Rachel is an experienced nurse, academic and advanced clinical practitioner. Since moving into academia full time in 2016, she has developed software to support the enhancement of advanced practice education to develop knowledge skills and application of correct approaches to clinical examination. Following an initial theoretical study, Rachel is now undertaking her PhD research to investigate and evaluate this approach to inform health education for the future. Within the contemporary key contextual literature there remains a continued lack of pre- and post-intervention testing to quantify any differences, therefore, there is a case for more rigorous research to investigate the impact of XR technologies has upon active learning, skill mastery and how it may impact on patient care.

Amy Chao runs the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Network with the network Lead, helping innovators across the XR ecosystem (VR, AR, MR, spatial computing) to grow, thrive, and navigate the landscape of funding, investment, and business support. She spearheads key initiatives like the Innovate UK Immersive Tech Awards and Working Groups on Accessibility, ED&I, Environmental Sustainability and Ethics—bringing together stakeholders from industry and academia to drive collective action for positive impact. As a seasoned community builder, she fosters powerful connections and collaborations. Amy is passionate about empowering diverse entrepreneurs and talent as part of the Digital Economy and Creative Industries team at Innovate UK Business Connect, which is part of the Innovate UK system. Her multidisciplinary background across the US, Asia, and Europe spans innovation, tech, fashion, and travel with expertise in design, product development, strategy, and operations. She brings a wealth of experience from global companies, startups, and accelerators—supporting growth from MVP to scaleup stage—as well as an entrepreneur and consultant to industry leaders.

Devi Kolli is the CEO and Co-founder of i3 Simulations, a leading company specializing in Extended Reality (XR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for healthcare education. With over 17 years of experience in tech startups across sectors like retail, entertainment, and education, Devi has a proven track record of driving global growth and successful exits for bootstrap startups, with a combined valuation exceeding GBP 200 million. In 2019, inspired by the transformative potential of AI and XR, she co-founded i3 Simulations to democratise medical simulation training and revolutionize healthcare education. The company’s cutting-edge AI and XR technologies are redefining traditional training methods, providing practice-led applied learning that equips professionals with the skills needed to excel in their fields. Devi’s relentless pursuit of innovation and her commitment to leveraging emerging technologies have earned i3 Simulations global recognition as an award-winning leader in the industry. Beyond her role at i3 Simulations, Devi is a Chief Advisor to MergeXR Studios, further extending her influence in immersive technology. As a passionate advocate for entrepreneurship and social impact, she also dedicates her time to non-profit organizations focused on education and social welfare.

Mel Slater is a Distinguished Investigator at the University of Barcelona in the Institute of Neurosciences, and co-Director of the Event Lab (Experimental Virtual Environments for Neuroscience and Technology). He was previously Professor of Virtual Environments at University College London in the Department of Computer Science. He has been involved in research in virtual reality since the early 1990s, and has been first supervisor of 41 PhDs in graphics and virtual reality since 1989. He held a European Research Council Advanced Grant TRAVERSE 2009-2015 and has a second Advanced Grant MoTIVE 2018-2023. He is a Research Award Winner of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2021, and was elected to the IEEE VGTC Virtual Reality Academy in 2022. He is Field Editor of Frontiers in Virtual Reality, and Chief Editor of the Human Behaviour in Virtual Reality section. His publications can be seen on http://publicationslist.org/melslater.

Mavi Sanchez-Vives, MD, PhD in Neurosciences, has been an ICREA Research Professor at the Institute of Biomedical Research August Pi i Sunyer (IDIBAPS-Hospital Clínic) since 2008, where she leads the Systems Neuroscience group. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Biophysics Laboratory of Rockefeller University and the Neurobiology Laboratory at Yale University (USA). Her main interests in neuroscience include the generation of brain rhythmic activity, brain states, neurotechnology, and neuromodulation. She was a partner in the Graphene Flagship, where her team worked on new brain interfaces. In the Human Brain Project, she was a member of the Science and Infrastructure Board and led a work package titled “Networks Underlying Cognition and Consciousness.” She has recently been awarded an ERC Synergy project, NEMESIS, on the mechanisms and repair of brain lesions, and leads a European Innovation Council project called META BRAIN, investigating the use of different nanotechnologies for precision brain stimulation. Since 2004, Dr. Sanchez-Vives has also used virtual reality, initially for sensory perception research and to explore VR from a neuroscientific perspective. She has been a pioneer in researching “embodiment” in virtual bodies and its various applications, especially in medicine and psychology. Her team has demonstrated that pain can be modulated through transformations of the virtual body and that virtual embodiment can be a powerful tool for movement rehabilitation. She currently leads the project “XR-PAIN: eXtended Reality-Assisted Therapy for Chronic Pain,” funded by the European Media and Immersion Lab. She has led the use of virtual reality for the rehabilitation of violent behaviors in intimate partner violence, an approach now being used in rehabilitation programs in prisons in Catalonia. Dr. Sanchez-Vives is also one of the co-founders of Kiin, a company that uses virtual reality for immersive training to develop soft skills and enhance collaboration and well-being in organizations. Since 2024 she is a member of the Academia Europaea.

Nick Peres is the Director of Digital Innovation and Transformation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust and a national NHS England Advisor for XR Technologies. An innovator and researcher in digital healthcare, Nick brings a diverse background spanning broadcast media, the creative industry, and for the last 15 years, the NHS. He has been instrumental in developing cutting-edge virtual reality (VR) healthcare solutions and completed a PhD focusing on compassionate behaviour in VR. Throughout his career, Nick has developed, executed, and overseen various XR-based projects, including the nationally recognised NHSE-supported VR Lab. He is the founder of PatientVR, an innovative project educating healthcare workers on non-technical skills through immersive patient perspective scenarios. Currently, Nick supports the Digital Futures programme at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, which has been nominated for a parliamentary award. This programme supports digital research and development projects, digital health fellowships and apprenticeships, and digital literacy initiatives in XR and other emerging technologies. Nick co-chairs the VR in Education NHSE community of practise meetings and provides guidance to NHS organisations on implementing XR technologies, advocating for transparent sharing and collaboration as key factors in successful adoption. He holds an honorary academic position at the University of Plymouth, specialising in humanities perspectives toward technology in health and care.

Toby is a passionate advocate of evidenced-based simulation for training and therapy. He started his professional career as a physicist in the nuclear industry, where he became interested in the use of new technology to improve human performance and reliability in high-hazard work environments and was an early adopter of XR. Following ESRC funding, Toby co-funded Cineon, a company that builds XR applications that specialise in the use of eye-tracking to develop personalised, data-driven tools, underpinned by contemporary research in psychology, neuroscience, and pedagogy. Toby has overseen ground-breaking XR projects in multiple sectors including aviation, oil & gas, healthcare, nuclear and defence, and is currently involved in the development of a wide range of applications; from assisting anxious patient to undertake MRI scans to training the next generation of RAF pilots. In the previous year Cineon have been successful in obtaining over £1M in funding both from grants and as part of an equity raise.

Atif is a VR implementation expert with four years at Shell, where he revolutionized workflows through VR at refineries. After speaking on a Meta panel and various podcasts, he recognized the industry’s struggle to scale VR beyond pilots. This led him to found Immersive Horizons, a consultancy that guides enterprises and vendors in overcoming the challenges of VR implementation and scaling, driving real-world impact in immersive technologies.

Dr Aiden Jayanth is Head of Anatomy at the School of Medicine, University of Surrey. He is also the Lead for Year 1 of the Surrey Medical programme. Externally, he is the Treasurer of the London and South East Committee of Anatomists (LSECA). Aiden is a medically qualified anatomist and has completed doctoral studies in molecular medicine focusing on healthcare-associated infections. He has taught anatomy, physiology and pathophysiology on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate pre-registration healthcare programmes, including medicine. He also teaches anatomy on a number of external courses offered by the Royal College of Surgeons. At Surrey, Aiden will be managing the new anatomy teaching facility, integrating traditional cadaver-based teaching with modern approaches. His research interests are in inclusivity, assessments and development of cadaveric teaching.