91É«ÇéƬ

Dr Stefan Michalski is a Research Fellow at the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health at 91É«ÇéƬ Sydney. His research focuses on how immersive virtual reality (VR) integrated with intelligent agents powered by generative artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to improve healthcare access and skill development for people with intellectual disability. Stefan completed a PhD in Psychology at the University of South Australia (conferred 2023), where he examined how VR can support learning and transfer of skills to real-world settings. His current work builds on this by co-designing, developing, and testing AI-based VR applications designed to help people with intellectual disability to practise communication, build confidence, and manage anxiety in unfamiliar or challenging environments. He has published 17 peer-reviewed articles across psychology, health, and immersive digital technologies, with over 730 citations (h-index = 10). Stefan has secured ≈$130,000 in competitive funding as Chief Investigator A which has enabled him to lead interdisciplinary projects involving clinicians, engineers, and people with lived experience. He manages a national data linkage program examining mental health outcomes and healthcare utilisation among people with intellectual disability in New South Wales. Stefan has contributed to supervision of Honours and master’s students, mentoring of research staff and has teaching experience as a tutor and course coordinator.Ìý