Rutgers Arts in Health, a Mason Gross-based initiative that explores the role of artistic and aesthetic experience in health and overall human wellness, has launched a Distinguished Residency Program. The program brings leading artists, scientists, and curators to Rutgers for sustained engagement with the university community. AZA Allsop, MD, PhD, an artist, neuroscientist, and psychiatrist, has been named the inaugural Scientist in Residence, Arts in Health. His tenure will last for one year.
During their tenure, residents will work with Rutgers students, faculty, staff, and the broader community via workshops, seminars, and public programs. Each residency will be shaped by the resident’s work and interests, with future appointments spanning the arts, sciences, and curatorial practice. Allsop will work with the Rutgers community to explore how music and sound-based practices can be rigorously studied, ethically designed, and responsibly applied across educational, clinical, and cultural contexts to support individual and collective well-being.
“The most interesting questions in arts and health rarely belong to one discipline,” says Ian Koebner, PhD, MSc, endowed chair and associate professor of Arts in Health at Rutgers. “This program gives exceptional artists, scientists, and curators time to work across boundaries and learn with the Rutgers community. AZA is an ideal inaugural resident because his work moves between artistic practice, neuroscience, psychiatry, and community.”
Allsop is assistant professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and director of the Center for Collective Healing at Howard University. His research examines music, social cognition, mindfulness, and mental health. He earned his MD from Harvard Medical School and PhD in neuroscience from MIT, was an Emerson Scholar at Berklee College of Music, and completed his psychiatry residency at Yale University.
“Music has long shaped how I think about science, health, and human connection,” says Allsop. “I’m excited to work across the arts, humanities, health, and sciences at Rutgers—to share my research, learn from others, and develop new questions together.”
“Dr. Allsop brings a rare constellation of expertise in music, neuroscience, and psychiatry to our Arts in Health initiative,” says Mason Gross dean Michael Kim. “His residency invites our students, faculty, and healthcare partners to further explore how artistic expression and scientific inquiry can deepen our understanding of healing, strengthen human connection, and advance well-being. These collaborations affirm the arts’ vital place in caring for individuals and communities.”
Allsop’s residency will begin with a virtual event on October 28 at 5 p.m. EST. The event, open to the public, will allow participants to meet him, learn about his work, and hear about his upcoming Rutgers visits. His first in-person visit, on November 24, will focus on the arts and humanities, followed by a visit focused on health and science on December 9. Additional details about these events are forthcoming; please email Gretchen LaMotte, gretchen.lamotte@rutgers.edu, for information about how to participate.
Image credit: Michael Harrison