Dr. Jill Sonke is the director of the Center for the Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida and Assistant Director of UF Health Shands Arts in Medicine. She serves on the faculty of the UF Center for Arts in Medicine, and is an affiliated faculty member in the School of Theatre & Dance, the Center for African Studies, the STEM Translational Communication Center, the One Health Center, and the Center for Movement Disorders and Neurorestoration.  She is also an Entrepreneurship Faculty Fellow in the UF Warrington College of Business, and serves on the editorial board for Arts & Health journal and the board of Citizens for Florida Arts. She is also director of the national initiative, Creating Health Communities: Arts + Public Health in America, in partnership with ArtPlace America.  

Dr. Sonke’s current research focuses on the arts and health communication, the arts in public health, and the effects of music on cost and quality of care in emergency medicine. She has mentored over 10 University Scholars who have designed and undertaken their own research projects. Some of these projects include:  

• Ariel Reich (2016-17), Suicide Prevention Through Theatre Intervention – this project was presented at national and international conferences, and has been cited in several peer-reviewed publications 
• Alyssa Chevalier (2018-19), Parental Perception of Child Anxiety among Patients Who Participate in Arts and Medicine Programs – with this study as the focus of her senior thesis, Alyssa graduate with honors 
• Amy LiKamWa (2018-19), The Effects of Active versus Passive Music Participation on Pain Perception – this study was published in Arts & Health: An International Journal for Research, Policy and Practice, and was presented at numerous conferences 
• Austin Freedman (2019-20), The Effects of Musical Instrument Training on Working Memory in Children with Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Symptoms – this study is under review for publication and has been presented at several conferences 

Thank you for your tireless contributions to undergraduate research!