Affinity Groups

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
Nursing Science PhD program
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
Ethnomusicology PhD program
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.

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

Judy Simpson, MT-BC
American Music Therapy Association
Music Services Reimbursement Affinity Group Lead

Bio Judy Simpson, AMTA Director of Government Relations, represents the music therapy profession with legislators, agencies, and coalitions on the state and federal level. In this role, she has provided testimony to the U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Administration on Aging, and legislative committees in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Representing AMTA as a National Partner, Judy serves on the Legislative Planning Committee for Arts Advocacy Day, an annual national arts initiative sponsored by American for the Arts.
Since 2005, Judy has led AMTA’s national state recognition initiative in collaboration with Certification Board for Music Therapists’ Regulatory Affairs Advisor, Dena Register and Regulatory Affairs Associate, Kimberly Sena Moore. She has presented and participated in advocacy trainings and events in 26 states and has contributed to legislative and regulatory language in 40 states. Judy has personally met with state and federal legislators and state agency officials to support increased access to quality music therapy services provided by qualified board certified music therapists.
In addition to her government relations work, Judy is also responsible for providing reimbursement guidance to AMTA members and music therapy consumers. She holds the professional designation of “Managed Healthcare Professional” from America’s Health Insurance Plans, (AHIP) and is the co-author of “Music Therapy Reimbursement: Best Practices and Procedures”. Prior to her work with AMTA, Judy’s 20+ years of clinical experience as a board certified music therapist involved developing music therapy programs in hospital settings, including physical rehabilitation, oncology, labor and delivery, psychiatry, ICU, and general medicine.

Music Reimbursement Affinity Group Participants

Penny Brill

Laura Perloff

Dan Cohen

Kimberly Sena Moore

John Kander

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.