Join for the presentations, the panel discussion, demos, and networking centered around exploring how immersive technologies are being applied to neuroscience and psychology.
CHAIRS
Isabel Van De Keere
I have a passion for novel science & innovative technologies that can improve people’s lives globally, for healthcare innovation, digital health, immersive tech & its applications in healthcare, for tech for good, social entrepreneurship, promoting women and diversity in tech, international development & social innovation, science policy & capacity building in Science, Technology & Innovation.
I have extensive experience in: Healthcare Technology R&D, R&D Implementation & Strategy, Innovation Processes, Product Design, Strategy & Foresight, Product Development/Management, Data Analysis & Modeling, Patent Examination & IP Case Law, Medical Device Design & Regulations, Business Development, Stakeholder Engagement, Academic & User Research, Social Innovation, International Development & NGOs, Grant Writing, Fundraising, Science Policy, Capacity Building, Virtual Reality, Biomedical Engineering, Biomechanics, Biomaterials & Bionanotechnology, Materials Design.
My ambition is to lead projects in healthcare, and to develop and implement a clear strategy across an organisation and ensure it can increase its impact further for the benefits of its partners, patients and society as a whole.
I have extensive experience in public engagement & science communication, was a TEDx speaker at TEDxGoodEnoughCollege: https://youtu.be/CADW1GKRm-I & TEDxUCLWomen: https://youtu.be/AlsZUxLc5fQ
I am a writer for Thrive Global & Host at The ScienceRoadie Podcast.
SCIENTIFIC & ENGINEERING SKILLS:
- Product design, prototyping, medical devices, biomechanics, biomaterials, biosensors, 3D CAD design, implants, nano(bio)technology, surface & material sciences, bioengineering, protein adsorption, titanium, life sciences, Numerical Modeling, Data Analysis
- Patent examination & IP case law
MANAGEMENT & POLICY SKILLS:
- Strategy & Foresight
- Stakeholder Management
- Fundraising (public & private)
- Project development & management, Research
- Policy and Capacity Building
- Science comms, Outreach, Public engagement, Running workshops
KEYNOTES SPEAKERS
Susan Persky. PhD
Dr. Susan Persky is an associate investigator and head of the Immersive Virtual Environment Testing Unit where she directs the Immersive Virtual Environment Testing Area (IVETA) within in the Social and Behavioral Research Branch (SBRB), National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), NIH. She earned a B.A. in psychology for Northwestern University. She earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara where she studied at the Research Center for Virtual Environments and Behavior. After conducting postdoctoral research at Columbia University, she came to the SBRB in 2005. Here, she built the IVETA, an immersive VR -based experimental research lab within the SBRB, founded in 2006.
Dr. Persky splits her effort between providing leadership for the IVETA and conducting her programmatic research. Her work investigates the function of new genomic knowledge about common health conditions like obesity and diabetes in interactions between health care providers and patients and in public and online discourse. Dr. Persky has published extensively in the areas of health communication, genomics, and virtual reality methods, and has presented her work in venues such as the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She is a member of the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Virtual and Augmented Reality.
Alires Almon
An innovator and orchestrator connecting cross-disciplinary ideas, Alires Almon fuses a deep passion for science’s opportunities with the emerging pathways delivered by technology. She advances the consideration of the social and cultural impacts of technology in equal importance as its innovative impacts.
Alires founded Deep Space Predictive Research Group to push the boundaries of social science and behavioral technologies to be utilized in space mission planning and leads an international research team whose goal it is to create new behavioral technology to support that mission.
As a co-author of the award-winning response to the DARPA/NASA RFP for the 100 Year Starship Project, Alires focuses her contributions on the psychological impacts of long term space travel. Through her role as Partner Director of the Artificial Intelligence Institute at the Iliff School of Theology--she is focused on building a trust-based AI ecosystem.
The institute facilitates a deeper understanding of the complex integrations and social implications of developing and applying artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies.
As well, Alires serves as Director of Innovation for the Mental Health Center of Denver, where she integrates technology into behavioral health applications which engage the healthcare/IT innovation community to create partnerships locally, nationally, and internationally to develop world-class services for the Denver community.
Solène Neyret, PhD
Research scientist & Training Program Coordinator
Solène Neyret from Department of Personality, Evaluation and Psychological Treatment at Barcelona University.
Her topic of interest is Cognitive Psychology Neurology Human-Computer Interaction Neuropsychology Psychiatry Computer Graphics Cognitive Science