Editorial Board
Editor-in-Chief
Gunther Eysenbach, MD, MPH, FACMI
Adjunct Professor, School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Canada
View Gunther Eysenbach's profile
Dr. Gunther Eysenbach, MD MPH FACMI, is founder, executive editor and CEO of JMIR Publications, a digital health and open science publisher, which he founded in 1999. Eysenbach is recognized by many as one of the leading academics in the field of digital health and eHealth and a pioneer of open access and open science. He is also a producer, editor and publisher of influential knowledge translation products. According to Ioannidis et al (Plos Biol 2019), Eysenbach is the most cited academic in medical informatics. In 2002, he created a new scientific discipline, "infodemiology,"which is now recognized by WHO as a core area of practice when dealing with an "infodemic." Eysenbach also cofounded TrendMD, a Knowledge Translation tool, is an angel investor in Digital Science and Digital Health startups, and is Adjunct Professor at the School of Health Information at the University of Victoria (Canada).
Former Editor-in-Chief
Nabil Zary, MD, PhD, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Science, Dubai, UAE
JMIR Serious Games is seeking an Editor-in-Chief to contribute to the journal's success and impact. Interested applicants can read more and apply here.
Libby Beri, MA, Managing Editor
Editorial Board Members
Associate Editors
Naseem Ahmadpour, PhD, MsC
University of Sydney, Australia
Dr Naseem Ahmadpour is faculty at the School of Architecture, Design, Planning, University of Sydney and the program director of the Major in Design. She was awarded her PhD in human-technology interaction from University of Montreal (Ecole Polytechnique), Canada. She leads Affective Interactions lab at the University of Sydney where she conducts research at the intersection of Design and Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). Her research is interdisciplinary and broadly explores and critiques new imaginaries for the future of care and work, as well as ethical approaches to and consequences of sociotechnical systems that increasingly shape that future. Specifically, she is interested in the applications of virtual reality technology and the opportunities and risks associated with immersive experiences mediated by this platform.
René Baranyi, Dr. techn.
TU Wien (Vienna University of Technology), Vienna, Austria
René Baranyi holds a position at the Institute of Information Systems Engineering Research Group for Industrial Software (INSO) at TU Wien, leveraging over 15 years of dedicated involvement in Serious Games, Gamification, and healthcare. With expertise spanning Sports and Lifestyle Medicine, Prevention, Physiotherapy, Rehabilitation Medicine, and exergame development, his primary focus is the seamless integration of Serious Games and Gamification into healthcare practices.
Baranyi specializes in conceiving and crafting digital platforms aimed at simplifying rehabilitation and promoting healthier lifestyles. He is notable for his work in supporting the design, analysis, and development of more than 60 Serious Games and Gamified healthcare applications, aiming to reshape the digital healthcare and rehabilitation landscape.
Baranyi’s commitment extends to streamlining technology integration in healthcare, enhancing patient outcomes, and overall well-being. His multifaceted contributions in research and education foster innovation in the healthcare sector, yielding benefits for individuals and the industry as a whole.
Andres Bustillo
University of Burgos, Spain
Andres Bustillo holds a full Professor position in the Computer Engineering Department at the University of Burgos (Spain). Here he leads the XRai-Lab, which focuses on applications of XR to different fields. After joining the University of Burgos in 2007, his research interests were focused on the application of different machine learning and data mining techniques to complex data analysis. In the last ten years, his research has evolved to focus on the development of VR simulators for industry, cultural heritage and health care, focusing especially on mental health. Currently, his main research goals are the design optimization, gamification and the integration of artificial intelligence techniques in those VR simulators to increase learning outcomes.
Kai Erenli
University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienna, Austria
Kai Erenli studied law at the University of Graz, Austria, where he wrote his doctoral thesis about the legal aspects of open source licensing. He is a member of the board of IT law at the Austrian network for IT lawyers. From 2011 to 2020, Erenli served as the study director of the Bachelor's program in Film, TV and Media Production at the University of Applied Sciences BFI Vienne. Since 2020, he is study director of the Bachelor's program in Interactive Media & Games Business. He also serves as General Counsel to a Vienna based Animation Studio and previously was Art Director of @vertising in Graz. Erenli has produced and designed a fair amount of games, such as the Educational AR game “QuizeRo”. Kai is a founding member of Gütegemeinschaft Serious Games, Vice Chair of IEEE Consumer Technology's Technical Committee on Entertainment & Gaming, and a Board Member to the Immersive Learning and Research Network (iLRN).
Ben Gerber, MD, MPH
UMass Chan Medical School, USA
Dr. Gerber is Professor and Division Chief of the Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science at UMass Chan Medical School. He is an internist, health services researcher, and software developer. He has developed various educational, entertaining, and interactive apps and online resources to support chronic disease self-management, and evaluated several of them through randomized controlled trials.
Gerber’s research focus is on behavior change and health education in the context of chronic disease self-management.
Shuqing Liu, PhD
Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Shuqing Liu’s research spans various fields such as user experience, behavioral marketing, and positive psychology. Currently, her expertise focuses on customer experience and loyalty in design, the application of positive psychology to user experience design, and the utilization of new technologies to enhance consumer well-being and happiness. Her research employs a mixed-methods approach, blending qualitative and quantitative methods in interdisciplinary studies. Her research makes contributions to the field of business analytics visualization, the localization of MOOCs within international contexts, and the aesthetic preference of Chinese users for interactive products, among others. Additionally, she advocates for integrating behavioral science into user experience design. As an instructor, she has led her teams to develop games and other products that have received significant awards in both international and domestic design competitions. She also serves as an expert member in international and national professional associations relevant to her areas of expertise. As the Associate Editor for JMIR Serious Games, she is dedicated to discovering cutting-edge research that fosters sensible decisions and promote healthier and happier lives.
Anna McDaniel, RN, PhD
University of Florida, USA
Anna McDaniel served as the fifth Dean of the University of Florida College of Nursing, and currently serves as Scholar in Residence with the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering (HWCOE), in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering (ISE).
During her deanship, McDaniel led the transformation of the research and education missions of the college, including implementation of simulation pedagogy and extensive renovation of the simulation training and innovation center.
McDaniel’s own program of translational research has been characterized by the innovative use of information technology to enhance decision-making by clinicians, support provider adherence to risk reduction guidelines, and promote positive health behaviors in consumers. Her research bridges traditional disciplinary boundaries by merging a clinical focus (e.g. cancer prevention and control; symptom management and survivorship) with health informatics and implementation science.
Throughout her career, she has made significant contributions to improving the health care of persons with nicotine dependence through evidence-based tobacco control interventions, including a randomized trial to test the efficacy of interactive voice response technology for enhancing a “real world” tobacco treatment service delivery model to prevent smoking relapse in participants who strive for abstinence, a multi-media tobacco cessation intervention that was distributed to over 250 hospitals, and a computerized decision support system for nicotine dependence treatment in primary care.
Cosima Prahm, PhD, MSc, BA
Department for Hand, Plastic, Reconstructive and Burn Surgery, BG Trauma Clinic, University of Tuebingen, Medical Faculty, Tuebingen, Germany
Cosima Prahm serves as Lab Manager and Head of Research at BG Trauma Clinic at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Her research spans interdisciplinary clinical projects related to direct patient applications such as extremity reconstruction, peripheral nerves, human machine interfaces, prosthetic training, phantom limb pain and TechNeuroRehabilitation. In 2017, she founded the PlayBionic working group, which generates innovations in the field of virtual rehabilitation and develops software for human-machine-interaction and health related applications. Prahm graduated from the Medical University Vienna, Austria, with a PhD in Medicine – Clinical Neuroscience.
Eva Oliveira, PhD
Polytechnic of Cávado and Ave (IPCA), Portugal
Eva Oliveira currently works as Adjunct Professor, lecturer on Digital Games Development Engineering and Computer Science Engineering Graduation, and director of the Digital Games Development Masters at the Polytechnic of Cávado and Ave (IPCA).
Her research focuses on user centered design and development, serious games related to psychotherapy and education, and game design and player experience studies guided by human computer interaction foundations. She is an integrated member of the HumanISE Center at INESC-TEC, Porto, where she is involved in interdisciplinary research and collaboration projects in the field of computer science and applied engineering.
She holds a PhD in Human Computer Interaction from the Large-Scale Informatics Systems Laboratory (LaSIGE), a research unit of the Informatics Department of the Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon.
Maurizio Schmid, PhD
Roma Tre University, Rome, Italy
Maurizio Schmid is Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Roma Tre University. His research work includes biomedical signal processing and modelling in the area of motor control, and the development of algorithms and devices in the area of rehabilitation engineering. He is involved in studies on the validity and effectiveness of virtual environment systems and games as tools for rehabilitation, applied ergonomics, and ambient assisted living. Schmid holds a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Bologna.
Fotios Spyridonis, PhD
Senior Lecturer, Brunel University, London
Dr. Spyridonis is a Senior Lecturer in Computer Science at Brunel University London, UK. His research interests center on Interactive Multimedia and Human-Computer Interaction. He is particularly interested in developing human-centered systems for real-world applications. He has worked on using serious games to promote web accessibility design and improve decision making, as well as on supporting and improving chronic pain management. More recently, his work has focused on identifying and assessing cyber threats to virtual reality environments and on using multisensory experiences.
Tanjir Rashid Soron, MD, MPH
Founder, NiHealth, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Dr. Soron is the founder and managing director of NiHealth and Telepsychiatry Research and Innovation Network in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He completed his MD in Psychiatry after completing an MBBS and MPH. Afterward he completed an MSc in Global eHealth from the University of Edinburgh, UK. He started his career as Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and subsequently established the Telepsychiatry Research and Innovation Network to increase access to mental health using technology and conducting research to reduce the wide mental health treatment gap in Bangladesh and other Low and Middle-Income Countries. He brings the concept of blending nature into digital health solutions in designing his next venture Naturalistic Intelligent Health (NiHealth). Along his professional journey, he has gained experience in strategic and policy development and developing and deploying low-cost innovative digital mental health solutions.
Dr. Soron is active in investigating the potential areas of user-centered, cost-effective technological solutions for mental health and their integration among vulnerable communities, specifically people with autism spectrum disorder and slum dwellers in Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs).
Leon Y. Xiao, LLM
Leon Y. Xiao is a PhD Fellow at the IT University of Copenhagen. Leon researches video game law, particularly the regulation of loot boxes, a quasi-gambling monetisation mechanic in video games. He uses empirical legal research methods and is passionate about open science. He also dabbles in some research on gameplay time and the intersections between cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and gambling. Leon's research is often featured in the media. Game companies have also taken direct compliance and remedial actions following his research.
Past Editorial Board Members
Mariano Alcañiz, Laboratory Of Immersive Neurotechnologies (LabLENI), Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain
Craig Anderson, Iowa State University, United States
Julian Alvarez, Lille 1 University, France / Play Research Lab, Ludoscience, France / Lutin UserLab, France
Max Valentin Birk, Department of Industrial Design, Eindhoven University of Technology, Netherlands
Ceclia Boyer, Health On the Net Foundation, Switzerland
Brian Cugelman, AlterSpark, Canada
Guido Giunti, University of Oulu, Finland
Maurits Graafland, Flevo Ziekenhuis, Netherlands
Daria Kuss, Nottingham Trent University, England
Emanuele Lettieri, Politecnico di Milano, Italy
Ricky Leung, University of Albany, United States
Allan McDougall, Royal College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada, Canada
Marlies Schijven, Amsterdam University Medical Centers, the Netherlands
Join the Editorial Board
We are currently looking to expand our Editorial Board. To apply to be an Editorial Board member/Associate Editor for JMIR Serious Games, please apply using the form linked in this article.
You should hold a PhD or similar higher degree, have a publication track record, and ideally have academic editing experience.