A Chula Medical Technology lecturer has developed Metaverse Lab-XR, an innovative virtual laboratory that allows students to practice lab procedures and develop the soft skills needed for real-world work in hospitals, preparing them to become skilled and knowledgeable medical technologists.

BANGKOK, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — For Medical Technology students, laboratory skills are just as important as academic learning. However, developing these skills into expertise requires extensive hands-on practice—a challenge for third- and fourth-year students in Clinical Microbiology at the Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn Worasilchai, a lecturer in the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Faculty of Allied Health Sciences, Chulalongkorn University developed Metaverse Lab-XR to offer students more opportunities to practice before entering the simulated laboratory.

“We want to make sure that all students reach the same level before moving on to the next lesson,” she said.

In use since early 2024, Metaverse Lab-XR recreates a hospital laboratory where students can independently practice procedures and diagnostic skills as often as needed. The first training module focuses on diagnosing fungal infections. Students work through realistic scenarios, from checking patient and specimen information to selecting appropriate tests and responding when laboratory findings do not match a patient’s symptoms or medical history.

The virtual environment also prepares students to work more safely with actual patient specimens and microorganisms during subsequent hands-on training, helping reduce infection risks while making better use of laboratory resources.

Beyond technical skills, the program develops communication, teamwork, laboratory management, critical thinking, and prioritization. Students learn to communicate with doctors and nurses, identify urgent cases, and investigate unexpected test results.

According to Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn, research and observation showed that Metaverse Lab-XR improved students’ learning outcomes by approximately 20%. Students also reported feeling psychologically safer practicing privately in the virtual environment, where they can repeat exercises without feeling embarrassed about making mistakes.

Metaverse Lab-XR received the Excellent Innovation Award for Outstanding Innovation in Student Development from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) in September 2025.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Navaporn hopes the project will eventually expand to other universities and medical technology laboratories in Thailand and abroad, with additional scenarios covering bacterial, respiratory, and viral infections.

Read the full article at https://www.chula.ac.th/en/highlight/422901/

Media Contact:  
Chula Communication Center         
Email: Pataraporn.r@chula.ac.th

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SOURCE Chulalongkorn University Communication Center

LONDON and HONG KONG, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Poseidon Capital Partners, a leading Hong Kong-based investment manager and one of the region’s largest QIS investors, has appointed Premialab to enhance its QIS analytics capabilities. The firm specializes in Outsourced CIO, Dedicated Managed Accounts and systematic portfolio construction for private clients, single family offices and institutions.

Poseidon Capital Partners combines deep expertise in quantitative investment strategies with a client-centric approach to wealth management with institutionalised investment management via portfolio allocation, proprietary modelling and risk architecture. To strengthen its systematic overlay capabilities and deepen its quantitative research process, Poseidon Capital Partners has appointed Premialab as its independent QIS analytics partner, enabling more rigorous strategy evaluation and enhanced portfolio construction.

“We are delighted to partner with Poseidon Capital Partners, one of the most sophisticated systematic investors in the region,” said Adrien Géliot, CEO of Premialab. “Their commitment to QIS as a core part of portfolio construction reflects true institutional ambition in creating enduring value for their clients. Premialab’s analytics platform supports their ability to evaluate and construct QIS overlays with greater precision, helping them deliver the consistent, long-term results their clients expect.”

Mars Wang, co-founder & CEO at Poseidon Capital Partners added: “Our mission is to construct enduring portfolios for our clients across market cycles. Premialab’s advanced QIS analytics enable us to refine our strategies and strengthen our portfolio construction process. Their platform provides the analytical rigor and transparency our approach demands, supporting our commitment to the principle of capital preservation.”

About Premialab

Premialab is the leading independent platform providing data, analytics, and risk solutions on systematic, factor, and multi-asset strategies. It collaborates with the world’s leading investment banks to deliver these capabilities to institutional investors globally, working with the top 20 investment banks as well as leading asset managers, pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance companies. The company has offices in London, Paris, New York, Hong Kong, Dubai and Sydney. For more information, please visit: www.premialab.com.

About Poseidon Capital Partners

Poseidon Capital Partners is a Hong Kong-based multi-family office providing external asset management services to high-net-worth individuals and families. Leveraging deep expertise in systematic investment strategies and quantitative portfolio construction, Poseidon Capital Partners designs diversified investment solutions, tailored to create enduring wealth across market cycles. With a focus on combining financial sophistication with a commitment to client empowerment, Poseidon Capital Partners with visionary investors seeking long-term value creation and generational prosperity.

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The Collinson Group recently announced £350m in new financing, which will accelerate the £500 million growth strategy; reflective of both strong confidence in the Group’s performance and its commitment to driving innovation and leadership in airport experiences. A core focus will be acceleration of the digital roadmap, leveraging new data and AI capabilities, and significantly expanding the group’s lounge network. 

TOKYO, Sept. 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Priority Pass, the world’s original and market-leading airport experiences programme, today set out how it will benefit from the Collinson Group’s £500 million, five-year investment programme, accelerated by a new £350 million financing facility. A significant proportion of the programme will be directed towards expansion of the group’s proprietary lounge network and investment in Priority Pass – continuing to strengthen the latter’s core proposition, accelerating the development of digital, AI and data capabilities, and broadening the range of travel services available to clients and travellers.

The investment builds on significant enhancements already underway across Priority Pass. These include a new enterprise-level technology platform leveraging modern data and AI architecture, alongside the global rollout of the new Priority Pass+ app. These enhancements are designed to create a more connected digital ecosystem for clients, partners and members, while enabling greater personalisation over time.

As a family-owned business, Collinson takes a long-term approach to growth, continually reinvesting in its businesses, clients and their customers, and partners. This has enabled Priority Pass to continue expanding its global network and developing new solutions and services, while growing ahead of the wider travel market.

An extensive part of Collinson Group’s investment programme will be focussed on expanding its global airport lounge footprint, through Airport Dimensions, sister company to Priority Pass. This additional lounge capacity within the group will help to protect and enhance the experience available to Priority Pass members as global air passenger traffic is expected to almost double to nearly 19 billion journeys a year by 2045. Priority Pass recently surpassed 1,900 airport lounges and travel experiences worldwide, with its global network expanding by 6.7% over the past 12 months.

Christopher Evans, CEO of Collinson International, owners of Priority Pass, said: “Travel plays an increasingly important role in people’s lives. While operating costs across the travel industry continue to rise, so too do traveller expectations, with people seeking journeys that are more seamless, connected and personalised. That makes investment in the customer experience more important than ever before.

“This investment reflects a principle that has remained core to our business for more than 35 years: that investing in better travel experiences creates genuine value for our partners, our clients and travellers alike. Recent shifts in what technology can enable means we need to increase our investment levels to realise the value new technology can bring through Priority Pass, further allowing our clients to offer differentiated and personalised experiences to their customers.

“As we surpass 1,900 lounges and travel experiences globally, the Group’s investment in lounge capacity through Airport Dimensions means our members will benefit from a network that keeps expanding for the long term. This powerful combination is unique in our sector. It allows us to work closely with financial institutions, travel brands and airport partners around the world to help them build stronger customer relationships while shaping the next generation of airport experiences and delivering long-term value.”

An enhanced digital experience for members

Investment in Priority Pass is resulting in upgraded systems, advanced technology and the new Priority Pass+ App – the latter of which introduces functionality designed to make it easier for members to plan their journeys, access their benefits and manage their membership in one place.

Future functionality will include enhanced and intuitive travel planning – leveraging AI, past behaviours and real-time geo-location (where enabled) – to proactively suggest suitable lounges and travel experiences for members’ journeys. This lays the foundation for greater personalisation over time based on individual user preferences, while further supporting Priority Pass partners by surfacing relevant and timely experiences to members. Partner integration will continue to evolve, enabling secure in-app purchases of experiences and travel benefits.

An enhanced user experience can also be enjoyed through easier activation, saved card functionality, biometric authentication, and email or mobile one-time verification. Eligible members can view and manage multiple Priority Pass memberships in one place, making it easier to switch between benefits without managing separate accounts or logins; and in the near future, eligible principal payment cardholders will be able to use the Priority Pass+ app to share their visit entitlements with supplementary cardholders (where their issuing bank allows) – even when the latter is travelling independently. 

Expanding choice and access for travellers

Alongside enhancing its core systems, Priority Pass continues to invest in new solutions and services to better support clients’ commercial objectives and meet evolving traveller expectations. This includes the launch of Priority Pass Private, a luxury, full-service airport experience designed to reward discerning travellers with a more elevated and seamless journey through the airport.

Airport fast track* is also now available at 28 airports, providing access to expedited security lanes through the Priority Pass app. Over the next 12 months, the network is expected to expand to more than 170 bookable fast track lanes across more than 150 terminals and more than 130 airports globally. With 73% of travellers identifying fast track as the top technology for improving the airport experience¹, the service responds directly to increasing demand for greater convenience, efficiency and control. It joins a growing portfolio of end-to-end travel services that support members pre, during and post-travel, including airport parking and luggage storage.

A trusted partner for leading global brands

Over the past 35 years, Priority Pass has evolved from an airport lounge access programme into a broader travel ecosystem that supports travellers before, during and after their journey. The programme now sees more than six million guest visits per month, indicating the growing value travellers place on premium, end-to-end airport experiences.

The growth programme will further help shape the next generation of airport experiences, with a strengthened relationship with lounge partner CAVU – operators of Escape Lounges – resulting in dedicated areas for Priority Pass members and LoungeKey cardholders live across five UK lounges to help increase capacity. Escape Lounges reception teams also support Priority Pass members and LoungeKey cardholders with priority access once space becomes available, further increasing lounge visits for the partner.

Investing in the future of travel

This announcement follows the Collinson Group’s recently announced £350 million Revolving Credit Facility, which supports a £500 million investment programme across the Group over the next five years. Alongside investment in Priority Pass, the programme will fund expansion of the Group’s global lounge network, growth of its insurance portfolio, the development of new technology and products, entry into new markets and investment in its people.

The Group also recently renewed its commitment to the Collinson Foundation, pledging 5% of profits by FY29 towards programmes supporting education, employment, entrepreneurship, innovation and crisis response.

Notes to editors:

*Pricing varies by airport. Member-funded service. Lounge entitlements/visits cannot be used to pay for airport fast track. Available at 28 airports across eight countries in Europe, the Americas and Middle East; further expansion of airport fast track is planned in Asia-Pacific. Please check the departing airport listing in the Priority Pass app for details.

¹ Priority Pass Tomorrow’s Journey: Smarter, Faster, Connected – collinsongroup.com/en-GB/lp/tomorrows-journey-report

Air passenger traffic forecast: Airports Council International, January 2026

About Priority Pass:

Priority Pass is the world’s original and market-leading airport experiences programme. We provide travellers with access to over 1,900 lounges and travel experiences in 865 airports in 143 countries. Members can access an ever-growing range of premium experiences – from spas to sleeping pods to dining – that help elevate every journey into something special. By building partnerships with other leading brands, we help to bring a better travel experience to the world.

Priority Pass is owned and operated by Collinson International, part of The Collinson Group, a family-owned business. Formed over 35 years ago, it now has five distinct operating companies that generate a combined annual revenue of £2bn, employing more than 2,500 people across 14 countries.

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SOURCE Collinson International