Bachelor of Psychology (Honours), University of South Australia, 2019.
PhD (Psychology), University of South Australia, 2023.
Medicine & Health
National Centre of Excellence
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Dr Stefan Michalski is a Research Fellow in the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health at the University of New South Wales. His research has focused on the use of immersive virtual reality (VR) to improve real-world outcomes for clinical populations, with a particular focus on intellectual disability. Stefan holds a PhD in Psychology, where he explored how immersive VR could assist people with intellectual disability in developing life skills.
Currently, Stefan is leading research aimed at addressing significant healthcare disparities faced by people with intellectual disability. He has highlighted that fear, anxiety, and communication challenges often act as barriers for people with intellectual disability when seeking healthcare. His ongoing VR research incorporates generative AI-powered intelligent agents to support and prepare people with intellectual disability to navigate healthcare environments. These tools are designed to reduce anxiety during appointments, increase healthcare engagement, and foster better health outcomes.
Through his work, Stefan seeks to transform the role of technology in promoting participation, independence, and improved health outcomes for people with intellectual disability.
Arnold SRC; Huang Y; Srasuebkul P; Cvejic RC; Michalski SC; Trollor JN, 2025, 'Prevalence of psychiatric conditions in people with intellectual disability: A record linkage study in New South Wales, Australia', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 59, pp. 433 - 447, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00048674251324824
Journal articles | 2025
Michalski SC; Huang Y; Srasuebkul P; Cvejic RC; Arnold SRC; Trollor JN, 2025, 'Predictors of mental illness onset in adolescents and adults with intellectual disability: A retrospective cohort study in New South Wales, Australia', Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 59, pp. 1095 - 1105, http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00048674251374483
Journal articles | 2025
Rooney T; Sharpe L; Winiarski N; Todd J; Colagiuri B; Van Ryckeghem D; Crombez G; Michalski SC, 2025, 'A synthesis of meta-analyses of immersive virtual reality interventions in pain', Clinical Psychology Review, 117, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2025.102566
Journal articles | 2024
Franze A; Loetscher T; Gallomarino NC; Szpak A; Lee G; Michalski SC, 2024, 'Immersive virtual reality is more effective than non-immersive devices for developing real-world skills in people with intellectual disability', Journal of Intellectual Disability Research, 68, pp. 1358 - 1373, http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jir.13177
Journal articles | 2024
Michalski SC; Sharpe L; Boyse JB; Shaw J; Menzies RE, 2024, 'The Role of Pain and Interpretation Bias in Fear of Disease Progression in People With Diabetes', Journal of Pain, 25, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104638
Journal articles | 2024
Rooney T; Sharpe L; Todd J; Michalski SC; Van Ryckeghem D; Crombez G; Colagiuri B, 2024, 'Beyond the modified dot-probe task: A meta-analysis of the efficacy of alternate attention bias modification tasks across domains', Clinical Psychology Review, 110, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2024.102436
Journal articles | 2024
Sharpe L; Rooney T; Todd J; Michalski SC; Van Ryckeghem D; Crombez G; Colagiuri B, 2024, 'Attentional Processes in Pain: The Importance of Context and Attentional Alignment', Journal of Pain, 25, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104600
Journal articles | 2023
Loetscher T; Jurkovic NS; Michalski SC; Billinghurst M; Lee G, 2023, 'Online Platforms for Remote Immersive Virtual Reality Testing: An Emerging Tool for Experimental Behavioral Research', Multimodal Technologies and Interaction, 7, http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/mti7030032
Journal articles | 2023
Michalski SC; Gallomarino NC; Szpak A; May KW; Lee G; Ellison C; Loetscher T, 2023, 'Improving real-world skills in people with intellectual disabilities: an immersive virtual reality intervention', Virtual Reality, 27, pp. 3521 - 3532, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10055-023-00759-2
Journal articles | 2022
Michalski SC; Szpak A; Ellison C; Cornish R; Loetscher T, 2022, 'Using Virtual Reality to Improve Classroom Behavior in People With Down Syndrome: Within-Subjects Experimental Design', Jmir Serious Games, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/34373
Michalski SC; Ellison C; Szpak A; Loetscher T, 2021, 'Vocational Training in Virtual Environments for People With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Systematic Review', Frontiers in Psychology, 12, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.627301
Journal articles | 2020
Szpak A; Michalski SC; Loetscher T, 2020, 'Exergaming with Beat Saber: An Investigation of Virtual Reality Aftereffects', Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22, http://dx.doi.org/10.2196/19840
Journal articles | 2019
Michalski SC; Szpak A; Loetscher T, 2019, 'Using virtual environments to improve real-world motor skills in sports: A systematic review', Frontiers in Psychology, 10, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02159
Journal articles | 2019
Michalski SC; Szpak A; Saredakis D; Ross TJ; Billinghurst M; Loetscher T, 2019, 'Getting your game on: Using virtual reality to improve real table tennis skills', Plos One, 14, http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0222351
Journal articles | 2019
Szpak A; Michalski SC; Saredakis D; Chen CS; Loetscher T, 2019, 'Beyond Feeling Sick: The Visual and Cognitive Aftereffects of Virtual Reality', IEEE Access, 7, pp. 130883 - 130892, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2019.2940073
Conference Papers | 2022
Szpak A; Richards A; Michalski SC; Loetscher T, 2022, 'Getting the Most out of Virtual Reality: Evaluating Short Breaks to Reduce Cybersickness and Cognitive Aftereffects', in Proceedings 2022 IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces Abstracts and Workshops Vrw 2022, pp. 533 - 537, http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/VRW55335.2022.00119
Preprints | 2020
Michalski S; Ellison C; Szpak A; Loetscher T, 2020, Vocational Training in Virtual Environments for People With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Systematic Review, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/f89va
Preprints | 2020
Szpak A; Michalski S; Loetscher T, 2020, Exergaming With Beat Saber: An Investigation of Virtual Reality Aftereffects, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/fj5mg
Preprints | 2019
Michalski S; Szpak A; Saredakis D; Ross T; Billinghurst M; Loetscher T, 2019, Getting Your Game On: Using Virtual Reality to Improve Real Table Tennis Skills, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/aw5gk
Preprints | 2019
Szpak A; Michalski S; Saredakis D; Chen C; Loetscher T, 2019, Beyond Feeling Sick: The Visual and Cognitive Aftereffects of Virtual Reality, http://dx.doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xerwz
Grants as Chief Investigator:
2025 UNSW Health Systems Research Theme Collaborative Grant, Evaluating the Effectiveness of Virtual Reality for Preparing People with Intellectual Disability for Healthcare Systems ($50,000)
2024 UNSW Disability Innovation Institute Research Seed Funding, Using Virtual Reality to Prepare People with Intellectual Disability for Healthcare Interactions ($20,000)
2021-2022 Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation, Helping children with intellectual disabilities develop real-world life skills in virtual reality ($39,026)
