My name is Xiaoshan (Serena) Song, and I am from Shanghai, China. I completed my bachelor’s degree in the Science of Nursing (4 years) at Hebei University of Chinese Medicine, followed by a master’s in Physiology (3 years) at Fudan University, where I specialized in the central and immune mechanisms of stress-induced hypertension. This work was published in ACS Neuroscience and Hypertension Research. After my graduation, I spent two years working as a biology and homeroom teacher at Shanghai High School International Division (SHSID). During this time, I discovered my passion for psychology and education, alongside my interest in medical research. I later continued my studies in Child Development and Education (2 years) at the University of Amsterdam, where I conducted research on social anxiety disorder in adolescents and on transfer motivation among trainees.

Currently, as a PhD researcher, I am investigating the factors that influence user acceptance and adoption of eXtended Reality (XR) in medical education. My work focuses on understanding both what and why; what factors impact users’ decisions to accept XR, and why students and educators choose to use – or not to use- this technology in their learning and teaching. Through collaboration with the INSIDE: INSIGHT project network, our goal is to develop effective guidelines for integrating XR into medical and healthcare education.

Starting date: 1^st June 2025

Hi everyone!

My name is Flynn Post. My pronouns are they/them, and I’m from the Netherlands. I studied Biomedical Sciences at Leiden University for both my bachelor’s and my master’s. During my bachelor’s, I studied abroad for a semester at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, with the Erasmus program. Further, I completed a minor in (bio)medical education. Besides my studies, I assisted in the dissection hall of the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) for 3.5 years, where I guided students during their dissection practica. Here, I discovered my love for anatomy and teaching. I channelled that passion into creating educational material on heart anatomy for the ‘Love to Share Anatomy’ competition of the Dutch Anatomist Association (Nederlandse Anatomen Vereniging, NAV), where I won first place.

During my PhD at Ghent University, Belgium, I will focus on instructional design and effectiveness evaluation of Extended Reality applications in anatomical education. First, I will create 3D anatomical models of the perineum and external genitalia through dissection and subsequent scanning. These 3D models will be integrated into an Extended Reality (XR) environment. During several iterative design cycles, this anatomical XR environment will be perfected for medical and healthcare education. I will focus on the education design and formulate a list of requirements for anatomical XR environments. The effectiveness of our final environment will be investigated during several intervention studies where I will examine the effect on factual, conceptual & transfer of knowledge. Additionally, I will explore the impact of various instructional approaches and modalities.

I look forward to collaborating within the INSIDE:INSIGHT consortium. We have a wide variety of people, interests and expertise. I’m excited to learn and grow during the coming years, both professionally and personally. We will develop an amazing Open Access XR learning environment for anatomical knowledge and surgical skills.

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My name is Ana Sofia Santos and I am from Porto, Portugal. In November 2023, I graduated from my integrated master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minho, Braga.
During my master’s, I specialized in computer vision and medical image analysis. For my thesis, I developed a pipeline for predicting brain metastases recurrence after radiotherapy treatment, in collaboration with Brainlab. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with the faculty of Psychology at my university through a research fellowship, where I focused on structuring fMRI data and developing pipelines to support PhD students in processing and storing their data efficiently.
I also tutored children and teenagers (mainly between 7th and 9th grades), an experience that revealed a passion for education I had not discovered before. Finding ways to adapt to each student’s learning style and witnessing them achieve milestones, gave me a deep sense of fulfillment while sharpening my resilience and problem-solving skills.
During my PhD, I will explore the emerging technology of digital humans and their impact and applications in healthcare services and medical education. I am especially interested in how this technology can break down language and communication barriers in patient care, streamline time-consuming tasks for healthcare professionals and enhance both clinician training and patient education.
Through the INSIDE:INSIGHT network, I look forward to the collaborative environment with other students from different backgrounds. I want to learn from my colleagues and their academic fields, as I believe it will inspire new approaches to my research. Within this project, I hope to grow not only as a researcher but also as a member of an interdisciplinary community, and to continue my mission and pursue to offer something great to the world.

My name is Thomas Canino, a French national born and raised in Dubai, where I obtained my bachelor’s degree in Psychology. During my studies, I developed an interest in education, which led me to pursue a Research Master’s in Educational Sciences at Utrecht University in the Netherlands.

Building on this foundation, my interest in educational technology and learning sciences motivated me to join the INSIDE:INSIGHT doctoral training network. I am currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Oulu, where my research focuses on learning regulation processes within virtual reality (VR) environments. Specifically, I investigate how self-, co-, and socially shared regulation of learning unfold among nursing and healthcare students during immersive simulations. The broader aim of my work is to conceptualize and develop a learning dashboard that provides learners with real-time feedback on their learning processes, fostering reflection and supporting the development of effective regulation strategies based on multimodal data obtained in VR.

Through the INSIDE:INSIGHT network, I hope to deepen my understanding of XR-enhanced pedagogical models, collaborate closely with other researchers and partner institutions, and gain interdisciplinary insights that will strengthen both the theoretical and applied impact of my research.

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