News & Press

Monday, December 12, 2022

The preprint to our new publication just dropped! This protocol paper is about our pilot RCT of InvestiDate, a game about empowering Black teen girls around their sexual health.

Friday, November 11, 2022

XR Pediatrics has released its First Newsletter. Newsletters will be released quarterly and feature all the amazing things XR Pediatrics has done in the past few months! We hope you enjoy!

Friday, October 28, 2022

XR Pediatrics has brought on two new team members!

Jake Shaker is our new Program Manager! A UCONN graduate, Jake brings over five years of experience recruiting and interacting with clinical populations in Human Subjects Research at Yale University. Jake also brings audio engineering, sound design, and music composition experience to the game design team.

Joshua is a postgraduate associate with a focus on video game design. Joshua graduated from Quinnipiac University with his BA in Game Design and Development. Joshua’s skillset will help us to create more engaging and fun experiences! Joshua is also leading XRPeds social media efforts to better communicate XRPeds work and accomplishments.

We're so happy to welcome both Jake and Josh to the XR Pediatrics family and are so excited for their help on all our exciting projects!

Friday, October 28, 2022

On the week of October 17-21, XR Pediatrics Co-Directors Dr. Asher Marks, MD, and Dr. Kimberly Hieftje, PhD, were in Lisbon attending the AWE and IVRHA conferences as speakers. These events were great ways to spread awareness of XR Pediatrics’ advancements and to share how we’ve been applying immersive technologies into clinical settings. Dr. Marks spoke regarding his use of Foretell Reality for virtual group therapy and the benefits of said model. Dr. Hieftje held a track at AWE to discuss the use of immersive technologies in educational and professional training. These events were a great experience and we look forward to continue sharing our work.

Friday, October 28, 2022

XR Pediatrics Co-Director Dr. Asher Marks, MD, and other Yale collaborators, were just published in JMIR Publications! Dr. Marks' research focuses on infection prevention with Virtual Reality headset use and finding appropriate disinfection procedures. As VR applications in medical settings continue to rise, this research is key to ensuring safe patient use. Dr. Mark's research has the potential to lead to more sanitary standards in the use of immersive technologies. Read his research here!

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

Dr. Ijeoma Opara speaks live on camera about the importance of representation in games and how InvestiDate can make a difference in the dating lives of Black teen girls: Watch the news spot and read the summary here!

Monday, February 7, 2022

Ed Stannard of the New Haven Register interviewed Dr. Ijeoma Opara and participants in the focus groups that formed the backbone of InvestiDate: Read the New Haven Register Article here!

Wednesday, January 26, 2022

Yale reporter Rick Harrison wrote a feature on play4REAL’s project InvestiDate detailing the game’s origins as a card game and describing the gameplay: Read the Yale News article here!

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Yale reporter Dante Motley interviewed our SASH Lab Partners, Dr. Ijeoma Opara and Sydney Hussett-Richardson to find out how InvestiDate can help Black teen girls make healthy dating decisions: Read the Yale News article here!

Thursday, August 5, 2021

Dr. Hieftje was interviewed about the Invite Only VR study by Julia Rose for the Top of the Mind Segment at BYU Radio. Listen to the interview here and read the publication in the Journal of Addictive Behaviors here!