The goals of Affinity Groups for the Sound Health Network are to:
facilitate connections among stakeholders who have a mutual interest in music and health facilitate cross-disciplinary communication and collaboration (e.g., researchers, music therapists, musicians) provide a forum to discuss topics of interest (e.g., appropriate control conditions, study designs, music interventions, training) build community and provide support
Student Affinity Group
Sarah McKiddy University of Washington Student Affinity Group Lead
Bio Sarah McKiddy is a PhD in Nursing Science student at the University of Washington and the de Tornyay Center for Healthy Aging Pre-doctoral Scholar. Her research interests include cognitive health, reframing aging, health equity, and music-based interventions for people 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. Sarah is currently involved as the research coordinator for UW Medicine's Cognition in Primary Health program and the media relations specialist for the UW School of Nursing's Dementia & Palliative Education Network.
Aaron Colverson University of Florida Student Affinity Group Co-Lead
Bio Aaron Colverson is a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Florida in Ethnomusicology, with partnering research in Neuropsychology. He received a fellowship to study music and prosocial interaction in Alzheimer’s disease and endeavors to build cross-disciplinary competency between ethnomusicology and neuropsychology in the context of gerontology. Aaron studies rhythm perception, learning, and performance in aging using a mixed-methods approach involving neuropsychological assessment, a rhythmic musical activity, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. He began a hybrid postdoctoral/leadership-training fellowship in fall 2023 with the Global Brain Health Institute and Memory and Aging Center of the University of California, San Francisco. He graduated from Berklee College of Music with a BM in Professional Music focused on jazz violin performance after which, he moved to Nairobi, Kenya for two years, embedding himself in East African musical traditions and cultures. Aaron is a Research Associate with the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine (CAM). He has contributed to numerous projects of the CAM’s Interdisciplinary Research Lab, including the scoping review on associations between arts participation and well-being (Pesata et al., 2022), arts participation as a health behavior (Rodriguez et al., 2023), the recent definitions paper on arts and public health (Sonke et al., 2023) and the mapping review on social prescription in the United States (Sonke et al., 2023). Aaron also co-led a component of the CAM’s COVID-19 Arts Response called Performing Public Health, specifically the Remote Cultures team, and contributed to a keynote presentation for the 2021 a2ru National Conference. This work will be featured in an upcoming Routledge Companion series.
Megumi Azekawa University of Washington Student Affinity Group Co-Lead
Bio Megumi Azekawa is a Ph.D. student in Nursing Science at the University of Washington and an ARCS Foundation Scholar. Her research interests include the neurobiology of grief and sociocultural determinants of mental and physical health of migrant children and adolescents, and the development of community music intervention to promote their psychosocial well-being. Her research interest also extends to the implementation science of contextualized therapeutic applications of music that promote effective and sustainable health interventions among migrant children and adolescents. Megumi is a board-certified music therapist with over a decade of experience in a wide range of clinical populations, including neurorehabilitation, neurodivergent communities, mental health, military-connected communities, and wellness promotion in community settings. She has also been instrumental as a legislative advocate for music therapy in the state of Washington. Megumi is an accomplished classical saxophonist and a piano accompanist, performing with local concert bands, orchestras, and saxophone ensembles in recitals and chamber concerts.
If you are interested in getting more involved in the Student Affinity Group, please create a Profile in the Sound Health Network Directory and identify yourself as a student (as your “discipline”). We hope to host a virtual introductory chat on the SHN virtual networking platform in the fall.
Join the Student Affinity Group Listserv
Music Services Reimbursement Affinity Group
Stephan Betz, PhD, MT-BC Walnut Creek Consulting Music S ervices Reimbursement Affinity Group Lead
Bio Stephan Betz holds a Ph.D. in Community Education and earned his Board Certification for Music Therapy in 1996. He has provided music therapy services to people with disabilities for 42 years and received awards for professional excellence as well as Honorary Recognitions by the U.S. Congress and California Senate / Assembly. He helped situate 350 people with severe disabilities in the community creating Healthy Homes, created a Trauma-Informed Education Community in Vallejo for 14,500 students, and was executive sponsor for an award winning trauma informed reentry program for women. Stephan provides Music Therapy at StepUpMusic Vallejo and Walnut Creek Center for Community Arts .
Music Reimbursement Affinity Group Participants
Join the Music Services Reimbursement Affinity Group Listserv
Music and Integrative Health Affinity Group
Suzanne Hanser, EdD, MT-BC Berklee College of Music Music and Integrative Health Affinity Group Lead
Bio Dr. Suzanne Hanser is Founding Chair Emerita & Professor of Music Therapy at Berklee College of Music and President of the International Association for Music & Medicine. Dr. Hanser is the author of Integrative Health through Music Therapy and The New Music Therapist’s Handbook, and co-author of Manage Your Stress and Pain, book and CD. Suzanne conducts research in the impact of music-based interventions, and she is the recipient of a Sage Publications Prize, Model of Healing Award from the Children’s Music Fund, and the American Music Therapy Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Music and Integrative Health Co-Chairs
Join the Music and Integrative Health Affinity Group Listserv
