This presentation provides an overview of how Virtual Reality, AI, and Biosensing Technologies are converging and elaborates on how this will impact behavioral medicine and mental healthcare. We know from decades of clinical research that VR/AR technology can provide breakthrough solutions that address the most challenging problems in behavioral medicine and mental healthcare - such as Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, ADHD, and Addictions. When combined with Machine Learning and Biosensing technology, Virtual Reality and related technologies can improve behavioral medicine's clinical measurements and assessments by making them more objective and functional. Personal health and wellness can be improved using Virtual Reality and related technologies to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce stress and anxiety. As the cost of healthcare rises, this confluence of emerging technology will be used as the foundation for next-generation telemedicine platforms to reduce care delivery costs, improve clinical efficiency, and reach previously underserved populations.
Walter Greenleaf is a neuroscientist and a medical technology developer at Stanford University. With over three decades of experience, Walter is a leading authority in 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, Stroke, Addictions, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has served as the Principal Investigator for research projects funded by the NIH and NASA.
Academic Positions: Walter is a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab and an Advisor to the Stanford University Wearable Electronics (eWear) Program. He previously served as the Director of the Mind Division at the Stanford Center on Longevity, where his focus was on age-related changes in cognition.
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 Senior Vice President of Strategic & Corp. Affairs to MindMaze and founding Chief Science Officer for Pear Therapeutics, a pioneering company in SaMD (Software As Medical Device). He is currently working with Interaxon as Chief Science Officer.
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.
Advisory Board Positions: In addition to his research at Stanford University, Walter is the business, technology, and neuroscience advisor to several medical product companies, investment groups, and accelerator/incubator programs.
Moderators
Margot Dorothy Paul Psy.D.
Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine
Clinical Psychology Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University School of Medicine
Margot Paul graduated from the PGSP-Stanford Psy.D. Consortium in 2022, where she won the award for Outstanding Overall Student (2021). She completed her clinical psychology doctoral internship at the Sepulveda VA in Los Angeles. She is currently a clinical psychology postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine, where she is continuing her research on using VR as a method of engaging in behavioral activation for individuals with depression. Dr. Paul began her VR work in 2017 after joining Dr. Kim Bullock’s Virtual Reality-Immersive Technology Clinic & Laboratory in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Stanford School of Medicine. For her doctoral dissertation, Dr. Paul designed a feasibility study and three-arm pilot randomized controlled trial to examine the feasibility of using a VR headset as a way to administer behavioral activation therapy for participants with a diagnosis of major depressive disorder. She presented her research findings as a speaker at Shift Medical 2021: Virtual Medical XR Congress and Expo (2021) and at Stanford Psychiatry Grand Rounds (2022). She is scheduled to present her current VR research at IVRHA’s 7th Annual Virtual Reality and Healthcare Global Symposium (2023), VMed23 (2023), and ADAA Conference (2023). Dr. Paul also won the Cheryl Koopman Dissertation of the Year Award. Dr. Paul has worked and consulted with VR companies and local Bay Area startups in the technology and mental health space. She has published on her virtual reality work.
