Join for the presentations, the panel discussion, demos, and networking centered around exploring how immersive technologies are being applied to treat addictions, anxiety, depression, pain, PTSD, and more.
CONFERENCE CHAIRS
Professor Shafi Ahmed
Surgeon. Futurist. Innovator. Entrepreneur. Teacher. Transforming Healthcare Globally
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
Professor Shafi Ahmed is a multi award winning cancer surgeon working at The Royal London Hospital.He is a member of the NHS assembly advising the government on the NHS Long Term Plan and was awarded the Future NHS Award by members of Parliament in 2018. He was also the Asian Star in UK Tech in 2018. He won the Silver Scalpel as best national trainer in surgery in 2015 and has been given the accolade of the worlds most watched surgeon as has streamed live operations using Google Glass, Virtual Reality, social media and on national television on Operation Live which was shortlisted for a BAFTA award in 2019.
He was the Associate Dean of Bart’s Medical School and an elected member of council of the Royal College of Surgeons of England where he led the international and global health programme. He has been recently appointed as an advisor to the Abu Dhabi government for digital transformation of health and innovation. He is the Vodafone Connected Health Ambassador 2020.
He is faculty at Imperial College, Barts Medical School, Queen Mary University, Bradford University, Harvard Medical School and Singularity University where he teaches on innovation and digital transformation. He has set up surgical education programmes in over 20 countries including conflict zones. He is the Associate Editor for technology and innovation at the Annals of Royal College of Surgeons.
He cofounded Medical Realities a VR education company and sits on the board and advises major medtech and pharma companies. He is an advisor for Imera, an AI musculoskeletal radiology diagnostic company.
He chairs the Webit Health summit in Spain and co founded the GIANT health summit in London. He is one of the top 20 global influencers in digital health and innovation and is a HIMSS Future50 clinical leader 2019.
He is an 3x TEDx and international speaker having delivered over 250 keynotes in over 30 countries on innovation, the future of healthcare and digital transformation. His work has been featured in over 400 newspapers, tech journals and mainstream TV news channels including Sky, BBC, ITV BBC World, CNN, ABC, Al Jazeera,.RT, China TV, CNBC, Forbes, Bloomberg, Time, Wired, Guardian, The Times.
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Rafael J. Grossmann,
MD, FACS Immigrant/Surgeon/Educator/Passionate about the Smart use of Technology to Disrupt HealthCare, Education & access to GlobalHealth.Health
Healthcare Futurist & Innovator, and Full-time, General,Trauma, Acute Care, Advanced Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeon.
My focus and passion is in the convergence of Innovation, Exponential Tech, Futurism & Healthcare Social Media to disrupt & improve Healthcare delivery & Education.
Advising teams to plan & Design the Healthcare & Medical Education of the Future!
I performed the 1st ever documented surgery with GoogleGlass on June, 20, '13 http://t.co/W0EJQy9U8s
"I firmly believe that the smart application of Technology will, very soon, completely redefine the way in which healthcare is delivered, taught & learned.
Innovation in the application of exponential technologies in Remote Presence, VR, AR and Mixed Reality, Artificial Intelligence & Deep Learning Systems to provide medical care, will cause a complete disruption of paradigms and allow for a better system".
"I think that the Smart-Glass, Virtual & Augmented & Mixed Reality represent the natural evolution of the Human-Computer interface. The future potential of these devices in Healthcare and medical education is limited only by our imagination".
I've had the honor to be a 5-times TEDx speaker and became a Singularity University- (FutureMed) Exponential Medicine Alumnus in 02/2013 & Faculty in '15.
As a Healthcare FUTURIST, Innovator & SURGEON, I share my expertise, as a KEYNOTE SPEAKER, communicator, teacher & CONSULTANT, providing a vision for the potential of Technology to disrupt Healthcare and Education especially as it relates to Smart glasses & HMD and wearable platforms.
Contact me for Keynote events, advice or consulting BOOKINGS at [email protected]
LECTURER: 5x TEDx, FEI, ATA, Games for Health Europe "13/Samsung Advanced Institute of Tech-'Doctors2.0-Paris '14, HIMSSAP, EO Nepal, Dubai STEP'15, DHL2015, HIMSS Middle East,Exponential Medicine, etc.
Walter Greenleaf
I am a research scientist, trained in Neuro and Behavioral Science. I am also a medical product developer, with a specific focus on virtual reality and digital health technology. I'm proud of the products that I and my colleagues have developed and brought to market. I've been active in developing Clinical Virtual Reality Systems for more than 30 years.
I recently served as the Director of the Mind Division, Stanford Center on Longevity. I am currently a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s MediaX Program and a Visiting Scholar at Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. In addition to my work at Stanford, I am SVP of Strategic & Corp. Affairs to MindMaze and Chief Science Advisor to Pear Therapeutics. I am a VR technology and neuroscience advisor to several early-stage medical product companies.
My doctoral research at Stanford in Neuro & Behavioral Science focused on the interaction between hormones and human behavior. While working on my dissertation I founded the first of several successful medical product companies. I have since maintained this dual-role in academics and business – lecturing, conducting research and publishing, while concurrently developing and bringing medical products to market.
As a pioneer that has remained active in the development of medical applications of Virtual Reality Technology, I also frequently contribute to the field as keynote speaker, as an editor for a leading journal, and as a conference organizer.
Specialties: My product designs include applications in; surgical simulation, 3D medical visualization, telerehabilitation, clinical informatics and decision support, ergonomic evaluation technology, automatic sleep-staging, psychophysiological assessment, as well as simulation-assisted rehabilitation technologies.
In behavioral medicine I have developed and helped bring to market systems for the treatment of PTSD, anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders and addictions.
Robert G. Louis, MD
Neurosurgeon, Empower360 Endowed Chair for Skull Base and Minimally Invasive Neurosurgery at Pickup Family Neurosciences Institute at Hoag.
Fellowship trained minimally invasive neurosurgeon in Orange County with special training in brain tumors, skull base and pituitary tumors.
Belinda Lange, PhD
Belinda is the Research Lead for Technology in the Caring Futures Institute in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She received her PhD and degree in Physiotherapy (Honours) from the University of South Australia and her Science Degree from Flinders University. Belinda has been a registered Physiotherapist in Australia since 2003. She worked at the University of Southern California’s Institute for Creative Technologies in Los Angeles from 2006 to 2014. Throughout her research career, she has developed and evaluated virtual reality, gaming, and digital technologies for a wide range of health applications.
Belinda is an international authority on virtual reality and game-based exercise and rehabilitation. She has been the Principal Investigator on over $1.9 million in external funding for projects that aimed to develop and clinically evaluate virtual reality tools for healthy aging and neurological rehabilitation. She has published over 30 peer reviewed papers, 60 peer reviewed conference papers, five book chapters and has been invited to give over 20 plenary/keynote presentations at national and international conferences and meetings. Her work has also been recognised through Best Paper awards at the Interservice/Industry Training, Simulation and Education Conference (I/ITSEC) and Human Computer Interaction (HCI) International Conference.
Belinda served on the Executive Committee of the International Society for Virtual Rehabilitation (ISVR; http://www.isvr.org) from 2012-2018 and has served on the Program Committees of international conferences such as: International Conference on Virtual Rehabilitation; International Conference on Disability, Virtual Reality and Associated Technologies; Meaningful Play; Games for Health; International Society for Presence Research; and International Conference on Smart Homes, Assistive Technologies, Robotics and Health Telematics.
Belinda has supervised and mentored Honours, Masters and Postdoctoral level researchers. Her teaching and research interests include: digital health, telehealth, game-based rehabilitation, virtual reality, healthy aging, research methods and design, neuroscience, and neurological rehabilitation.
PhD, BPhysio (Hons), BSc
Head of Physiotherapy 2016 - 2019
Course Coordinator (Master of Physiotherapy) 2016-2018
Dr Dominik Fischer
Product Line Manager Mixed Reality & Surgical Robotics, holding PhD in physics, with Brainlab for 10 years In Product Management, further areas of interest are Digital O.R., medical image processing and Healthcare IT”
Strong product management professional skilled in Medical Devices, Product Marketing, Product Development, Research and Development (R&D), and Semiconductors.
Dr Sana Farid
Pioneer X-Reality and Ai Strategist in the Middle-East, an avid researcher, and a powerful educational reformer determined to use future tech solutions for societal well-being. Remarkable contributions in spreading awareness about learning through immersive technologies and Artificial Intelligence winning a string of awards, including Top woman in ARVR worldwide.
With profound determination, initiated the largest immersive EdTech and e-learning drive in the region.
A deemed academician, simulation expert, qualified Surgeon, distinguished speaker, and representing VRAR Association MENA chapter.
In the Middle East, have set the strategic direction for education and research predominantly supporting the government and non-governmental initiatives to advance the standard of EdTech learning.
Listed among the top 100 women transforming the future of Bahrain, featured by Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and Entrepreneur ME in 2018.
One of the key strategists to develop an implementation framework for education and healthcare sectors in the Middle East.
An all-time ambassador for women in edtech, healthtech, and Ai working on Impact programs to build better opportunities aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Brennan Spiegel
Dr. Brennan Spiegel is the Director of Health Services Research for Cedars-Sinai Health System in Los Angeles and a Professor of Medicine and Public Health at UCLA. Dr. Spiegel directs a multidisciplinary team that investigates how extended reality can improve people’s lives.
His team developed one of largest and most widely-documented medical VR program at Cedars-Sinai. Dr. Spiegel is listed in the "Top 100 Influencer" lists for digital health and virtual reality.
His VR research won the 2017 “Webby Award” for best technology on the internet, and in 2020 he published the book VRx: How Immersive Therapeutics Will Transform Medicine (Basic Books, NY).