Renée Fleming Foundation and NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative announce second round of awards to support collaborative research and deepen the science of arts and health.
Contact: Andrea Camp
[email protected]
Washington, D.C., April 23, 2025 –
Researchers exploring innovative intersections between arts and health — from examining the effects of choral singing on individuals with Alzheimer’s to arts’ impact on youth who have experienced trauma — are receiving critical support through the second annual Renée Fleming Neuroarts Investigator Awards. At a time when scientific innovation faces unprecedented challenges, these awards highlight the vital role of interdisciplinary research in advancing our understanding of how all art forms influence health and wellbeing.
The awards, established by the Renée Fleming Foundation and administered through the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative, a partnership between Johns Hopkins University and the Aspen Institute, support early-career investigators working across sciences and the arts to advance the emerging field of neuroarts. Neuroarts is an interdisciplinary field, rooted in the science of neuroaesthetics, which explores how the arts and aesthetic experiences change the brain, body, and behavior and how this knowledge can be applied to advance health and wellbeing.
“This awards program continues to reflect my commitment to fostering inquiry and collaboration among young scientists and artists, especially at a time when innovative research needs our strongest support,” said Renée Fleming. “By nurturing the imaginative spirit that propels the neuroarts field, we’re not just advancing scientific discovery and interdisciplinary research but also equipping the next generation of researchers to make a strong case for its transformative power.” Soprano and author of the anthology Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness, Fleming is co-chair of the NeuroArts Blueprint Advisory Council, an inaugural member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Arts and Culture Council, and Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health for the World Health Organization.
In announcing the Awards, Susan Magsamen, executive director of the Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics and co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative, noted: “By investing in these researchers, we are supporting individual projects while helping to forge new pathways for understanding human resilience and healing. Each team of investigators will be paired with mentors from the neuroarts field to build on the deep well of existing expertise and expand its impact. These bright, promising arts and science investigators are the future of the field.”
The nine funded projects include early career collaborators from both the science and arts sectors. Each team will receive an award of $25,000. The research projects represent a range of innovative methodologies across diverse art forms to address core health and wellbeing issues:
Investigating the impact of a dance-based intervention on the brain activity in people with Parkinson’s disease:
- Constantina Theofanopoulou, PhD, The Rockefeller University, and David Leventhal, Mark Morris Dance Group, co-principal investigators
Evaluating the impact of a collective arts project on youth self-awareness and social connection:
- Stephen DiDonato, PhD, LPC, NC, Thomas Jefferson University, and artist Raheem “King Saladeen” Johnson, co-principal investigators
Understanding the experience among older adults of “flow state” — feeling deeply focused and immersed in what they are doing — during the process of painting and measuring the impact of that experience on their well-being:
- Denis Dumas, PhD, University of Georgia Research Foundation, and Stewart Cubley, Institute for Art and Living, co-principal investigators
Assessing the impact of integrating neuroarts programming into nursing school curricula on improving the mental health of nurses:
- Lucy Graham, PhD, MPH, BSN and Tara Rynders, MFA, BSN, Colorado Mesa University, co-principal investigators
Examining the effects of community-based choral singing on individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and their caregivers:
- Patricia Izbicki, PhD and Eyleen Braaten, MPP, Florida Atlantic University, co-principal investigators
Analyzing the impact of classically trained singing on brain organization in patients with Parkinson’s disease:
- Giovanni Battistella, PhD and Kristin Norderval, PhD, DMA, Harvard University-affiliated Massachusetts Eye and Ear, co-principal investigators
Translating music therapy into a self-administered digital therapeutic to help address depression and anxiety in young adults:
- Daniel Bowling, PhD, Stanford University, and Sarah Fogler, MS, MT-BC, LCAT-LP, Institute for Music and Neurologic Function, co-principal investigators
Evaluating the extent to which shared preferences for music can enhance connections among individuals:
- Akila Kadambi, PhD, University of California, Los Angeles, and songwriter Anne Preven, co-principal investigators
Assessing the impact of improvisational music engagement on social motor synchrony (SMS) and social communication in autistic children:
- Pablo Ripollés, PhD and Anna Palumbo, LCAT, MT-BC, New York University, co-principal investigators
about each of these projects can be found on the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative website.
“This year, we were thrilled to receive nearly twice the number of applications over last year. It is clear that these challenging times have not dampened interest in deepening the evidence base to explain how music, dance, theatre, visual arts, and so many other art modalities influence health,” said Eric Nestler, neuroscientist and Director, Friedman Brain Institute at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-chaired the independent blue-ribbon committee that evaluated the award proposals.
“The Renée Fleming NeuroArts Investigator Awards reflect the growing movement toward collaborative research across the arts and sciences. It is exciting to see how scientific and artistic innovation can ignite progress in enhancing human wellness,” said Anna Deavere Smith, actor, playwright, and University Professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, who also co-chaired the awards review committee.
“We thank our stellar review committee for their tireless work in recommending projects that truly reflect the vision of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative,” added Ruth J. Katz, executive director of the Health, Medicine & Society Program at the Aspen Institute, who also co-directs the Initiative. “The work will allow us to advance our overall mission of building the neuroarts field so that the arts become part of mainstream medicine and public health.”
###
About Renée Fleming and the Renée Fleming FoundationRenée Fleming
is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time, honored with five Grammy® awards and the US National Medal of Arts. A 2023 Kennedy Center Honoree, she is the co-chair of the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative, and a World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Arts and Health. As a leading advocate for research spanning arts, health, and neuroscience, Fleming launched the first ongoing collaboration between The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, the NEA, and the NIH, and she has presented her program Music and Mind around the world. In 2024, Viking Penguin Random House published her anthology Music and Mind: Harnessing the Arts for Health and Wellness. Her other awards include the 2024 David Mahoney Prize from the Mahoney Neuroscience Institute at Harvard, the 2023 Crystal Award from the World Economic Forum, the Fulbright Lifetime Achievement Medal, and honorary doctorates from ten leading universities. The Renée Fleming Foundation is committed to helping to build the future of music and health research, as well as nurturing emerging artists, through targeted projects and support of recognized organizations doing this crucial work. The Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
About the NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative
The NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative is a partnership between the Johns Hopkins International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics (IAM Lab) and the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine and Society (HMS) Program. Co-directed by Susan Magsamen, MAS, IAM Lab executive director, and Ruth J. Katz, JD, MPH, HMS executive director, the Initiative bridges the gap between the arts and sciences to advance health and wellbeing by promoting innovative research, developing evidence-based practices, and raising public awareness of the arts’ potential to enhance health.
About the International Arts + Mind Lab
The International Arts + Mind Lab Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics (IAM Lab) is located in at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Its mission is to amplify human potential through the arts and aesthetic experiences. IAM Lab brings together researchers and practitioners across a range of disciplines and art modalities through research, education and outreach, field building and community expansion. It is pioneering Impact Thinking, a translational research approach designed to address intractable problems in health, wellbeing, and learning through the arts. IAM Lab aims to accelerate the science of neuroaesthetics and the emerging field of neuroarts and empower humankind to realize the full potential of the arts to help us heal, grow, and flourish.
About the Aspen Institute and the Health, Medicine & Society Program
The Aspen Institute is a global nonprofit organization whose purpose is to ignite human potential to build understanding and create new possibilities for a better world. Founded in 1949, the Institute drives change through dialogue, leadership, and action to help solve society’s greatest challenges. It is headquartered in Washington, DC and has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, as well as an international network of partners. The Health, Medicine & Society Program at the Aspen Institute brings together influential groups of thought leaders, decision-makers, and the informed public to consider health challenges facing the US in the 21st century and to identify practical solutions for addressing them.