Over Coffee® is on holiday hiatus. Please enjoy this reposting of one of our top episodes of 2025!
This post and podcast are for informational purposes only, and are not intended as medical advice. Please contact a healthcare professional with any health-related questions.
"If you can learn the planets, you can learn the microbes--if you have the tools," says MedMicroMaps (https://www.medmicromaps.com/) CEO and Co-Founder Dr. Jane Harrington.
"...I will do anything to meet the learner where they are."
And that's exactly what she has done, by drawing on her background as a professor of microbiology, at multiple universities, as well as her time spent serving as Course Director in the area of medical microbiology, both in the Caribbean and, more recently, at Rocky Vista University in Billings, Montana.
Dr. Jane uses technology, both to put microbiology into relatable terms, and to engage visual learners in a fun experience.
Analogies through VR
Her virtual-reality game, MedMicroMaps, replaces the "intimidation" factor with fun--even as it provides a highly-effective tool for visual learning.
The gamer enters a world where they see actual bacteria before them--and interact with them, in the course of their experience. And these are realistic bacteria.
"It's based on real science," Dr. Jane explains.
"So (many) VR applications right now, they're very 'cartoony'."
"(Our representation says,) 'This is a bacteria phage. This is actually what it looks like.'"
Meanwhile, players are discovering parallels between the science behind the virtual bacteria in the game, and their own experiences.
(For example, Dr. Jane says, one person mentioned that a bacteria phage looks like an octopus!)
The world of bacteria in VR
MedMicroMaps players are assisted by a mascot/study buddy named Phage.i. He's a bacteria phage, designed with AI to begin at a learner’s starting point, for microbiology, and help them “grow” from there.
He's also there to make microbiology accessible. Phage.i is a whimsical character with a high voice: Dr. Jane says that, upon seeing him, most people comment on his “cuteness”!
The game is pure fun. In addition to a "detective"-style puzzle to solve, there's a "whack-a-microbe" feature.
Directions for learning
In addition, MedMicroMaps incorporates a revolutionary "map" and compass.
These are a patented design which allows user to learn the effects of the different types of microbes both visually and geographically.
"...An upper-respiratory tract infection, that's the northern coordinate," Dr. Jane explains.
"Versus, if I have something in my lungs, and it's pneumonia, that's the south."
2025 saw Dr. Jane and her husband and MedMicroMaps co-founder, Ian Holyoak, roll out the beta version of MedMicroMaps. Their ultimate goal: several different editions: for high-school students, medical students and institutions of higher learning.
Dr. Jane talked about creating MedMicroMaps, explained how her game works and offered a closer look at the compass system!
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