Bio
As a translational neuroscientist, my research aims to integrate music neuroscience, therapy, and technology to advance new diagnostics and treatments for mental health disorders, with a particular focus on mood, anxiety, and reward. My approach is rooted in the biology of vocal behavior, particularly its functions in emotional regulation, communication, and social connection.
I earned my PhD in Neurobiology from Duke University in 2012 for work on the biological bases of emotion in musical tonality. Following this, I completed postdoctoral work at the University of Vienna on the neurophysiology of group singing and rhythmic entrainment. In 2019, I started an instructorship in translational psychiatry at Stanford Medicine, focusing on auditory-vocal processing in individuals with autism and digital music-based interventions for depression and anxiety.
My work has been supported by awards from the NIMH (K01), the Austrian Science Fund (Lise Meitner Fellowship), the University of Vienna's Faculty of Life Sciences (Young Investigator Grant), and Stanford's Wu Tsai Neuroscience Institute (Seed Grant). I have authored over 40 scientific articles in journals including Science, PNAS, Molecular Psychiatry, Translational Psychiatry, PLoS Biology, Trends in Cognitive Science, and Physics of Life Reviews—aiming to advance a rational framework for understanding music's role in human biology as a foundation for applying its effects to improve human health.
