Arts in Public Health: Evidence and Opportunities 

Jill Sonke, MA is director of the Center for the Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF) 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 Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases.  Jill serves on the editorial board for Arts & Health journal and is director of the national initiative, Creating Health Communities: Arts + Public Health in America, in partnership with ArtPlace America. 

Dr. Pumariega is a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist. He received his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Miami. Dr. Pumariega did his psychiatry residency at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. His child and adolescent fellowship was a combined program of Duke University Medical Center and Children’s Psychiatric Institute at John Umstead Hospital in Butner, North Carolina.

Colleen Morrison, Research Associate, James Bell Associates (JBA), has more than 11 years of experience in program evaluation and applied developmental research. Her areas of expertise include early childhood education and maternal and child health. At JBA, Dr. Morrison supports evaluations and provides technical assistance across several projects, with an emphasis on child and family development. Recently, Dr. Morrison led a literature review to examine the evidence about the arts’ use in pain management and in the treatment of substance abuse disorders, including opioid use disorder. Prior to joining JBA, Dr. Morrison was a research associate at the Center for Early Childhood Education and Intervention at the University of Maryland, College Park. She received a Ph.D. in human development and quantitative methodology from the University of Maryland.

Julie Leis, Ph.D., is a social scientist with over 16 years of experience in applied research and program evaluation. Her research focuses on mental health, child development, and home visiting. Dr. Leis has technical expertise in evaluation, research design and measurement, data collection and analysis, and continuous quality improvement. At JBA, she leads and contributes to evaluations and technical assistance centers. She recently led the Literature Review and Program Scan on the Arts and Pain Management and Substance Use Disorder project. Dr. Leis earned a Ph.D. in public health with a concentration in mental health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.