Events

Dr. Hieftje will be part of a session entitled, “Let’s Get Real: Using Virtual and Extended Reality for Infection Prevention, Control Training and Education of Frontline Staff” at IDWeek 2024 in Los Angeles, CA and will discuss the development of our VR videogame intervention focused on reducing infection spread among parents in the NICU setting.

Drs. Hieftje and Marks, as well as composer, Dr. Andrew Schartmann, will be speaking about the Year of the Cicadas at the Serious Play Conference in Toronto, Canada. The Year of the Cicadas is a VR experience about grief and meaning making over time after the loss of a child.

Dr. Hieftje, Editor-in-Chief for the Games for Health Journal, gave a talk entitled “Games for Health: The Next Level” at ADITGames. She discussed how the Games for Health field has evolved over the past two decades.

Dr. Veronica Weser co-presented a workshop titled “Let's Get Real: Using Virtual and Extended Reality for IPC Training and Education” at APIC24 Annual Conference and Exposition on 4^th June, alongside Infection Preventionist Dr. Andrea S. Greenfield and Program Manager Chloe V. Green from the Massachusetts General Hospital. The workshop team described foundational principles of the use of VR in healthcare training as well as their experience building and piloting VR infection prevention and control (IPC) training for healthcare professionals (HCP).

Dr. Kanu Priya Singh, postdoc associate, presented Invite Only VR’s (a vaping prevention videogame) early findings on teachers’ perceptions of students’ vaping behavior in schools at the Society for Prevention Research (SPR) 32nd Annual Meeting: Advancing Partnerships and Collaborative Approaches in Prevention Science in Washington DC.

Drs. Hieftje and Marks presented at Grand Rounds Mesh Core 2024 at Harvard Innovation Labs, speaking on mixed reality technologies in pediatric healthcare.

Dr. Hieftje had the honor of speaking with middle school students at Francis Walsh Intermediate School in March 2024 as part of their career panel. There were so many kids already making their own games!

Drs. Hieftje, Marks, and Weser and postgraduate associate Mona Sinha traveled to Los Angeles during the final week of March to attend vMed 2024 and present a poster entitled "NICU Stakeholder Input to Inform Content of a Virtual Reality Infection Prevention Educational Experience Targeting NICU Patient Families."

Drs. Hieftje and Marks participated in a panel discussion with Innerworld founder and CEO Noah Robinson about using VR for child mental health.