intelligence.
In the past 20 years Petteri has founded 5 companies. A digital agency founded in 2010 went through a merger in 2015 and was acquired by Healthware in 2020.
He has an engineering background but has been in various business development roles since 2005.
Senopi
Karsten Bagger is the founder and CEO of SenopiVR, a Swiss medtech startup on a mission to prevent dementia. Karsten has a MSc in Finance, worked in finance e.g. as an investment strategist at UBS and over the past 8 years he has been leading medtech startups.
University of Leuven
Barbara Weyn received her PhD in 1997 from the University of Antwerp, Belgium in the field of image analysis for oncology. After a post-doc at the University of Arizona, USA, she started a spin-off company from the University of Antwerp that made image analysis software for high content screening for the pharmaceutical industry. Since 2009, she has been with the University of Leuven. Belgium, where she is innovation manager of the Medical Image Research Centre. In this position, she manages and valorises late-stage R&D through projects with industry or the creation of new spin-offs. The research includes, among others, the use of XR for Health.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Rain Hinkle
Systems Analyst
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Rain Hinkle (they/them) has been working in technology and education for over 9 years. They have a background in instructional design and are currently a systems analyst at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. They ensure that technology solutions are implemented efficiently, effectively, and with diversity and inclusion in mind.
Khora
Thomas Saaby Noer
Head of Healthcare
Khora
Thomas Saaby Noer is the Head of Healthcare at Khora, a VR/AR company based in Copenhagen. In this talk, he will take us on a journey through the recent history of virtual reality in healthcare and show how it offers a novel, experience-based approach to designing innovative solutions.
Khora has been at the forefront of virtual and augmented reality, using immersive experiences to solve problems such as pain distraction during needle procedures, and to treat social anxiety and other mental health issues. The talk will include real-life examples of how these solutions are being used in both research and everyday use in hospitals.
IVRHA
Executive Director and Founder
IVRHA
Robert is the Executive Director and Founder of IVRHA (International Virtual Reality and Healthcare Association).
In 2009, Robert started Cool Blue Media by organizing the first social media conference on the east coast of the United States, leading to the publication of the text book, "The Big Book of Social Media Case Studies, Stories and Perspectives" and shortly thereafter the only printed magazine covering social media, The Social Media Monthly. In May 2016, he launched VRVoice.co, a content vertical exploring virtual reality in the enterprise. In 2017, Robert started the largest annual conference on virtual reality and healthcare with events taking place both in the US and Europe.
Prior to 2009, Robert was the Senior Director of Global Strategy and Development of IT at Conservation International (CI). Robert joined CI in 2000 to take responsibility for connecting all of CI’s forty field offices to the Internet with broadband connectivity. During his 10 year tenure, he built an international staff of 25 IT professionals.
Robert has over ten years of additional work experience as a systems and sales engineer with various companies including CMGI, Hughes Network Systems, ioWave and Raytheon. Robert has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Villanova University, a master’s degree in environmental science and public policy from Johns Hopkins University, and is ABD at George Mason University.
Stanford University
Conference Co-Chair
Behavioral Neuroscientist
Stanford University
Walter Greenleaf is a neuroscientist and a medical technology developer working at Stanford University. With over three decades of research and development experience, Walter is considered a leading authority in the field of digital medicine and medical virtual reality technology.
Research Focus:
Walter’s current research focus is on developing computer supported clinical products, with a specific emphasis on applying virtual reality and digital health technology to address difficult problems in behavioral and physical medicine such as Post-traumatic Stress, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Traumatic Brain Injury and Stroke, Addictions, and Autism Spectrum Disorder.
His early research was on age-related changes in the neuroendocrine system and the effects on human behavior.
Academic Positions:
Walter is currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s MediaX Program, a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, and the Director of Technology Strategy at the University of Colorado National Mental Health Innovation Center. He previously served as the Director of the Mind Division, Stanford Center on Longevity, where his focus was on age-related changes in cognition.
Medical Product Development:
Walter has designed and developed numerous clinical systems over the last thirty-five years, including products in the fields of: surgical simulation, 3D medical visualization, telerehabilitation, clinical informatics, clinical decision support, point-of-care clinical data collection, ergonomic evaluation technology, automatic sleep-staging systems, psychophysiological assessment, and simulation-assisted rehabilitation technologies, as well as digital eHealth products for behavioral medicine.
Academic Leadership:
Walter is the Co-founder and Board Chair for the International Virtual Reality Health Association (IVRHA).
He helped establish the California State University Center for Disability Solutions and the International Society of Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR). Walter is a scientific advisor and grant reviewer for the U.S. Public Health Service, National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), NASA, and the U.S. Department of Education (DoED). He has served as the Principal Investigator for research projects funded by the NIH and by NASA.
Corporate Management:
Walter founded and served as CEO for Greenleaf Medical Systems, a medical product development company; InWorld Solutions, a company specializing in the therapeutic use of virtual worlds for behavioral health care; and Virtually Better, a company that develops virtual environments for the treatment of phobias, anxiety disorders, and PTSD. Walter was the founding Chief Science Officer for Pear Therapeutics.
Academic Journals:
Walter is an Associate Editor for three academic journals: JMIR Mental Health, the Journal of Virtual Reality in Medicine, and Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking.
Current Board Positions:
Walter serves on the Board of Directors for Brainstorm: The Stanford Laboratory for Brain Health Innovation and Entrepreneurship; for Cognitive Leap, a company that develops mental health solutions for children; and for Sine Wave, the developer of Sine Space, a multi-user online Unity 3D-based virtual world platform. He is currently the technology and neuroscience advisor to several early-stage medical product companies.
Walter earned a Doctorate in Neuro and Bio-Behavioral Sciences from the Stanford University School of Medicine, where he was awarded a NIMH Graduate Fellowship.
Location To Be Announced
Robert Fine
Dr. Walter Greenleaf
Agathe Acchiardo
Dr. Harry van Goor
Rain Hinkle
Dr. Habib Noorbahi
Dr. Justyna Świdrak
Dr. Grant Nelson
Thomas Saaby
Petteri Kolehmainen
Nicholas Pilarski
Robert Fine
Dr. George Papagiannakis
Andres Mellik
Dr. Erin Blanchard
with Dr. Michelle Brown, University of Alabama at Birmingham
and Corey Shum, Immersive Experience Laboratories (IXL)
Dr. Linda Lancere
Ivan Phelan
Karsten Kure Bagger
Dr. Ahmad Al-Kabbany
Dr. Barbara Rothbaum
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