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Albert (Skip) Rizzo

Dr. Albert (Skip) Rizzo, PhD, is a Research Scientist at the ICT, Director of the VRPSYCH laboratory, and Research Assistant Professor for the School of Gerontology at USC. He is currently the PI on several grants with the U.S. Military exploring VR as both a training tool for soldiers and in treatment for PTSD. He is also involved in a grant developing VR for stroke rehabilitation and in using VR to assess the cognitive abilities of adults with Alzheimer's disease and children across a range of clinical conditions. Dr. Rizzo is the Associate Editor for CyberPsychology and Behavior and Senior Editor for Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments, and is the Vice President of Research for Digital MediaWorks Inc.

Positions & Honors

Positions
2007-Present Research Professor, School of Gerontology, USC
2007-Present Research Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, USC
2004-Present Research Scientist, Institute for Creative Technologies (ICT), University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1996-Present Director, Memory Enhancement Seminars for Seniors Program, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1999-2004 Research Assistant Professor, School of Engineering - Integrated Media Systems Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1998-2007 Research Assistant Professor, School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1998-1999 Acting Program Coordinator, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1995-1998 NIA Post Doctoral Fellow, Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, University of Southern California, Los Angeles
1986-1994 Associate Professor, Coastline Traumatic Head Injury Program, Costa Mesa, CA

Selected Honors & Awards
2006 Guest Editor, VR and Rehabilitation Special Issue of CyberPsychology and Behavior
2005 Guest Editor, VR and Psychophysiology, Special Issue of Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback
2005 Conference Chair, The 4th International Workshop on Virtual Rehabilitation
2001 Guest Editor, VR and Neuropsychology Special Issue of Presence
Vice President of Research-Digital MediaWorks Inc
Senior Editor, Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments
SIG President, Assoc. Advancement of Behavior Therapy - Computers and High Tech in Behavioral Practice

Education

University of Southern California Post Doc. 1995-1998 Alzheimer's Research Center
State University of New York-Binghamton Ph.D. 1991 Clinical Psychology
University of New Orleans M.S. 1982 Experimental Psychology
University of Hartford B.A. 1977 Psychology

Selected Publications

  1. Rizzo, A.A., Kenny, P. & Parsons, T., (2009). The Birth of Intelligent Virtual Humans in Clinical Virtual Reality. Proceedings of the 11th Annual Virtual Reality International Conference, Laval, France, April, 2009.
  2. Rizzo, A.A., Difede, J., Rothbaum, B.O., Johnston, S., Mclay, R.N., Reger, G., Gahm, G., Parsons, T., Graap, K. & Pair, J., (2009). VR PTSD Exposure Therapy Results with Active Duty Iraq War Combatants. In J.D. Westwood et al. (Eds.), Technology and Informatics. 142, 277-282. Amsterdam, NL: IOS Press.
  3. Reger, G.M., Gahm, G.A., Rizzo, A.A., Swanson, R. & Duma, S. (2009). Soldier Evaluation of the Virtual Reality Iraq. Telemedicine and e-Health. 15, 100-103.
  4. Parsons, T. & Rizzo, A.A. (2008). Affective Outcomes of Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Behavior Therapy & Experimental Psychiatry. 39, 250-261.
  5. Parsons, T. Silva, T., Pair, J. & Rizzo, A.A. (2008). A Virtual Environment for Assessment of Neurocognitive Functioning: Virtual Reality Cognitive Performance Assessment Test. In J.D. Westwood et al. (Eds.), Studies in Health Technology and Informatics. Amsterdam, NL: IOS Press. 351-356.
  6. Gerardi, M., Rothbaum, B.O., Ressler, K., Heekin, M. & Rizzo, A.A. (2008). Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy Using a Virtual Iraq: Case Report. Journal of Traumatic Stress. 21(2), 1-5.
  7. Spira, J., Pyne, J.M., Wiederhold, B., Wiederhold, M., Graap, K. & Rizzo, A.A. (2007). Virtual Reality and Other Experiential Therapies for Combat-related PTSD. Primary Psychiatry. 13(3), 58-64.
  8. Rizzo, A.A., Rothbaum, B.O. & Graap, K. (2007). Virtual Reality Applications for Combat-Related Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In: C.R. Figley & W.P. Nash (Eds.), Combat Stress Injury: Theory, Research and Management. Taylor and Francis Books, NY, NY. pp. 183-204.
  9. Matheis, R., Schultheis, M.T., Tiersky, L.A., DeLuca, J., Mills, S.R. & Rizzo, A.A. (2007). Is learning and memory different in a virtual environment? The Clinical Neuropsychologist, 21, 146-161.
  10. Rizzo, A.A. Klimchuk, D., Mitura, R., Bowerly, T., Buckwalter, Parsons, TD & Yeh, S.C. (2006). A Virtual Reality Scenario for All Seasons: The Virtual Classroom. CNS Spectrums. 11(1), 35-44.
  11. Spira, J., Pyne, J.M., Wiederhold, B., Wiederhold, M., Graap, K. & Rizzo, A.A. (2006). Virtual Reality and Other Experiential Therapies for Combat-related PTSD. Primary Psychiatry. 13(3), 58-64.
  12. Feintuch, U., Raz, L., Hwang, J., Yongseok, J., Josman, N., Katz, N., Kizony, R., Rand, D., Rizzo, A., Shahar, M. & Weiss, P.L. (2006). Integrating haptic-tactile feedback into a video capture based VE for rehabilitation. CyberPsychology and Behavior. 9(2), 129-132.
  13. Gold, J.I., Kim, S.H., Kant, A.J., Joseph, M.H. & Rizzo, A.A. (2006). Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Pediatric Pain Distraction during IV Placement. CyberPsychology and Behavior. 9(2), 207-213.