Community Conversation

Carlene J. Brown, Ph.D., MT-BC is Chair and Professor of Music at Seattle Pacific University and the Director of the SPU Music Therapy Program, the first and only music therapy degree program in the state of Washington. She has been a musician, music educator, board-certified music therapist, and arts manager in Boston and in Seattle. She is currently on a research team at the UW in the Department of Rehabilitation studying music and pain management. Graduates of the SPU Music Therapy program are working in hospitals, special education programs, hospice care, assisted living communities, and in psychiatric facilities throughout the country.

Rui Costa, D.V.M., Ph.D.  is a neuroscientist and the current President and CEO of the Allen Institute. His laboratory develops and uses genetic, electrophysiological, optical, and behavioral approaches to investigate how the brain adaptively controls behavior and internal organ function. He did his Ph.D. studies with Dr. Alcino Silva at UCLA and postdoctoral work with Dr. Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University. He then became Section Chief at the National Institutes of Health, an Investigator of the Champalimaud Neuroscience Program, and a Professor at Columbia University. He was co-Director of Champalimaud Research and Director/CEO of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University. He received several awards, such as the Young Investigator Award from SFN, the Ariëns Kappers Medal from the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the Mina Bissell Award, and was knighted Commander of the Order of Sant'Iago da Espada by the President of Portugal. He is an elected member of EMBO, and the National Academy of Medicine.

Sarah McKiddy is a PhD student at the University of Washington School of Nursing and the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging Pre-doctoral Scholar. Her research interests include cognitive health and music-based interventions for individuals living with dementia and their care partners. Her background as a professional musician and educator combined with her training as a nurse catalyzed and influenced her pathway toward researching the intersections between music and health.