Directors
Maryalice Jordan Marsh is a nurse psychologist and Senior scholar for the Creative Media and Behavioral Health Center. Her expertise is as a consultant on game design from the perspective of an older adult and an expert in behavior change related to healthy lifestyle. She formed a team for butterfly lovers based in her concern about frustration between older and younger adults that might lead to abuse by either party. She is an expert in quantitative and qualitative research methods using dynamic assessment. She was a faculty advisor on the trainer game that won two Awards in Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign.
Marientina Gotsis has a broad background in arts, design and engineering with a special interest in interactive entertainment applications for health, happiness and rehabilitation. She founded and leads USC’s Games for Health Initiative since 2007, connecting health professionals with innovation in various forms of interactive media. She is co-founder and director of the Creative Media & Behavioral Health Center, an organized research unit between the School of Cinematic Arts and the Keck School of Medicine. This center designs, develops and evaluates entertainment applications at the intersection of behavioral science, medicine and public health. Gotsis and her teams have developed interactive experiences and products to help increase literacy and public awareness, change behavior, and improve assessment and treatment techniques with funding from the National Institutes of Health, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Norlien Foundation, Department of Education, Department of Defense, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and the Shafallah Center for Special Needs Children.
Student Researchers
Patrick Bender is an Interactive Media and Game Design MFA candidate at the School of Cinematic Arts. His main interests include the evolving relationships we have with technology and how we can create maximally ethical user-interfaces. He leads the research team for the Butterfly Lovers project.
Gabrielle Kanellos is a Media Arts and Practice B.A. student at the School of Cinematic Arts. She is interested in exploring creative technologies with activism, natural sciences, and health.
Jeffrey Doan is a Biomedical Engineer at the Viterbi School of Engineering. His interests include incorporating and modernizing technology into medical practice and treatment. He joined the research team and the paper prototype team for the Butterfly Lovers project to learn more on the rehabilitative and psychological effects of virtuality reality.
Christina Lelon is an undergraduate senior studying Gerontology and Philosophy. Her interests include neurological diseases of aging, virtual reality, and the ways in which virtual environments can be used for therapeutic purposes.
Brenda Chen is an undergraduate sophomore majoring in animation at the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Her interests include creating immersive art experiences and exploring the potential of virtual and augmented reality in mental health care. She is a student researcher, designer, and 3D modeler on the digital team for Butterfly Lovers. She is also a recipient of the Provost Undergraduate Research Fellowship Grant.
Kelsey Rice is an Interactive Media and Game Design MFA candidate at the School of Cinematic Arts. She is interested in interactive media’s potential for creating immersive spaces and how these spaces can influence our lives. She is an artist on the Butterfly Lovers project.
Jessica Cheng is a junior studying Health and Humanity in the USC Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences. She works as a research assistant and is one of the leaders for the paper prototype team. She is also in the research team, working on a literature review on elder abuse and empathy.
Xian Lu is an Interactive Media and Game Design MFA candidate at the School of Cinematic Arts. She is on her way to learn and practice the design process of meaningful play and various representations of race, gender, age and belief in games. She joined the Butterfly Lovers project as a game designer, working on the digital prototyping and is one of the leaders for the paper prototype team now.
Ashley Yu-Chih is an undergraduate senior studying Computer Science (Games) at the Viterbi School of Engineering. Her interests include building immersive virtual experiences, as well as exploring the potential of interactive media in mental health care. She joined the Butterfly Lovers project as a designer and programmer, and is one of the leads of the digital team.
Alyssa Matlosz is a sophomore studying Media Arts + Practice in the School of Cinematic Arts with a minor in Kinesiology. She is interested exploring interactive experiences and games focusing on science and health.
Nathan Lim is a junior studying Computer Science (Games) with a minor in Mathematics. He is interested in using Virtual /Augmented Reality in games focusing on immersive environments, storytelling, and health. He is currently the programmer for the digital team.
Griffin Shue coming soon
Eileen Hsu coming soon
Allison Comrie coming soon