MUSIC + THE BODY – Panelists

PANELISTS

Christina J. Azevedo, M.D.

She specializes in multiple sclerosis and other autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system. Dr. Azevedo earned her Bachelor’s of Science from the University of Notre Dame and her medical degree from Oregon Health & Science University. She completed her neurology residency at Dartmouth, a Sylvia Lawry fellowship in clinical MS and Neuroimaging at Yale University, and a master’s degree in public health at Yale with a focus on Applied Biostatistics and Epidemiology. Her research focuses on brain atrophy as a surrogate marker for neurodegeneration, mechanisms of deep grey matter atrophy, and aging in MS. She has received research and training support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National MS Society, the Race to Erase MS, and the NIH-funded USC Clinical Translational Science Institute. She is a Harry Weaver Neuroscience Scholar of the National MS Society, a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, and a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society.

Jeff Beal

Beal’s evocative score and theme for the Netflix drama House of Cards received four Emmy Award nominations, and recently won for outstanding score, bringing Beal’s Emmy tally to fifteen nominations and four statues. Other lauded series include HBO’s Carnivale and Rome. Film scores feature the documentaries Blackfish and Queen of Versailles and dramas Pollock and Appaloosa. Beal’s orchestral works have been performed by the St. Louis, Rochester, Pacific, Munich, and Detroit symphony orchestras. Commissions include works for the Metropole Orchestra, The Ying Quartet, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Henry Mancini Institute, Prism Brass Quintet, Smuin Ballet, and grammy winner Jason Vieaux. His first choral commission, The Salvage Men, was written for the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Eric Whitacre Singers. Music for theater includes 2015 the World Science Festival production Light Falls. Born and raised in the San Fransisco Bay Area, Beal's grandmother was a pianist who performed on the radio and as accompanist for silent movies. Beal graduated from the Eastman School of Music where he and his wife, Joan, recently donated $2 million to the creation of The Beal Institute for Film Music and Contemporary Media.

Assal Habibi, Ph.D

Her research takes a broad perspective on understanding the influence of arts and specifically music on health and development, focusing on how biological dispositions and learning experiences shape the brain and development of cognitive, emotional and social abilities across the lifespan. She is an expert in the use of electrophysiological and neuroimaging methods to investigate human brain function and has used longitudinal and cross-sectional designs to investigate how music training programs impacts the learning and academic achievement of children. Her research program has been supported by federal agencies and private foundations including the NIH, NEA and the GRoW @ Annenberg Foundation and her findings have been published in many peers reviewed journals. She has been the lead investigator of a multi-year study, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and their Youth Orchestra program (YOLA), investigating the effects of early childhood music education on the development of brain function and structure as well as cognitive, emotional, and social abilities. Dr. Habibi is a classically trained pianist and has many years of musical teaching experience with children, a longstanding personal passion.