Meet the Team
We are a multidisciplinary team, consisting of specialists from clinical, digital and academic backgrounds, who are passionately involved with innovation in the healthcare sector. You can read more about our team members below, and please feel free to contact us via our social media.
Nick Peres
Digital Futures Co-Lead
Nick Peres is an experienced innovator and researcher in the field of digital healthcare, with a career working creatively in broadcast media and then for the past 12 years within the NHS. He has built innovative projects to develop virtual reality (VR) healthcare solutions, and studied toward a PhD looking at compassionate behaviour in VR. In that time Nick has created, implemented and lead on numerous XR based projects, including the nationally recognised HEE sponsored VR Lab.
Nick is founder of PatientVR, a project that was set up to help teach non-technical skills to healthcare workers by showing immersive patient perspective scenarios. He is also currently the co-lead of the parliamentary award nominated Digital Futures program at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, which facilitates R+D workstreams, digital health studentships and digital literacy programs in XR and other emerging technologies.
Nick has advised NHS organisations in supporting their own journeys and adoptions of XR technologies and continues to hold advisory roles nationally for Health Education England as well as the XR Health Alliance (XRHA). Nick holds an honorary research role as part of Transtechnology Research at Plymouth University and is a TEDx speaker on humanities focused perspectives towards technology in healthcare.
Jacqui Rees-Lee
Digital Futures Co-Lead
Jacqueline is a Consultant Plastic and Oncoplastic Breast Surgeon and Director of Medical Education and clinical lead for the Digital Futures program at Torbay Hospital.She is a Fellow of both the European Board of Surgery and the Royal College of Surgeons, FRCS(Plast).
She has published many research papers and invited editorials and presented internationally.Jacqueline is developing and applying pioneering VR/AR techniques for patients and staff. Conceptualising & developing the Digital Futures Program (HEE funding 2021); a program of digital technology projects for trainees and includes pairing trainees with Digital Masters students from Plymouth University, clinicians and the team at the Horizon Centre, to allow trainees to explore emerging digital technologies and support them in applying these new skills to patient care pathways.Outside of the NHS she is Mum to two teenage boys, a trail runner and the originator of “Mindflow” concept and co-creator of the “Mindflow” prototype and a SWCTN (South-West Creative Technology Network) development grant winner. “Mindflow” creates restorative audio-cinematic storytelling experiences which respond to emotional state. “Mindflow” aims to combat anxiety, and loneliness.
Payal Ghatnekar
Immersive Tech Research Lead
Payal is the Immersive Technology Research Lead at TSDFT, responsible for managing research activities at the Digital Futures Lab. She is a Human-Computer Interaction researcher with a background in behavioral science. Payal has worked as a Research Fellow with Plymouth University’s School of Medicine and Dentistry, and Falmouth University’s Games Academy. Her role at TSDFT involves the evaluation and assessment of immersive experiences and technologies, horizon scanning for research opportunities and academic collaborations, and research development. Payal has a keen interest in- immersive technologies for female health education and self-management of symptoms, and improving access to health education in under-represented groups through immersive technologies.
Buzz Matthews
HEAD OF DIGITAL EDUCATION & SIMULATION
Buzz Matthews is Head of Digital Education & Simulation at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust since June 2022. Prior to this he worked in education at an FE college as a Digital Media technician and Lecturer before taking on the role of Programme Coordinator for Digital Media, Games & Interactive Design and Esports. He is a creative practitioner who has produced award winning documentary films and has frequently had his photographic work featured in a range of international publications. He recently completed a Masters degree at Falmouth University in Photography.
Jon Watt
Digital Innovation Facilitator
Jon is the Digital Innovation Facilitator at TSDFT, working in the Digital Futures Lab. Having been at the trust since February 2022, he has previous experience working as a lecturer in Interactive Design on Further and Higher Education pathways.
Jon’s role within the DF team includes planning, production and delivery of a range of technology-based projects in healthcare, including 360 immersive experiences, 3D scanning & printing and virtual simulated environments. Jon’s background is predominantly in Game Arts design, with a particular interest in 3D content creation and Unreal & Unity development engines.
Jon also facilitates the delivery of the lab’s Deep Dive workshops – providing teams with an introduction to XR technologies, with the aim to develop digital literacy and confidence in the use of related devices, as well as enabling teams to identify opportunities for innovation within their own clinical areas.
Kyra Boyle
Digital Healthcare Fellow
Kyra is the Digital Healthcare Fellow in our team, she started working with us during her masters studies where she worked on a brief making an application to help reduce anxiety in young people before visiting the hospital, after her studies she started working for Digital Futures to help with day to day work and to continue work on the application.
Kyra has a background in Digital Media and Design, she has skills in Unity and Unreal as well as being able to use all applications in the Adobe creative cloud.
David Hallett
Digital Innovation Developer
David is a Digital Innovation Developer on the Digital Futures team, having joined in September 2023. He has a long history working in IT and programming, starting as a hobby at the age of 6. Programming Interests have included Operating Systems, UX, Games, AI, Electronic Interfacing and Control and for the last 4 years interactive VR simulation for education and training. David is currently studying towards a Games and Interactive Design degree focussing heavily on programming for XR devices using Unreal and Unity.David works on Interactive XR, AI, enabling the use of the latest features of XR Headsets, and connecting the virtual and real worlds through electronics. David is particularly keen on improving people’s lives and education through the use of XR and AI technology.
Cayden Anderson
Apprentice
Cayden is a Digital Innovation Apprentice on the Digital Futures team. From a young age, Cayden has been captivated by the art of coding and the creation of virtual worlds. He spent lots of his free time learning and improving his skills – ranging from games, websites, free open-source tooling for the world and lots of experiments.
His academic pursuits in college led him to earn a qualification in T-Level Digital Production Design and Development and joined the team as part of his work placement. This paved the way, for his current role as an apprentice.
In his apprenticeship, Cayden is working on utilising technologies to create digital solutions. His focus is on seamlessly fusing the digital and real-world, pushing the boundaries of what is possible with today’s technology.
Jett Bradford
T Level
Jett is a T Level student on the Digital Futures team, having joined in December 2023. He joined the team as a work placement for his T Level in Digital Production, Design and Development. His interests in programming and design originate from invoked interest early in secondary education and have never stopped captivating his interest.
In the time Jett has been a part of the Digital Futures team, he has worked on low-level hardware and software interactions, connecting the work that the team create virtually to something physical through off-the-shelf electronics.
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