Project Co-Directors
Susan Magsamen
Susan Magsamen, MAS, has dedicated her career to putting basic science in service to health, well-being, and learning.Susan Magsamen has dedicated her career to putting basic science in service to health, well-being, and learning. Committed both to rigorous research at the intersection of the brain and the arts, and to rigorous translation of the findings, she is founder and executive director of the International Arts+Mind Lab, a pioneering neuroaesthetics initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Ms. Magsamen is author of the evidence-based Impact Thinking model, designed to accelerate the use of art to enhance human potential, and has also written seven books, including The Classic Treasury of Childhood Wonder, The 10 Best of Everything Families, and Family Stories.
Susan’s newest book with Random House is called, Your Brain On Art: How the Arts Transform Us written with Ivy Ross, Vice President of Design for Hardware at Google. It is a journey through the science of neuroaesthetics that offers proof of how our brains and bodies are transformed when we participate in the arts and aesthetic experiences, and how this knowledge can improve our physical and mental health, help us learn and flourish, and build stronger communities.
Ruth J. Katz
Ruth J. Katz, JD, MPH, is an expert health policy strategist whose rich network of ties across disciplines, ideologies, and social issues helps to foster cross-disciplinary, solutions-oriented conversations.Ruth J. Katz, JD, MPH, is an expert health policy strategist whose rich network of ties across disciplines, ideologies, and social issues helps to foster cross-disciplinary, solutions-oriented conversations. Ms. Katz is director of Aspen Ideas Health, a vice president of the Aspen Institute, and executive director of its Health, Medicine & Society Program, which brings together groups of thought leaders, decision-makers, and the informed public to consider US health challenges and identify solutions. Previously, she was the Walter G. Ross Professor of Health Policy at George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, where she served as dean from 2003 to 2009. From 1997 to 2003, Katz was associate dean for administration at Yale University School of Medicine. She also served as chief public health counsel to the US House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee on the Affordable Care Act.
Project Staff
Andrea Camp
Andrea Camp, a senior policy advisor for the Civil Society Institute, helps to guide its communications, outreach, and public policy strategies designed to support creative communities and expand health research, among other issues.Andrea Camp, a senior policy advisor for the Civil Society Institute, helps to guide its communications, outreach, and public policy strategies designed to support creative communities and expand health research, among other issues. She provides framing and other strategic guidance to the NeuroArts Blueprint.
Emmeline Edwards
Dr. Emmeline Edwards is research director for the NeuroArts Blueprint. In that capacity, she provides leadership and strategic direction to the initiative’s research efforts – developing and guiding the Blueprint Research Strategy, managing signature research-related programs, supporting and guiding the growth and sustainability of Neuroarts through evidence-based research and related efforts.
Dr. Edwards recently retired from federal service as director of the Division of Extramural Research of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH). In that capacity, she was responsible for planning, developing, and implementing all scientific programs or areas of science that fulfill NCCIH's mission. NCCIH is one of 27 components of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), with a mission to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative medicine interventions and their roles in improving health and health care. She led the development and release of the NIH Music Based Intervention (MBI) toolkit and is a member of the interdisciplinary expert panel who updated and released Music Based Reporting Guidelines.
Dr. Edwards earned her Ph.D. in Neurochemistry from Fordham University, did postdoctoral research in behavioral pharmacology and neuroscience at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and was a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Maryland. Her research there focused on the neural mechanisms of complex behaviors and characterization of a genetic model of affective disorders.
Dr. Edwards served on the Sound Health Executive Committee. She is a member of the trans-NIH Music and Health Working Group and advisor to the Neuroarts Blueprint. She also chairs World Women in Neuroscience, a mentoring and networking organization dedicated to promoting professional development of women neuroscientists across the globe.
Karyn Feiden
Karyn Feiden is a writer and editor who covers public health, health care, and medicine for nonprofit and professional organizations, as well as for the popular media.Karyn Feiden is a writer and editor who covers public health, health care, and medicine for nonprofit and professional organizations, as well as for the popular media. She provides editorial services to the NeuroArts Blueprint.
Katya Wanzer
Katya Wanzer, MPH, manager of operations at the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program, has worked on public health issues including HIV, terrorism, health information technology, and emergency response services.Katya Wanzer, MPH, manager of operations at the Aspen Institute’s Health, Medicine & Society Program, has worked on public health issues including HIV, terrorism, health information technology, and emergency response services.
Samuel Garrett
Samuel Garrett is a composer who is committed to advancing knowledge of how aesthetic experiences influence human well-being.Samuel Garrett is a composer who is committed to advancing knowledge of how aesthetic experiences influence human well-being. He coordinates research projects and programs for the NeuroArts Blueprint.