Learning, Clinical and Technology Partnership
Our esteemed project partners share the unwavering commitment of improving educational nursing practices through advanced extended reality techniques. We invite you to join us on this transformative journey. Together, we can transform the educational healthcare landscape!
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Faculty of Nursing at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) is dedicated to advancing the education of nursing scientists at the undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels. The scientific field of pediatric nursing, supported by the Laboratory of Pediatric Clinical Applications, addresses both the educational and research needs in pediatric nursing across undergraduate and postgraduate programs.
NKUA is the Coordinator of the PeDXR Project and is leading the piloting and validation of the PeDXR learning framework.
represented by:
Prof. Vasiliki Matziou
Professor of Pediatric Nursing, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Prof. Vasiliki Matziou is the Professor of Pediatric Nursing in the Faculty of Nursing at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with more than 40 years of active presence in pediatric nursing, both in hospital and academic settings. She teaches pediatric nursing in higher education and also runs postgraduate and vocational training programs. Additionally, she is the Coordinator of the PeDXR project.
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Additional Team member
Dr Varvara Boutopoulou
Dr Varvara Boutopoulou has been a pediatric nurse for more than twenty years, having held various positions in hospitals up to the level of Director of Nursing. Her current role is in the research field, supporting all educational and research programs concerning pediatric nursing at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
In the PeDXR project, her main role is the coordination and management of the project as the key person in the Coordination Team.
Cyprus University of Technology
Cyprus University of Technology (CUT) is one of the two state-funded universities in Cyprus. In just under a decade, CUT has achieved exponential growth, received international recognition, and secured an impressive track record of research project grants from both national and European sources. CUT consists of 14 Departments in five Schools, one of which is the School of Health Sciences. The Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences is the largest Department by far. It is the national point of reference for Nursing and Midwifery education.
The Department of Nursing offers a 4-year undergraduate program, BSc Nursing, leading to registration by the Cyprus Nurses and Midwives Council. Furthermore, the postgraduate programs include the only MSc in Advanced Nursing and Healthcare Practice in the country, with five specialization tracks including Community Nursing, and MSc in Midwifery, one of only two in the country. The Department collaborates closely with the Ministry of Health, and trains students in all public hospitals nationwide.
CUT is the partner leading the dissemination and exploitation activities of PeDXR, and is additionally contributing to all other project activities alongside the other partners.
represented by:
Christina Nicolaou
Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences
Christiana Nicolaou represents the Partner Scientific Coordinator for the Cyprus University of Technology. Her research interests fall within the sphere of promoting child and family health, particularly with respect to health literacy, vaccine hesitancy, antibiotic use, respectful maternal perinatal care and also the epidemiological studies related to: social support, social capital, health-related quality of life, socio-environmental health determinants, social environment, natural environment and epidemiology of chronic diseases e.g. rheumatic diseases. Her research projects and publications are focused on this field.
RN (School of Nursing, Cyprus, 1985), BSc (Honours) in Professional Studies – Nurse Education (Anglia Polytechnic University, UK, 1997), Certificate in Teaching and Learning Methodology (Pedagogical Institute of Cyprus, 2001). She completed her PhD at the Cyprus University of Technology (2015) where she investigated the health-related quality of mothers of children with cancer, focusing on the role of social support and social capital. She joined the Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Cyprus University of Technology in September 2007 as Senior Lecturer. Currently she is Assistant Professor (since 2011), and she is responsible for the module of Child’s Nursing Care (NUR 353) in the undergraduate program, and the module of Advanced Nursing Care of Neonates and Children (NUR 525) in the MSc Advanced Nursing and Health Care Practice of the Department of Nursing. She also teaches and assess undergraduate students in the laboratories of Biostatistics. Prior to that she was a tenured Nurse Teacher in the School of Nursing, Cyprus (1994 – 2007).
Cyprus University of Technology additional Team members
Ioanna Pieri
Ioanna Pieri is a dedicated registered clinical nurse specializing in the care of children and adolescents. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Cyprus University of Technology and a master’s degree in Advanced Clinical Nursing for Children and Adolescents from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
She currently works at the Oncology and Hematology Clinic at Makarios III Hospital in Cyprus. In addition to her clinical role, Ioanna is a research associate with the Cyprus University of Technology and an elected member of the Cyprus Association of Nursing in the Oncology Nursing sector. She has participated in various funded research projects. Her research interests focus on evidence-based practice in nursing care for children, family-centered care, palliative care, digital innovation and technology in nursing care. She also has a special interest in biomedical research and genetics in nursing.
Thomas More Kempen
Thomas More is a Flemish University of Applied Sciences with international appeal. The university works closely with the professional field to provide its students with outstanding higher education, preparing them for the labor market and the world of tomorrow
Their educational programmes, applied scientific research and services act as catalysts for regional development and innovation. Driven by its values, the university of applied sciences is enterprising and inspiring, with a clear vision and unwavering confidence in its students and staff.
Thomas More Kempen is the partner leading the work on the requirement and stakeholder analysis of PeDXR and is additionally contributing to all other project activities alongside the other partners.
represented by:
Katrin De Winter
Lecturer, Coordinator advanced paediatric and neonatal health care
De Winter Katrin, BSc, MSc, joined the University of Applied Sciences, Thomas More Kempen at campus Lier in October 1994. At this moment she is coordinator of the postgraduate education program in Advanced Paediatric and Neonatal Healthcare. She is also involved in the undergraduate courses of Bachelor in Nursing and Bachelor in Midwifery for Paediatric Nursing and Neonatology.
In Belgium, she is an active member in paediatric nursing within the association ‘Netwerk Verpleegkunde’. Within the Pediatric Nursing Associations of Europe (PNAE: https://pnae.eu/), she has represented Belgium since October 2010. In October 2022, she organized the 40th PNAE meeting in Ostend for incoming members. She has participated in several meetings resulting in position statements focusing on various topics in pediatric and neonatal healthcare.
Thomas More Kempen Additional Team Members
Bert Bonroy
Research Leader
Bert Bonroy holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering. His PhD was on developing and evaluating assistive technology to improve chronic care. He has been working as a researcher at Thomas More since 2006. He serves as a research leader within the Centre of Expertise Care and Well-being research group Mobilab & Care. Bert has experience in setting up and implementing research projects at national and international levels in which technology and care go hand in hand. He gives lectures at national and international levels where he elaborates on topics such as how can wearable technology and Virtual Reality applications be used in healthcare or how to implement new sensors to be integrated in clothing which contribute to rehabilitation programmes. In terms of research, he is particularly interested in implementing technology and algorithm development in the healthcare sector with the aim of increasing the patient's quality of life and supporting the caregiver (from professional caregiver to informal caregiver).
Jef Van den Vonder
Lecturer, ethics
Jef Van den Vonder has a wide interest in different topics, which all come down to human relationships, their quality, and the way they influence life and existential wellbeing. He holds different degrees such as a teacher’s degree in French and English, Ba/Ma in Religious Studies and Theology (specialization in ethics) and a Bachelor in Applied clinical Psychology. He works part-time as a family counsellor in specialized youth services and part-time as a lecturer in ethics at Thomas More Lier (Nursing and Midwifery). His focus is on elderly care, end-of-life-care and care ethics.
Omega Technology
Omega Technology – THEOFANIS ALEXANDRIDIS & SIA EE, is an experienced and well-known IT provider company in Greece, founded in 1985. The company serves the Greek public bodies, enterprises and other organizations with technology and services made possible by its 28 years of experience. Its solutions include e-learning, virtual reality applications, assisted living solutions, tailor-made applications for people with disabilities, as well as e-commerce applications, and document and knowledge management systems. The company is also offering a broad range of management and services including consulting, research and development, digitization, annotation and preservation of content, hardware supply and technical support. The company’s research department is active in the R&D arena, in close cooperation with Academia and Research Institutes, running several R&D projects and market validation projects. In PeDXR, Omega Technology will be leading the development of the Extended Reality Application.
represented by:
Nikos Papastamatiou
Responsible for the R&D Department, Omega Technology
Nikolaos Papastamatiou graduated from Aegean University, Samos in 1998 with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He then received a Master’s degree in Distributed and Multimedia Information Systems from Heriot-Watt University, Scotland in 1999. He is experienced in web technologies (XML Web services, GRID computing, etc) and he has participated in many European and National research projects. His research interests are in the fields of Web Development, Virtual Reality, Web Services, Grid Computing, ontologies, semantic web, Natural Language Processing and Multimedia Applications.
Omega Technology Additional Team Members
Theofanis Alexandridis
Theofanis Alexandridis holds a Diploma in Electrical & Computer Engineering from National Technical University of Athens. He is the head of the Software Department at Omega Technology and the person in charge for more than 25 EU and National projects (Ten - Telecom, Adapt, Pave, Interreg, Leonardo). As the head of the R&D Department of Omega Technology, his current research interests include information systems development, relational databases, web services and distributed systems.
Apostolos Giannetsos
Apostolos Giannetsos completed his studied at the Department of Computer Engineering & Informatics at the University of Patras. He is experienced mainly in Microsoft based Web technologies, like ASP.NET MVC, WebApi and .NET Core. Furthermore, he is experienced in Database development using Entity framework, Sql server and Linq, although never afraid to try new development techniques or frameworks. He is also, an avid cyclist.
Dimitrios Tsoukaladakis
Dimitrios Tsoukaladakis studied Multimedia Programming at the Institute of Professional Training. Experienced mainly in audio, video and photo editing. Also experienced in creating Virtual Tours and Photogrammetry.
Medical University - Sofia
Medical University – Sofia (MUS) is the oldest high educational medical institution in Bulgaria. The University has the leading position in the Bulgarian educational system. The MUS is responsible for the undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD education of physicians, pharmacists, dental physicians, nurses, health care managers etc. There are more than 10 000 students from all over the world. Some of its goals and key activities are:
- To ensure graduation of medical specialists who are adaptable and meet the increasing needs of the national and international employer in all sectors of economy
- To form high quality lecturers and to improve their effectiveness
- To optimize resources in order to improve the work environment and the variety of services given by students.
There are 11.874 publications indexed in Scopus scientific database published by the researchers from the MUS. Professionals from the MUS are also engaged in the governmental and consultation bodies at the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Bulgarian Medical Association, Bulgarian Dental Association, Bulgarian Association of the health care professionals, ASPHER, EHMA, Chair of Bioethics of UNESCO etc.
The Faculty of Public Health “Prof. Tzecomir Vodenitcharov, MD, PhD, DSc” was established in 1995 and is within the oldest structure of the MUS, and the most eminent academic organization in the field of health care and public health in Bulgaria. It includes ten departments holding a long tradition in undergraduate and postgraduate training of nurses in all areas of medical practice. It is the biggest national structure which provides training in the fields of nursing. The high level of teaching, training, and achievements in research, healthcare, and public activities aim to position MUS as an innovator and meet public interests.
MUS is contributing to all PeDXR activities alongside other partners.
represented by:
Prof. Antoniya Yanakieva
Professor & Head of Department of Health Technology Assessment, Faculty of Public Health
Prof. Antoniya Yanakieva, obtained a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Applied Sciences, Karlsruhe, Germany majoring in “International Management”, and a Master’s degree in “Public Health and Health Management” at the Medical University – Sofia, Faculty of Public Health. In 2012, she obtained the Educational and Scientific Degree “Doctor of Philosophy” in Social Medicine and Organization of Health Care and Pharmacy with a dissertation on the topic “Marketing of the activity Medical Patronage in Home Conditions”. Since 2009, she has been an assistant at the Department of Health Policy and Management. In 2014, she held the academic position of Associate Professor. Since 2014, she has been a member of the newly established Department of Health Technology Assessment. Since 2017 she has been a full-time Professor and Head of the Department of Health Technology Assessment.
Prof. Antonia Yanakieva has more than 90 scientific publications in Bulgarian and international scientific journals. The main topics of scientific developments are related to health management and marketing, management and organization of health care, medical care at home, international health cooperation, health technology assessment. She has participated in a number of projects at the national and international level. Awarded with the sign of honor SIGNUM LAUDIS PRO SCIENTIAE MERITIS for the most successful development in the scientific field of medicine, medico-social direction.
- Member of the General Committee of Medical University - Sofia
- Member of the Academic Council of Medical University - Sofia
- Member of and coordinator of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Tzecomir Vodenitcharov, MD, PhD, DSc" at the Medical University - Sofia
- Member of the National Association for Health Policy and Management (NHMP)
- Member of the International Forum of Teachers (IFT) of the UNESCO Chair in Bioethics
- Deputy Chairman of the Scientific Society for Public Health
Medical University - Sofia additional Team member
Chief Assistant Prof. Svetlin Georgiev at the Faculty of Public Health
Svetlin Georgiev is a Chief Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Public Health. Being part of the Department of Health Technology Assessment, he is working in the field of HTA of Medical devices.
Svetlin Georgiev has a Master of Clinical Trials Management (Medical University, Sofia), a Master of Public Health Management (Medical University, Sofia), and a Bachelor of “Logistics” (University of National and World Economy, Sofia) at present he is working on various scientific projects in the field of Nursing, Medical Devices and Health Logistics. Svetlin Georgiev has also a Professional Qualification in “Bussiness Management” (National Management School). In 2018, he obtained the Educational and Scientific Degree “Doctor of Philosophy” in Social Medicine and Organization of Health Care and Pharmacy with dissertation topic “Research and analysis of selection and capacity building practices in the process of Health Technology Assessment”. In 2020, Svelin Georgiev finished his specialization in Health Economics at Medical University, Sofia.
Moreover, Svetlin Georgiev is a member of the “International Forum of Teachers”, “National Association of Health Policy and Management”, Faculty Council of the Faculty of Public Health “Prof. Tzecomir Vodenitcharov, MD, PhD, DSc” at the Medical University – Sofia, and Bulgarian Scientific Society for Public Health. Furthermore, he has participated in a number of projects at the national and international level.
Svetlin Georgiev is actively engaged in social work as a mentor in a project undertaken by the Bulgarian Ministry of Health, named “Specific health challenges of the Romani population” and in projects for developing medical registers and improving the ICT infrastructure, organized by the Medical University.
Hellenic Pediatric Nursing Association
The Hellenic Pediatric Nursing Association (HPNA) aims to provide continuous education for pediatric nurses to ensure the provision of advanced pediatric care. HPNA collaborates with expert pediatric nurses throughout Greece and internationally to share knowledge and experience.
HPNA Board Members:
- Vasiliki Matziou (President)
- Pantelis Perdiakris (Vice President)
- Varvara Boutopoulou (General Secretary)
- Despoina Koumpagioti (Treasurer)
- Effrosyni Vlachioti
- Evanthia Konstantaki
- Charalampia Nteli
In the PeDXR project, HPNA supports the initiative from the perspective of vocational education and is responsible for writing the PeDXR guidelines. Additionally, it manages the PeDXR social media accounts.
represented by:
Dr. Efrosyni Vlachioti
RN, MSc, PHD, Director of Nursing, Children’s Hospital Agia Sophia
Dr. Efrosyni Vlachioti is a Pediatric Nurse and currently serves as the Director of Nursing at the largest pediatric hospital in Athens. She is a member of the board of HPNA and has been dedicated to the training of pediatric nurses for many years.
