"My name is Adam Ayroso and I am a current first-year medical student at the SUNY Upstate Alan and Marlene Norton College of Medicine located in Syracuse, New York. I had the pleasure of working with Floreo VR since my junior year of high school when I had conducted research for the Regeneron Science Talent Search Competition. I had worked alongside my research advisors from Plainedge Senior High School (Mr. William Bertolotti, Mrs. Melissa Collins, and Mrs. Maureen Brennan) with mentorship under Floreo VR.

 

Dr. Sinan Turnacioglu, the prior chief medical officer of Floreo VR, and the rest of the Floreo VR team were an instrumental part in my early research endeavors. Then, I was able to develop a project, “Applying Virtual Reality Therapy as an Anxiety-Reducing Treatment for Special Needs Children”, where I had worked with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder. I was also graciously granted access to Floreo VR for a whole year to conduct my research. As I graduated high school as class valedictorian in 2020, I was granted acceptance to SUNY Upstate’s combined BS/MD program through Adelphi University. Floreo VR played a pivotal part in my acceptance to medical school as I was able to talk about my passion with this research in my medical school interview and beyond. My experience with the application, the children, and their families who had such positive reflections and outlooks of VR demonstrates Floreo’s necessity and impactful field in building social skills, mindfulness techniques, and so much more.

I have since graduated from Adelphi University in May 2024 with a Bachelor’s of Science in the Biological Sciences, summa cum laude,  in the Honors College. Since starting medical school in Syracuse this past July, I was able to reconnect with the realm of virtual reality under my current mentor, Dr. Markus Lammle, who is a physician at SUNY Upstate. I was able to easily reconnect with Floreo VR who graciously allowed me to present continued research for the Charles R. Ross Memorial Student Research Day at SUNY Upstate under the Lammle Lab. I had presented a poster, “The Immersive Power of Virtual Reality: Applications in Education, Healthcare, and Trauma Treatment”. As the research day was a success, I cannot thank Floreo VR enough for their continuous support in my education and research. I hope to continue researching the exponential areas of virtual reality and to see the progression of this tool in healthcare and beyond."

 

A huge congrats and thank you to Adam for sharing his story! We can not wait to see where he goes next!