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 a vice president and executive director of the Health, Medicine, and Society Program at the Aspen Institute. Prior to joining the institute in 2013, she served as chief public health counsel (Democratic staff) with the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives; as dean of the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University; and as associate dean at the Yale University School of Medicine. She recently completed 10 years of service as a member of the CDC Foundation’s board of directors.
Project Staff
Alan Weil, JD, MPP
Alan Weil, JD, MPP, is editor-in-chief of Health Affairs and the person to whom policymakers, media, and advocates invariably turn for evidence-based insights about state and national health policy.Editor-in-chief, Health Affairs
Whether the topic is state or national health policy, Medicaid, federalism, or the Affordable Care Act, Alan Weil is often the person to whom policymakers, media, and advocates turn for evidence-based insights. As editor-in-chief of Health Affairs, the nation’s leading health policy journal, he holds a unique perch from which to explore the domestic and international health challenges of the day.
A sought-after speaker, editor, and author with a reputation for innovative leadership, Mr. Weil has been on the frontlines of health system change for many years. Prior to his current six-year tenure at Health Affairs, he served as executive director and president of the National Academy for State Health Policy. As founding director of the Aspen Health Strategy Group, he moderates a CEO-level group that meets annually to dive deep into a single pressing health topic and issue a consensus report (topics have included improving end-of-life care, preventing chronic disease, reducing antimicrobial resistance, and confronting the opioid epidemic). Mr. Weil is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, trustee of the Consumer Health Foundation, past director of the Urban Institute’s Assessing the New Federalism Project, and served for more than a decade on the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.
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.
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.
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.
Katya Wanzer
Katya Wanzer, MPH, senior program associate 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, senior program associate 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.