Najmeh Khalili-Mahani
Director
PhD(2009) Neuroscience, McGillU; MEng(2001) Biomedical Engineering, McGill U; MA(2008), Film Studies, Concordia U; and BEng(1998), Electrical and Computer Engineering, Concordia U) is an Affiliate Assistant Professor in Design and Computation Arts in the Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University, and leads the Media-Health and GameClinic laboratory at PERFORM Centre. She is a member of TAG (Technoculture, Art and Games) in Concordia University’s The Milieux Institute for Arts, Science and Technology. She also serves on the Steering Committee of the McGill Centre of Integrative Neuroscience (MCIN), dedicated to creation of neuroinformatic solutions for studying brain health. Inspired by her neuroimaging studies of brain response to stress and drugs, Naj develops translational frameworks that use media and technology to better understand inter-individual differences in resilience through age. Sylvain Tran
Computer Sci & Computation Arts
Hello! I am a student in Computer Science and Computation Arts at Concordia University. I completed my B.A. Honours in Psychology in May 2017 (my research was on nonverbal interpersonal cognition and perception of anger, competency and assertiveness emotions), and after a few years of full-time work in the insurance industry and in psychiatry research, I decided to pursue completely different fields of fascination: Computation Arts and Computer Science. As a multidisciplinary student and game developer, I seek to refine and expand my skills in computer programming, fiction writing, game mathematics, game design, 3D modelling, texturing and animation. I try to publish games on itch.io semi-regularly, and my current research interests and goals are focused on using experimental video games as a laboratory for studying the psychopathologies and economics of human relationships and social interactions using narrative, networks and AI for real-life modelling.
Mahsa Mirgholami
Former Researcher
I am a graduate student in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Concordia University, completed my MASc in EEG based Brain-computer Interfacing. My research was based on developing brain-computer interfaces for helping people with disabilities. I am interested in biomedical signal processing, and machine learning to create better solutions for the problems that exist between technology and the way people interact with it. Eileen Holowka
Researcher
Eileen Mary Holowka is a writer, game dev, and PhD student. Her current research focuses on feminist social media practices, “sick women,” and vulnerable acts of resistance. She has published on self-imaging, Instagram, online affective labour, and the intersections of media and trauma. Her most recent project, circuits (2018), is a digital narrative about the difficult act of narrating sexual trauma within institutional spaces and can be played for free online. Pooyan Alizadeh
Designer
Pooyan Alizadeh is an Iranian, Montreal based, Visual Artist within the fields of videography and design. He holds a Bachelor of Urban Design degree. In his late high school years, he was being drawn to street art and public art, especially the latter that got him to make a short documentary about graffiti in Tehran, called ‘Concrete Canvas’ in May 2017. His concepts focus on social interactions happening in the heart of the city that influenced him as an audiovisual hobbyist. He likes to add this flavor of urbanism in any medium as a concept done by digital painting or storyboards for different media platforms. As his love for Augmented and Virtual reality raised, he started his research experience in the field of ‘virtual reality and public realm’ and ‘digital curation.’ Alessia Signorino
Designer
Alessia Signorino, born in a small town in the northern Italian province of Piemonte, currently calls Montreal home since 2008. She currently studies design with a Minor in computation arts at Concordia University. Her interest in the multidisciplinary process of construction began since her studies in architectural technology at Vanier College. She is interested in how humans create emotional connections with their surrounding fabricated and natural world. When she is not busy reading about current affairs, she can be found illustrating or assisting on film sets. Scott DeJong
Former Researcher
Scott DeJong is a MA communications student at Concordia University. His research explores the creation of analog games on digital issues. This work intersects with his interest in age studies, exploring how players of all ages interact in games. With a previous background in education, Scott questions the narrative of educational games, investigating how games and education intersect outside of edutainment. Recently, he has extended this work to explore how games can function as a qualitative research method, collecting data on media habits among Canadians. Sandra Woods
Patient Partner
Sandra Woods (Patient Partner) is a bioethicist who was struck with a rare chronic pain disease in early 2016, and has put her clinical research background to use for patient advocacy and chronic pain awareness activities. She has been a Patient Partner for the Canadian Pain Society and the Canadian Association of Physiotherapists, and has presented educational sessions to medical students at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and residents at another hospital. She also blogs, non-commercially, about her patient journey. Sue Meyer
Researcher
Sue Meyer is an advisor on Serious Games Projects. She has an MEd in Counselling Psychology (McGill, 1992). She has more than 3 decades of experience working with troubled youth affected by addiction and dysfunctional families. Ella Goodman-Vincent
Researcher
Ella is an undergraduate student studying Psychology and Anthropology at McGill University. She is interested in finding non-pharmacological and sustainable solutions to pain management. She is currently conducting research for her honours thesis which aims to assess the analgesic efficacy of smartphone games. While Ella currently calls Canada her home, she grew up in Switzerland, Sudan, and Nepal. Sasha Elbaz
Researcher
I'm a third-year undergraduate student studying Psychology at Concordia University. I plan to pursue graduate studies in Psychology as well. I am a research assistant for the Play the Pain project and my tasks vary from collecting and synthesizing questionnaires to implement in the Play the Pain app to learning about different gaming tools. I am interested in the aspects of what makes games enjoyable and how they can be used as a therapeutic technique for those suffering from chronic pain. Rebecca Goodine
Former Researcher
Rebecca Goodine is an artist and game designer interested in studying emotion, meaning, and learning in digital games. Originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick, she completed her Media Arts and Cultures undergraduate degree in 2016 from the University of New Brunswick where she was also a founding member of UNB’s Games and Cultures Research Group. Following her graduation she acted as a researcher in residence at the Zurich University of the Arts in Switzerland, where she studied emotional embodiment in virtual reality. Rebecca has also been directly involved with the games industry with her design of numerous educational titles for Fredericton’s “First Mobile Education.” Her most ambitious independent game design project, Guide, aims to promote awareness of social anxiety among children and youth. It will be the first title to be released under her co-owned game development studio “Reframe Games.” Luciano Frizzera
Former Researcher
I am a Ph.D. student in Communication Studies at Concordia University (Canada). My doctoral research explores the political and social implications of algorithmic media (AI, AR, Social Media) at urban spaces (a.k.a. smart cities). I am also involved on research associated to the social and cultural consequence of artificial intelligence and machine learning platforms, the political influence of social media recommendation systems, and development of interactive prototypes to visualize and analyze structured and unstructured data.
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