Carla Sousa

Carla Sousa is a PhD in Communication Sciences from Lusófona University, where she also took her Bachelors Degree in Psychology, her Master's Degree in Clinical and Health Psychology, and a Postgraduate degree in Applied Neuropsychology. Her PhD thesis approached game accessibility as a path to empower and promote well-being in individuals with intellectual disability, which illustrates her main research targets - the different intersections between media, with a particular focus on games, inclusion, behavior, and human diversity. Also in Lusófona University, Carla is part of the Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture, and New Technologies (CICANT) and is an assistant professor in the Bachelor's Degrees in Psychology and Videogames. She published several papers as an author and co-author in peer-reviewed journals, and has done communications at national and international conferences in the fields of media studies, media psychology, games, accessibility, disability, social inclusion, learning, and education. Carla has been part of several national and internationally funded projects, both in research and management roles, including: GameIN (2022.07939.PTDC); TEGA (2020-1-UK01-KA203-079248); ID-Games (2019-1-EL01-KA204-062517); Youth for Youth (2020-2-HU01-KA205-079126); ASDigital (2020-1-PT01-KA226-SCH-094961); or GamiLearning (UTAP-ICDT/IVC-ESCT/0020/2014). Carla has also been involved in the organization of scientific events and scientific networks, being the chair of Working Group 2 in COST Action (CA 19104) - advancing Social inclusion through Technology and EmPowerment (a-Step), which aims to map the best practices and define a research agenda for the future of assistive technologies for individuals with intellectual disability and autism. Since 2022, Carla has been an individual ambassador for the non-profit Women in Games and, since 2023, a member of the advisory board of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).