Finding a job, especially in this economy, can be daunting for many new grads, but thanks to his creativity, training and support from the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, recent alum Peter Lancellotti is living his dream.
After graduating with his graduate certificate this past summer, Lancellotti started a new career in business development with Blue Marble Game Company, becoming the company’s resident gerontologist.
“We are creating an innovative, comprehensive and cost-savings digital health game ecosystem,” he said. “Our strategy is to combine the strengths of empirical evidence with entertainment to provide a low cost method of therapy for health and wellness.”
Part of what attracted Lancellotti to Blue Marble was their focus on creating fun video games that could serve as valuable cognitive and physical therapy tools, especially the development of a suite of games aimed directly at helping with fall prevention.
“Helping older adults age in place is paramount in my personal and career goals. Another aspect of my gerontological goal is a strong desire to help older adults obtain and maintain health/wellness, while improving their quality of life,” he said. “My education at the USC Leonard Davis School has also afforded me the opportunity to educate a software development company to ensure that the design matches the needs of older adults.”
Crediting his mentors at the USC Leonard Davis School for their assistance, particularly Elizabeth Zelinski, PhD, Lancellotti advised students and job-seekers to focus on networking proactively and creatively as a key element to making the sometimes-rocky post-academic transition.
“Talk to everybody about what you want and what you do,” he said. “For example, if it weren’t for Dr. Zelinski, I would have never met the CEO of Blue Marble Game Company.”
With more than 20 years of experience in sales and marketing for the telecom and technology industries before he decided to return to school, Lancellotti was initially drawn to gerontology so that he could better understand the needs of his older partner as well as his mother. Born out of this interest came his increasing desire to help improve the health and wellbeing of all older adults despite the numerous limitations, obstacles and difficulties they may face.
“Blue Marble is working to provide solutions to all of these concerns by offering a method to provide low-cost healthcare through the use of video games that are highly motivating and thereby improving adherence, allowing remote access and easy communication with therapists after discharge,” he said. “Not to mention, the games are motivating and fun!”
With the opening of this new chapter, Lancellotti is proud to get one step closer to fulfilling his personal dream of reaching his full professional potential, and points to his alma mater as a crucial step in helping him achieve it.
“The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology has the best program in the U.S. and quite probably the world,” he said. “Having internationally renowned professors at the top of their field, I received the highest level of expertise and an educational experience unmatched by any university in an environment that fosters and cultivates creativity.”
Peter Lancellotti
