Leading the charge in transforming health prevention and outcomes through a powerful fusion of art, science, and community engagement.

About the Institute 

The Institute for Arts and Health (IAH) at the University of Memphis engages teams of artists and creatives, scientists, and community stakeholders in transdisciplinary research and intervention to improve individual, family, community, and population health. The IAH takes a broad view of health and seeks to improve both prevention and outcomes in physical, cognitive, affective, and mental and behavioral health. These goals are achieved through research in complementary and integrative health, neuroarts, creative and expressive arts therapies, arts in community health, and the medical humanities. The core value of the IAH is to improve whole person health and quality of life for those presently underserved and disproportionately burdened by disease risk and illness. 

About IAH Studios

The IAH coordinates numerous projects through virtual studios composed of IAH researchers, external partners, and community stakeholders. Each IAH virtual studio receives wide-ranging support from the Institute’s core researchers and staff, from study or intervention conceptualization to results dissemination.  

Studios encompass a wide range of goals, including improving health communication, symptom management (physical and psychological), stress reduction, treatment retention, palliative care, and provider and caregiver resilience.  

About IAH Members 

The IAH combines the expertise of over thirty researchers, clinicians, artists, and creatives across campus and the US, covering music and art therapy, public health (epidemiology, biostatistics, and social and behavioral sciences), research and clinical psychology, social work, audiology and speech language pathology, engaged scholarship (CBPR, PAR, CO/CB), health communication, dance, theatre, visual art, music, literature, graphic design, mass media, and architecture.  

Community Partners

• ARTSMemphis
• Memphis Brooks Museum of Art
• Metal Museum
• Playback Memphis
• St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
• UT Health Science Center
• Collage Dance Collective