The Team
VRforHealth co-founders, Beth Savoldelli and Denise Silber, are on a mission to make Virtual Reality solutions more widely known and accessible to patients and professionals, through the VRforHealth platform, outreach, and new activities in preparation.
As part of the company’s development, they are proud to welcome their new Clinical Advisor, Dr Rafael Grossmann, to the team. Dr Grossmann brings to VRforHealth his experience as a trauma surgeon, his longstanding focus on new technologies, and in particular, immersive ones, and his deep support of patient engagement. Dr Grossmann and Denise Silber originally connected over Google Glass in 2013, when he made one of the first-ever live, on-stage demonstrations of its Augmented Reality features, in Paris at the international conference she curated.
Denise Silber
Denise Silber is a digital health pioneer, strategist, and social media influencer, on a mission for 25+ years to improve the quality of care through the awesome combination of digital health deployment, patient participation, and communication.
A senior pharmaceutical executive turned eHealth entrepreneur, Denise founded Basil Strategies communications agency in 2001, launched the international Doctors 2.0 & You conferences in 2011, and co-founded VRforHealth in 2019. At VRforHealth, Denise brings to the table her strategic vision of the role of Virtual Reality in transforming prevention and care, its expression on and offline through communication and events in the regulated healthcare industry, and finally, her global network.
An ex-New Yorker in Paris, Denise Silber has worked on three continents and is also fluent in French and Spanish. In 2011, Denise was awarded the French Legion of Honor, France’s highest civilian honor, for her contribution to eHealth and patient engagement and in 2018, was named to the #InspiringFifty women in tech. A Harvard MBA, Denise hosts podcasts for Harvard Alumni Entrepreneurs, is vice-president for the Harvard Club of France, and Secretary-General of FNIM professional association.
Beth Savoldelli
Beth Savoldelli's professional experience includes management roles in investor relations, corporate communications and business development. Her personal trajectory pivoted following a triple negative breast cancer diagnosis in 2008. In 2009, she became a patient advocate, mentoring breast cancer patients and connecting them to novel solutions to help others improve their experiences.
Putting her patient perspective to work at VRforHealth, Beth collaborates on initiatives that advance awareness, adoption and access of Therapeutic VR as a game changing solution in improving patient centered experience-- empowering people to get through some of the most challenging aspects of treatment with better outcomes.
Beth Savoldelli is primarily responsible for developing strategic partnerships, business development and new sales channels for VRforHealth's partners.
Dr Rafael Grossmann, MD, FACS
Rafael J. Grossmann Zamora, MD, FACS is an immigrant, surgeon, educator, speaker, patient advocate, and healthcare futurist.
Originally from Caracas, Venezuela, Rafael did his surgery residency in Ann Arbor, MI, USA. After training as a general surgeon, he settled in the USA, where he is a full-time practicing trauma surgeon. Attracted by the paradoxical power of technology to facilitate more humane medical care, Dr. Grossmann was the first to use Google Glass in the operating room, probably the first iteration of Augmented Reality during live surgery. He keeps abreast not only of new software applications but of innovation in hardware and the digital health space in general.
Dr. Grossmann is engaged in multiple facets of Immersive Reality (XR) as a new medium to improve connectivity and communication in healthcare. He has helped develop and optimize several VR and AR platforms and currently serves as an advisor to XRHealth, AnimaRes, and LevelEx, among others. He has been a supporter of VRforHealth’s mission from its inception and is now our Clinical Advisor.
