Doctor Ronald Thomas Halberstam (born-unknown, deceased-June 30, 2070), alias Doctor Thomas Shalbermat, was a matrix, otaku and technomancer researcher. During the 2050s, he ran an illegal research project known as Project: Matrix Born which studied the effects of raising children entirely in a virtual environment. When this project was discovered, Dr. Halberstam changed his name to Thomas Shalbermat, and was employed by Mitsuhama Computer Technologies, where his focus shifted to the otaku phenomena.