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HopeLab: Video Games for Health

By: Jennifer VilagaTue Nov 25, 2008 at 8:30 PM
President and CEO: Pat Christen

EnlargePat Christen

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Cancer-afflicted teens often have a hard time sticking to their meds. So Pam Omidyar -- a tech enthusiast with a background in immunology and wife of eBay founder Pierre -- came up with a spoonful of new sugar: video games. Two years ago, HopeLab, Omidyar's not-for-profit, released Re-Mission, a shooter game in which players destroy cancer cells. But it wasn't until this past summer that clinical evidence was published showing that the game actually works. According to a paper in the journal Pediatrics, patients who played for at least an hour a week were more likely to follow their drug regimen. HopeLab president and CEO Pat Christen says the video-game therapy can be applied to other diseases and conditions. Right now, she says, they're working on technology to help vanquish childhood obesity.

From Issue 131 | December 2008


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