Research Director, Center for Arts in Medicine

at the University of Florida (UF)

Biography:

Jill Sonke, PhD, is Research Professor and Director of Research Initiatives in the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF), Director of National Research and Impact for the One Nation/One Project initiative, and Co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab in partnership with University College London. She serves as an Affiliated Researcher in the WHO’s Jameel Arts & Health Lab and served during the COVID-19 pandemic as a senior advisor to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

She is an affiliated faculty member in the UF School of Theatre & Dance, the Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, and the Center for African Studies, as well as an editorial board member for the Health Promotion Practice journal. Dr. Sonke is a dancer and an amateur musician, a mixed methods researcher with over 70 publications, and has 30 years of leadership in the field of arts in health. She is the recipient of numerous awards and over 350 grants for her programs and research in the arts and health.